Far-left politician victim of flour thrower in Paris

Jean-Luc Melenchon, a far-left political leader in France and a likely high-profile candidate in next year's presidential election, was pelted with flour at a protest Saturday, days after President Emmanuel Macron was slapped in the face as he sought to shake hands with voters.

It is not uncommon for French political figures to be pelted with food: Former presidents Nicolas Sarkozy and Francois Hollande have been showered with flour, and Macron was pelted with eggs at least twice before he was elected president in 2017.

But the Paris assault that targeted Melenchon, the leader of the France Unbowed party, took place against the backdrop of renewed political tensions before regional elections next week, and broader concerns about violence before the presidential election, scheduled for May.

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Melenchon was speaking with journalists at a demonstration against the far-right in Paris on Saturday when a person threw flour at him. No one was taken into custody.

On Tuesday, a far-right sympathizer slapped Macron as the French leader was greeting a small crowd during a visit to southeastern France, drawing widespread condemnation across the political spectrum.

Macron received support from, among others, Melenchon, normally one of Macron's fiercest critics, and the far-right leader Marine Le Pen. "One can fight him politically, but one cannot be violent in any way against him," Le Pen said.

A court Thursday sentenced the 28-year-old man who slapped Macron, Damien Tarel, who said the president "represents the decline of our country," to 18 months in prison, although he will likely serve only four.

On Friday, a former minister of Macron's government and a candidate in the regional elections also was pelted with flour in the western city of Nantes. The candidate, Francois de Rugy, said he had filed a lawsuit against the woman who assaulted him.

"Debate, always. Physical assaults, never," de Rugy said on Twitter.

Although Melenchon was the target Saturday, he is among politicians who have been blamed for the rising political tensions. He drew widespread criticism last week after he predicted that France would be attacked during the campaign, but he did not provide any specific details, prompting ministers of Macron's government to accuse him of fueling conspiracy theories.

"You'll see, in the last weeks of the presidential campaign, we'll have a serious incident or a murder," Melenchon said on French public television.

He argued that a video in which a far-right YouTube personality fired at a mannequin representing a left-wing voter had prompted his comments. The video has since been deleted and Melenchon has filed a lawsuit against the YouTuber, Ugo Gil Jimenez.

After the abuse Saturday, a spokesman for Melenchon's party, David Guiraud, said on Twitter that the flour throwing was carried out by a man who he said was another far-right YouTube personality, but he did not identify him.

Melenchon obtained nearly one-fifth of the votes during the previous presidential election in 2017, ranking fourth after Macron, Le Pen and right-wing candidate Francois Fillon.

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