French police say they are monitoring the possible prison release of Antifa extremist Antonin Bernanos, fearing he could lead violent protests at the G7 in August.
Mr Bernanos was sentenced to five years in prison in September of 2017 for attacking a police car in Paris in 2016, although two years were suspended.
Police say they are monitoring his release, claiming that he is one of the few people able to organise and motivate large numbers of Antifa extremists in the far-left scene in Paris, Europe1 reports.
Intelligence services add that some in the Antifa black bloc in Paris have become disinterested in opposing globalism, with many believing the train tickets to the G7 in Biarritz later this month to be too expensive and the 465-mile car ride too far.
An observer of the scene told Europe1 that most Antifa members have spent the summer training for clashes with right-wingers, saying “they are not very focused on substantive topics.”
Antifa has made some attempts to infiltrate and ally with the Gilets Jaunes (Yellow Vest) movement in France, proposing in April that the two groups overthrow the French government and depose President Emmanuel Macron.
“Against Macron and his world, let’s take the street together to revive the convergence of anger and hope. Let’s get ready, let’s equip ourselves, let us organise ourselves to overthrow him and drag him through a day in hell,” the group wrote.
A year before, the extremist group released a video, which was later deleted, showing members who had joined Kurds in Northern Syria to fight Turkey threatening to come back to France and take up arms against the French state.
The threats were made in response to the Macron government attempting to evict a far-left squat at Notre-Dame-des-Landes.
“Our priority targets are the Turkish state and the French state, as well as all the fascist groups,” they said, and claimed they would target police, military, and intelligence officials.
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