Balli Bagayoko was elected in the first round of municipal elections on 15 March. The 52-year-old stood for the far-left France Unbiased (LFI) party.
Organizers of the protest said about 20,000 people turned out in front of the Saint-Denis town hall.
Why were people protesting against racism in France?
Bagayoko was almost immediately targeted by racist attacks and fake news, including on French national TV.
“We express strongly and unequivocally our intrinsic attachment to the values of the Republic embodied by the successors of immigration,” Bagayoko said in front of the protesters, condemning what he said were “failing, sometimes even complicit, institutions.”
Born in France to parents from the former French colony of Mali, Bagayoko was raised in Saint-Denis, one of the country’s most diverse cities with a large immigrant community.
Trade unions, civil associations and music bands joined the protest.
LFI leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon was also present. Speaking to the crowd, he condemned “a sickening wave of racism coming from the political and media elites who, without reservation, without reservation, have demonstrated their contempt for a section of our people.”
Prosecutors will investigate racist comments
The most prominent racist comments were made by a guest on the CNews channel, which is owned by ultraconservative Vincent Bolloré and is commonly referred to as France’s Fox News.
Bagayoko has filed a complaint against the network, while Paris prosecutors said they were opening an investigation into possible public insults of a racist nature.
Another investigation is being launched into racist comments made on social media platform X.
French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has also spoken out against the “normalization of evil and racism” following the far-right’s campaign against the elected mayor.
Edited by: Shawn Sinico
<a href