Summary: A Telegram network created by Charlie Mombert (known online as Alpharise) was used to organize groups that, according to StreetPress, radicalized into tools of violence during nationwide protests on October 24, with incidents documented in more than a dozen French cities.
How did a fitness influencer build a nationwide network of 66 Telegram channels in two days?
The operational infrastructure began on October 22, 2026, when Charlie Mombert announced on Instagram that he had launched a website hosting links to 66 distinct Telegram loops across France. The initiative followed large-scale demonstrations on October 17, which drew approximately 800,000 people into the streets over education and cost-of-living grievances. Amid those mobilizations, certain major retail stores, including Monoprix and The North Face in Montpellier, experienced looting.
Mainstream media attention quickly accelerated the project’s reach. Mombert was interviewed by the Bolloré-owned news channel CNews and the media outlet Legend, hosted by Guillaume Pley. Within 48 hours of launching the website, radical far-right figures amplified the call. Alice Cordier published a supporting video almost immediately after the site went live, while regional groups such as Jeunes d’Oc and the femonationalist collective Némésis endorsed the mobilization in Montpellier.
Which extremist groups and political figures infiltrated the “citizen mutual aid” channels?
Although initial administrators in cities like Lille attempted to moderate extreme language to avoid being classified as a far-right militia, the channels were rapidly co-opted. StreetPress documented that neo-Nazi hooligans, identitarian militants, and accounts displaying explicit symbols—including Nazi salutes, the Celtic cross, the Black Sun, and templar imagery—infiltrated the local loops in cities such as Rennes, Toulouse, Lille, Rouen, Tours, Clermont-Ferrand, Aix-en-Provence, and Montpellier.
Political figures were also present within the infrastructure. In Rouen, StreetPress identified Grégoire Houdan, a candidate in the last municipal elections, inside the “Entraide citoyenne Rouen” Telegram group. When questioned, the elected official defended the channel as an initiative appreciated by local merchants facing potential far-left agitators. Meanwhile, in Montpellier and Lyon, administrators established secondary, restricted channels for radical militants where members shared imagery of military protection gear, knives, telescopic batons, and gloves with reinforced shells.
How did the October 24 street violence unfold across French cities?
On the afternoon of October 24, 2026, violence erupted in more than ten urban centers. At 5:00 p.m. on rue de Saint-Lô in Rouen, a group of roughly twenty militants equipped with leather belts and wooden batons charged an isolated cluster of demonstrators. A street medic was pushed to the ground and repeatedly kicked. Following a subsequent police charge, the far-right militants retreated behind police lines while chanting “Rouen ! Rouen ! Nationaliste !” and “La rue, la France, nous appartient !”, while law enforcement officers placed the injured victim into a police vehicle.
Similar physical assaults were documented by media outlets including StreetPress and Blast across Rouen.
Despite instructions from network organizers for participants to wear plain clothes and white cloths to identify themselves to police without wearing masks, operational control broke down on the ground as radical factions initiated direct confrontations.
What actions are network organizers and local administrators taking next?
Mombert announced plans to transition the Telegram channels to private status to prioritize quality over quantity, drawing inspiration from neighborhood watch networks. Concurrently, local administrators have discussed reactivating specific loops; in Lyon, an administrator floated a potential channel reactivation for Saturday, October 31, explaining that the temporary lockdown was designed to block provocations and screenshots originating from far-left accounts.
