The application, a sort of walkie-talkie 2.0, is acclaimed by the demonstrators, who exchange voice notes by the dozen in a merry mess. Difficult to follow the movement via this channel.
“Fantomas for Tiphaine, Fantomas for Tiphaine.” A little crackling, a few seconds of white. Then a woman ends up answering: “Here Tiphaine, where are you Fantomas?” “Here Fantomas, on the Champs in 20 minutes.” Since Friday, on the Zello application, a sort of 2.0 walkie-talkie used by participants in the “freedom convoy”, it hasn’t stopped.
To coordinate their advance and achieve a coup in Paris, the conveyors multiply the more or less coded voice notes. Each procession leaves from one end of France to its own channel – there are a dozen or so in all – and you have to enter a code to access it, codes that are exchanged by word of mouth or via a request on Telegram.
“Stop telling your life story and cluttering the channel”
As we approach the capital, channel 8 has been popular since Friday evening. About 500 people try somehow to coordinate there, in a merry mess. Everyone can speak, without filter. And, in fact, information is flowing in all directions: “It blocks in Saint-Cloud, there are plenty of cops.” “I have just passed through the Porte d’Orléans, it is rolling by itself.” ; “I’m in Paris, there are bruises everywhere. They’ll end up blocking the city on their own, so don’t panic, they’re playing our game!” ; “We just got hit for just a little drop of yolk, be careful.” ; “Especially if they give you a ticket, don’t sign anything.” ; “Calm down ! If the police scare you, there is no point in coming to demonstrate.
In the middle of this constant hubbub, a man gets angry: “Stop talking about your life and clogging up the fucking channel, it’s useless.” A brief moment of respite, then the messages start again, by the dozens. Over the vocals, a point of convergence eventually emerges: the Champs-Elysées. Some claim to be parked in a street adjacent to Place de l’Etoile, “ready to jump when the “go” is given”. Others explain that they continue to go around the Arc de Triomphe while waiting for new instructions. A few are starting to lose patience: “Well, we’ve been hanging around for three hours, are you coming or not?”
“At 11.30 a.m. we block everything”
A man, visibly strolling on the Champs, panics at the sight of “full of CRS vans”. The howling sirens in the background make its alert all the more believable. Two minutes later, a woman replies that on the contrary, the police are leaving and that there is nothing left but… a few armored vehicles.
The messages go all over the place: “Be careful that this is not a trap, maybe they are doing everything to make us believe that they are leaving to then better block us on the fields.” ; “You have to go to Porte d’Italie, that’s where there is a big gathering.” ; “I like the court very, very much, if some see what I mean.” ; “Stop giving away all your positions, keep to the bare minimum, the cops and reporters are listening to the conversation.” Touch.
11:26 a.m., a demonstrator, tired of waiting for a hypothetical signal of uprising, tries to launch the assault: “Calling all vehicles. At 11:28 a.m., we set the warnings, at 11:30 a.m., we block everything. I repeat: 11:28 a.m. warnings, 11:30 a.m. we block. No answer. Then someone lets go, a little jaded“Patience, patience. It will soon be our turn. There are thousands of us waiting, but others have yet to arrive. On the Champs-Elysées, nothing has changed. The taking of the avenue will wait.