Marine Le Pen attacked on stage by ‘topless’ woman with bunch of flowers – after violent street clashes between protesters and cops
MARINE Le Pen was attacked on stage by a topless woman with with a bunch of flowers as her campaign rally was marred by protesters throwing missiles at police.
The French right-wing leader addressed around 5,000 Front National (FN) supporters at the Zenith concert hall in the north of the city this afternoon, ahead of the upcoming presidential elections.
But there was chaos on the streets outside as menacing masked demonstrators dressed in black clashed with cops.
Troublemakers hurled objects including rocks, chunks of wood and smoke bombs at riot police standing between them and the venue.
Officers were seen firing tear gas back in an attempt to keep the mob at bay.
FN lawmaker Gilbert Collard told reporters on arriving at the hall that he was hit in the neck by a beer bottle and that other objects were aimed at him before police intervened.
Another FN official, Jean Messiha, said he saw Molotov cocktails being thrown.
But the protests were not confined to outside the arena.
During Le Pen's speech, a topless woman jumped onto the stage and attacked her with a bunch of flowers.
Armed security officers tackled the protester to the ground before dragging her away.
And a topless female protester later shouted out from the middle of the concert hall in an apparent protest against the candidate.
Opinion polls have for months shown Le Pen and centrist Emmanuel Macron qualifying on Sunday for the May 7 run-off.
But the gap with conservative Francois Fillon and far-leftist Jean-Luc Melenchon has been tightening.
Addressing her supporters, Le Pen said: "The choice on Sunday is simple – it is a choice between a France that is rising again and a France that is sinking."
She pledged to suspend all immigration and shield voters from "savage globalisation", telling the crowd: "Mass immigration is not an opportunity for France – it's a tragedy for France."
She also attacked the EU and its border-free Schengen area, saying: "The French sometimes have fewer rights than foreigners – even illegal ones."
While no polls have shown Le Pen missing out on the run-off, any two of the top four candidates have a chance of qualifying.
Polls have consistently shown her losing in the second round.
With pollsters saying record high numbers of voters might not bother turning out, convincing people to go to the polling stations on Sunday is key.
The FN firebrand urged her supporters: "Fight for victory until the very last minute.
"If every patriot can this week convince just one abstentionist – just one undecided voter – we are sure to win!"
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