The French National Assembly has just been the scene of a serious altercation between staffers of the far-left party La France insoumise (LFI) and the right-wing investigative media outlet Frontières, in which the staffers resorted to violence as they tried to remove the reporters from the premises. On Wednesday, April 9th, parliamentary staffers from the far-left LFI party gathered at the National Assembly in protest against the publication of a major feature by the conservative magazine Frontières entitled “LFI: le parti de l’étranger” (LFI: the party of the foreigner), which highlights the party’s links with Hamas and Islamist lobbies.
Three Frontières journalists went to the site to cover the protest. When identified by the LFI protesters, tempers quickly flared and the journalists were physically attacked by parliamentary staff. Videos have since been circulating on X that show the aggression towards the three journalists—one of whom was a woman—with the involvement from Raphaël Arnault, an LFI MP who, by the way, has been placed on a watchlist by the French police as a possible national security threat..
The President of the National Assembly, Yaël Braun-Pivet, issued a press release—placing almost all the responsibility for the violence on Frontières. The statement said nothing to condemn the actions of LFI as a blatant attack on press freedom. “Any action that could be considered as a stunt or provocation of any kind will not be tolerated. Failure to comply with these rules may result in restrictions on access to the Assembly and withdrawal of accreditation. The President of the National Assembly will ensure, in a firm and balanced manner, that they are respected. She will reiterate this in a letter to the media outlet Frontières”, the statement read.
The far-left deputies have called for an outright ban of Frontières journalists from the National Assembly. LFI parliamentary group leader Mathilde Panot also demanded that the magazine be banned from sale in the Assembly’s kiosk—even though Frontières is officially accredited as a media outlet with the French Commission for Publications and Press Agencies (CPPAP).
Erik Tégner, editorial director of Frontières, denounced this double standard on CNews: “It didn’t cause any problems when Le Monde ran an article last June about the ‘controversial’ associates of the deputies of the RN. Today, we are subjected to the logic of censorship. Criticizing and investigating LFI is prohibited.”
The incident has sparked outrage on the Right, with statements in support of our colleagues at Frontières multiplying.
Marine Le Pen declared: “Journalists booed, insulted, physically intimidated by deputies at the very heart of the National Assembly. How much lower will we go?”
Le Pen, who is also RN parliamentary group leader, took Gabriel Attal, former minister and head of the Macronist (RE) group in the Assembly, to task, reminding him of his overwhelming political responsibility: the extreme left-wing deputies were in fact able to get into the French parliament in the last legislative elections thanks to the support of RE: “Gabriel Attal, here are your children! Because it cannot be repeated often enough, these deputies who are a disgrace to the whole country would never have been elected without your withdrawals in the legislative elections.”
Valérie Boyer, a senator representing Les Républicaines (LR), also spoke out, assuring Frontières of her support on social media.
In protest at the Braun-Pivet press release, RN MP Jean-Philippe Tanguy announced on Thursday, April 10, that Rassemblement National will refuse to resume work in the National Assembly.
The three journalists who were attacked have since filed a complaint with the police.
(@valerieboyer13) 
