The arrest of influencer Jean-Eudes Gannat, who is being prosecuted for posting a video showing Afghan migrants camped outside a supermarket in his town, continues to cause controversy. The widespread outrage over the attacks against him, even beyond France’s borders, has given rise to a movement on X called “Let’s show reality,” which aims to show, with supporting images, the prevalence of immigration and population change in society.
On Tuesday, November 4th, identity activist Jean-Eudes Gannat posted a seemingly innocuous video on TikTok, leading to his arrest and detention on charges of “incitement to racial hatred.” His trial, initially scheduled to occur immediately, has been postponed until May 2026, but the young father of three has nevertheless been banned from social media for a month and is now even prohibited from frequenting the supermarket near where the video was taken. He has also been banned from contacting the Afghans in question, as he could “put pressure” on them: one wonders, in this case, where the pressure is coming from.
The speed of his arrest and the initial court ruling came as a surprise and sparked outrage in a country where the justice system is known for its delays. “If the justice system were as quick and efficient in prosecuting real criminals, our country would be much better off,” said sovereigntist MP Nicolas Dupont-Aignan. The president of an anti-racist association even expressed his support for Gannat, arguing that the incriminating video did not violate French law in any way—even though he does not share the author’s “ideas or identity-based commitments.”
The Afghans who appear in the incriminating video were pressured into filing a complaint against Gannat, as explained by his lawyer Matthieu Sassi—probably encouraged by left-wing lobbies.
At the call of journalist Liselotte Dutreuil, editor-in-chief of the programme Ligne Droite on the conservative radio station Radio Courtoisie, a movement was launched on X in support of Jean-Eudes Gannat, with the hashtag and slogan #MontronsLeRéel (Let’s show reality). The video that led to Gannat’s prosecution and conviction, which is short and unedited, simply captures a reality that many French people can see every day with their own eyes: the presence, on French soil, of invasive immigrant populations, who often degrade the environment or security to which they were accustomed, even in the most remote corners of the country.
A quote from the poet Charles Péguy, recalled by Gannat, has been reposted by numerous accounts on X: “One must always say what one sees; above all, one must always, which is more difficult, see what one sees.”
Since then, raw videos of this type have multiplied on X and send a message that is difficult to dispute: the change in population can be easily observed in everyday life and is detrimental to the living environment of the inhabitants. We see makeshift camps, gangs of drug addicts or drunks squatting on the pavement, souk-like markets, groups of veiled women—in Paris, of course, but also in Nîmes, Nantes, and Rennes.
Jean-Yves Gallou, founder of Institut Iliade, points out that in Segré, where Gannat filmed his video, crime has risen by 76% since 2020. But the public prosecutor, unable to seriously curb it, decided that banning a video filming reality in the town was a priority.
Influencers’ and journalists’ accounts have joined in, as have accounts belonging to unknown individuals and ordinary citizens, generating hundreds of thousands of views. The hashtag is also being used to tag videos posted by foreigners who are alarmed by the new face of France.
The sheer volume of material produced makes it impossible to prosecute each of these videos. This is also the aim of such a campaign, which serves to highlight the blatant injustice behind the arrest of Gannat, who claims to be the victim of judicial harassment by the French justice system.
Gannat’s original video has now been viewed over 2.2 million times.
