Shortly before 8:00 p.m., a protester told BuzzFeed News reporter David Perrotin that "it isn't good to take photos" of the event, and then asked if he was a journalist. He didn't identify himself as one out of concern for his safety, but she continued: "I know who you are, I have information about you. You are David Perrotin. Wait, I'll tell the JDL that you're here."

The JDL was founded in the United States by the radical rabbi Meir Kahane in the late 1960s, and was implicated in bombing and murder plots against Soviet and Arab targets. In recent decades, it splintered amid violent infighting. Israel has banned groups founded by Kahane, who was himself murdered in 1990; the American JDL inspired the creation of a French JDL in 2000, and France considered a similar ban last year, according to Libération and the AFP.

After his conversation with the protester, Perrotin sought to leave the crowd. Police directed him to run toward the police line in front of the AFP building, but as he ran, a group of about a dozen young protesters wearing masks and helmets intercepted him.