In the following interview from TV Libertés, the spokesman for Génération Identitaire (Generation Identity) discusses his decision to become fully public, and the persecutions from the Left that the Identitaires have to endure.

Many thanks to Ava Lon for the translation, and to Vlad Tepes for the subtitling:

Video transcript:

00:48 The special guest of Martial Bild

00:52 is a very young member of the Generation Identity.

00:56 He was born in 1993, so he’s 24 years old.

01:00 In 2014-16 he studied BTS [technician’s certificate — associate level] at the same time with

01:04 IFPASS, an Institute for the Formation of Insurance Professionals.

01:08 He is continuing his studies in the area of insurance, seeking a license.

01:12 Right now he is studying at a Commercial School. In parallel

01:16 to his double activity he has been militant in Lyon from age of sixteen

01:20 with Generation Identity. [Since he is] quite gifted at communication, he has become

01:24 the spokesperson for Generation Identity, which exposes him

01:28 publicly. And there lies the problem, and the beginning of his

01:32 problems, and the harassment of which he’s been the victim of. But let’s get back

01:37 to the facts: at the beginning of the year he organized and participated in the operation

01:41 Defend Europe at the Échelle Pass. Its goal was

01:45 to peacefully dissuade migrants from crossing the border.

01:49 The operation, led in cooperation with Italian militants, was a absolute success.

01:53 The traditional press and the entire audiovisual media talk

01:57 about this peaceful initiative and go berserk in denouncing

02:01 a coup, which wasn’t the case. Until now nothing

02:05 very surprising. We are in the domain of the usual disinformation.

02:09 But then Antifa mobilizes and launches a campaign

02:13 of the abusive flagging in social media, which results in the closing

02:17 of Facebook and Twitter accounts [of Gen Ident]. A reminder: if the Gen Ident

02:21 are conducting communications operations, it’s not the case with Antifa

02:25 and the ultra-Left, who still have their accounts,

02:29 even after they savagely ransacked Paris during the rally

02:33 on May 1. Even worse, they methodically proceeded to use

02:37 facial recognition on the militants of the operation of the Échelle Pass,

02:41 in order to doxx them and even put pressure

02:45 on the employer of their spokesperson. — “You’re employing s****y fascists,

02:49 people who hunt down migrants in the mountains, and what do you have to say about that?” And this

02:53 is how our guest finds himself in the heart of repression, which uses Stalinist methods.

02:57 The custody attorney announced on Friday May 11 that he was opening

03:02 a preliminary investigation into the activities of the militants of the Generation Identity

03:05 who blocked migrants in the Alps. Like all his colleagues

03:09 from the Gen Ident it’s with pride and courage

03:13 that he defends our European territory: please welcome

03:17 Romain Espino!

03:21

03:25 Have a seat, sir.

03:29 Welcome! —Thank you.

03:33 You are my youngest guest to date, to date. —My pleasure!

03:37 You have been the spokesperson for Generation Identity for the past two years, and I read

03:41 that you’ve been militant for eight years.

03:45 So you engaged in the politics around the end of kindergarten;

03:49 you started gluing your posters at the beginning of middle school. —A little later, a little later,

03:53 but you’re not far, and it’s important. —But why this early? — Well, I think

03:57 that in fact what leads a militant and especially an Identitaire militant to become engaged

04:01 is especially his early years, when he is confronted, in fact,

04:05 with immigration, with massive immigration. I grew up in the Lyon suburbs [projects].

04:10 I took public transportation, which crossed those zones

04:14 that are largely populated by people from outside of Europe,

04:18 that are inhabited by [immigrant] gangs of thug, and it was that which sensitized me from

04:22 very tender age. —So, I heard you say “I’m showing my face.”

04:26 The proof — you are showing your face! —Absolutely. —And when one sees the harassment

04:30 that you were and are the victim of, up to your workplace,

04:34 we have seen that, don’t you in the end regret not having

04:38 started masked like the Black Block: exchanging your blue

04:42 t-shirt for a black outfit with a balaclava? —No, no there’s really no regret,

04:46 and on the contrary: I mean, we have ideas that are legitimate. Today

04:50 the preoccupation of French people, the worry of the young people, is the question

04:54 of identity, questions of immigration; and therefore we are proud to carry this message,

04:58 and we are happy that we are showing our faces, because we have a lot of support, so

05:01 we don’t have to hide. —I would like to go back to the notion of harassment.

05:06 Did you expect this avalanche attack of cyber-harassment,

05:10 [did you expect] the presence of the League of the Defence of Black Africans; we saw the person

05:14 yelling at your workplace and screaming

05:18 to security: “ you’re employing the s****y fascists , people who hunt down the migrants

05:22 in the mountains? F***, don’t p*** me off!

05:26 We sure do notice a very nice vocabulary… —I find that it’s good;

05:30 it’s clear at least. —Yes, it’s clear, we are there

05:34 to defend Europeans, to defend young Europeans and we have

05:38 before us people — whether it’s them or militants of the

05:42 Extreme left, who use unsavory methods, who advance with masked faces;

05:46 so we, again, it’s with a lot of pride, that we act with open faces,

05:50 and no, we won’t hide. Our ideas are legitimate, and above all

05:54 the future of our continent is at stake. —You haven’t answered whether you were expecting that.

05:58 Did I expect that? —I’m not talking about the spokesperson, I’m talking about Romain Espino.

06:02 It’s possible, yes. I knew it was a risk; it was possible, and then: what is more important?

06:06 Am I being militant in order to assure a future for my family,

06:10 to assure a future for the family I would like to build, for my friends, for my entourage?

06:14 Or do I stay in my corner and do nothing?

06:18 In joining Generation Identity — and I think it’s the case for all militants of the Gen Ident —

06:22 we made the choice of not being the game, the prey, any longer. We are the youth who