The 2024 Olympic Games have provided the perfect excuse for French authorities to turn Paris into a hyper-securitized police state. Recently, two journalists on a critical tour of the Olympics hosted by the anti-Olympics activist group Saccage 2024 (“Destruction 2024”) were arrested and interrogated by police—despite not engaging in any form of disruptive or illegal activity. Reporting from the streets of Paris, TRNN’s Dave Zirin speaks with Noah Farjon of Saccage 2024 about his arrest and what it says about the state of democracy in France under the spotlight of the Olympics.
Studio Production: Jules Boykoff
Post-Production: David Hebden, Adam Coley
Transcript
The following is a rushed transcript and may contain errors. An updated version will be made available as soon as possible.
Dave Zirin:
Hey, this is Dave Zirin here from Edge of Sports TV, only on The Real News Network. I’m here with Noah from Saccage 2024. Saccage 2024 is a counter-Olympic organizing collective, here in Paris. Noah, thank you so much for joining us.
Noah Farjon:
Thank you for inviting me here.
Dave Zirin:
You were in a very difficult situation involving the police in an arrest the other day. Can you tell our audience what happens?
Noah Farjon:
Yeah. Me and two journalists got arrested yesterday when we were trying to do what we call a Saccage Toxic Tour, which is just a little tour of the Olympic area around the Stade de France, just to show some of the buildings that got destroyed or impacted by this Olympics. It was a very calm event that was supposed to involve 10 journalists and a few of our members, just to show those-
Dave Zirin:
The effects?
Noah Farjon:
Yes, the effect of the Olympics on the city of Saint-Denis. But I found two other journalists, [inaudible 00:01:35] Toxic Tour and was trying to guide them to the beginning of the Toxic Tour. When we arrived, when we were just out of the metro, there was a lot of plainclothes police that was just watching us and pointing. It was clear that we were watched. Which is something that happen in all of our Toxic Tours, there is always some police following us to see what we’re doing.
But what was [inaudible 00:02:01] is that as soon as we started moving, four police car arrived immediately to block the way and 30 cops got out to do an identity check. And when they found leaflets and some stickers… Some leaflets were for a past protest that was accepted by the police, that happened without an issue, but they still took two hour, were doing a lot of phone call, taking picture of us, and trying to put pressure on us, being very rude.
And eventually say, “You are now under arrest for trying to gather and do degradation.” Which was entirely false, because once again, it was just a journalistic event, just to show the city. They took us to the police station and we stayed there for 10 hour.
Dave Zirin:
Wow. Before you go on, I just want to make this really clear for the audience. You were attempting just show journalists the effects of the Olympics on Saint-Denis, and because of that you were arrested and held for 10 hours?
Noah Farjon:
Yeah. Yeah, both me and the journalists were very surprised because… The journalists clearly were… They had what is called [French 00:03:19].
Dave Zirin:
[French 00:03:19], yes.
Noah Farjon:
Which is an official document saying, “We are from the press and we are going to go there.” One even had an Olympic accreditation. But the police told them, “Yeah, but we can’t know if it’s not a fake one, so you are still going to be taken with us.” This person had specifically a press pass from the Olympic, which should give her access to a lot of backstage area. She shouldn’t at all have been arrested. Everybody was very surprised by that arrest.
They took us to the police station. We stayed for a long time. It took me six hour before I got interrogated. During the interrogation, the question was very surprising because it was not… They could only [inaudible 00:04:12] about what we’re doing here. It was mostly about, “Are you on the left? Are you against [inaudible 00:04:20]? Are you part of Saccage 2024? Are you against the Olympic?”
It was a lot of political question about my political view and my political view about the Olympics.
Dave Zirin:
Wow. They asked if you were on the left?
Noah Farjon:
Yeah.
Dave Zirin:
Wow. We hear much about France being one of the great old democracies. What does this tell us about democracy in France?
Noah Farjon:
Democracy in France is having huge issue right now. What Macron is doing by refusing to name a prime minister from the majority that got chosen, and he’s using the Olympic to make that last longer. He said, “I am doing an Olympic ceasefire on politics and therefore will not nominate a prime minister until at least the Olympics are over, but perhaps before the Paralympics.” He’s using the current events to block everything.
This Toxic Tour or events that we did a lot of time before the Olympics and never had issue with that. Because these are always short events. The biggest we did was 35 people on bikes.
Dave Zirin:
Wow. I want to lay this out for the audience. The left coalition received the most votes in the last election. They are waiting to have one of their members named as a prime minister, by all rights, but President Macron is saying, “We’re going to wait off on that because we’re having an Olympic ceasefire on politics.” Basically, that’s what’s happening?
Noah Farjon:
Yeah. It’s what’s happening.
Dave Zirin:
Wow. That doesn’t sound very democratic.
Noah Farjon:
Oh, it is not. It is not. Macron, this is the first mandate, but especially his second term, he has less and less of a majority, and used all of the political and legal way he has to ignore the fact that he is extremely unpopular and have less and less elected official. What he did, for example, also for these elections that happened just before the Olympics, was that he said that all the people that are still minister were going to vote to choose the leader of the Assembly.
