The death of a leftist militant at the hands of a skinhead gang in Paris on June 5 may not have been a clear-cut case of far-right aggression, following a report on CCTV footage of the event in which the leftist militant is seen throwing the first punch, reports FRANCE 24.
Subsequent details from the police investigation suggest that victim Clément Méric, 18, and his fellow “Antifas” [anti-fascists] may even have been targeting the skinhead who is now being investigated for involuntary manslaughter.
Méric sustained fatal injuries following a verbal altercation with the skinheads at a private sale of British-branded clothes – particularly Fred Perry, Barbour and Ben Sherman – favoured by French far-right and leftist militants alike.
As originally reported, the skinheads left the sale, “fetched reinforcements” and waited outside for Méric and his friends to reappear. Méric died after he was hit at least once in the head.
Early reports suggested that the man who hit Méric, Esteban Morillo, had been wearing brass knuckles.
But according to French broadcaster RTL, which has seen the footage taken by a nearby camera belonging to Paris’s RATP public transport network, Méric and his group may well have been the ones to have struck first, confirming claims by far right groups that Morillo had been attacked, and not vice-versa.
Read more of this report from FRANCE 24.