Which is highly illegal, because for the separation of power, if you’re in the cabinet of Macron, you are not supposed to vote on that and to vote in general as a deputy. So, he tell them to vote, and gave them [inaudible 00:06:54] vote to have the leader of the Assembly being someone of Macron, despite him being the only second-biggest.
Dave Zirin:
Wow. You’re talking about what Macron has meant to democracy in Paris and in France. What have the Olympics meant to democracy in Paris?
Noah Farjon:
For me, a lot of things, because many laws that were passed for the Olympics or laws that will be kept after. In France have been huge protests that we fight hardly, against drones and against algorithmic camera. But there was an Olympic law to test this technology, so right now there are drones and cameras that use AI all around Paris for the Olympics, because those laws were passed, thanks to the Olympics. And there was no protest this time, because the Olympics make everything more okay, basically. People will not protest as much if it’s something that’s done for the Olympics.
But to me, one of the worst things that happened is, Paris is under basically occupation. It’s the biggest police and army presence in the city since the occupation during the Second World War. We’re not even free to circulate anymore because we need what’s called a QR code, which is a flash code to say, okay, I have the right to take my car in all of this area of Paris. The lockdown around the Seine, just here, for the opening ceremony was so big that there was less people there during the week of lockdown before the ceremony, that there was less people there than during the COVID lockdown.
Dave Zirin:
Wow.
Noah Farjon:
Because nobody had access to the Seine for a week.
Dave Zirin:
Wow. And-
Noah Farjon:
And a lot of people-
Dave Zirin:
Please continue, sorry.
Noah Farjon:
And also, a lot of people got what’s called in France, [foreign language 00:08:56], which is like house arrest, not just in Paris, but in many other cities. Which basically said, you have not the right to leave your home during Olympic event or not to go in Paris because we think you are an issue for security. There was people that were on the left. A lot of leftists got arrested.
Basically, anybody that was a bit under surveillance of the police and had any kind of legal issue before, got arrested. A lot of people that had no legal issue but were having mental issue also were forbidden to go out on their own. And mental hospital, that were supposed to be some hospital where they could leave and go back in, said, “Okay, you cannot let your patient leave for those days.”
It’s a huge threat on our freedom to move. It’s not becoming a freedom, but a right that we have to ask and that has to be given by the prefecture of police.
Dave Zirin:
The left came together to beat back the National Rally and the fascists in the last election. But, there’s a socialist mayor of Paris, Hidalgo.
Noah Farjon:
Yeah.
Dave Zirin:
Are there now splits on the left in terms of how to deal with the Olympics and the policing and Macron’s attacks on democracy between those who are cheerleading the Olympics and those who are protesting?
Noah Farjon:
Yeah. Sadly, at least the more mainstream [inaudible 00:10:34] left. I’ve never been too much against the Olympic. We can see the way it is talked about, the opening ceremony. Most of elected official are talking about this ceremony as a big success for the left. Because they said, “Oh, look, there was some marginalized communities that were represented.”
But in fact, it was still a very elitist event because there was still the army everywhere, there was still police everywhere. Yes, there was Aya Nakamura singing, but she was singing with the [French 00:11:04], which is the army. So, it was just the elites saying, “Look how cool we are and how much we like France.” But for the media and Parisian, they still couldn’t go there. Only the spots that were on big incline could see what was happening in the Seine. Many people that took ticket and that got there were like, “Oh, I just cannot see.”
All they were talking about was like, “Oh. Look, how cool we are.” An example I have is Gojira, which is a metal band that work with Sea Shepherd at some point, got a castle to do a war song about Ah! Ca Ira, which is a French revolutionary song. But they were protected by the police for more than a week with the castle being closed off. Meanwhile, Watson is getting arrested by the police in Greenland. It’s completely disconnected from what’s happening.
Dave Zirin:
I think we call that irony.
Noah Farjon:
Yes.
Dave Zirin:
Which the French are very good at.
Noah Farjon:
Oh, yeah.
Dave Zirin:
The Olympics are coming to Los Angeles in the United States in 2028. Do you have any advice or words for the people of Los Angeles about what it means to have the Olympics come to your town, and how the left in Los Angeles should be responding?
Noah Farjon:
Yeah. For Los Angeles, there is many things to say, but what’s important for you is to organize and try to show that whatever they promise to you for this Olympics, it’s not worth the humane cost. It’s not worth any of the costs that they will try to impose on you. For sports and for entertainment, you cannot justify to evict people. You cannot justify to just clean up the city and make it a tourist attraction.
You need to protest and you need to do everything you can to make it as hard for this Olympics to happen, not just for those ’28 Olympics, but also for the next ones they will try to put on you. I know Salt Lake City got a bid-
Dave Zirin:
Yes.
Noah Farjon:
… that is recurring very often. For example, Salt Lake City, all of the cities should keep fighting against this Olympic, just to show that it is an event that shouldn’t happen anymore-
Dave Zirin:
Wow.
Noah Farjon:
… because the cost is too great.
Dave Zirin:
The cost is just too great.
This is Noah from Saccage 2024. Noah, thank you so much for joining us here on The Real News Network.
Noah Farjon:
Thank you for [inaudible 00:13:42].
Dave Zirin:
Of course. Absolutely. We’ll be back with more news from The Real News Network from Olympic Paris before you know it.
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