Femen’s ‘sextremists’ crash far-right event

Members of the activist group Femen showed up topless to protest a National Front press conference held to kick off the party’s campaign for the European Parliament elections next month.

Reporters swarmed on the over 20 female activists who marched up to the briefing with European flags painted on their chests, but with the gold-colored stars rearranged to form swastikas. On their backs was scrawled the message “fascism epidemic”, BFMTV reported.

In a series of tweets Femen said, “An army of 23 sextremists from around Europe disrupted their press conference by denouncing the coalition of all the European extreme-right parties who have the goal of contaminating a few more seats in the Parliament. Femen begins here its campaign against the epidemic that is sprouting throughout Europe.” 

Les #Femen devant l'hôtel ou se tient la conférence de presse de M. Le Pen. Paris 8ème ce matin. pic.twitter.com/Gh1GgygX1v

— Tanguy de Lanlay (@tanguydl) April 22, 2014

The anti-immigrant, anti-EU National Front is expected to do well in May’s elections, after its historic showing in France's local elections in March. National Front candidates captured the mayorships in 11 towns and win over 1,200 council seats.  

The feminist activist group, known for its topless protests, has launched some high-profile protests in Paris including a controversial action at Notre Dame cathedral that resulted in criminal charges. The collective is based in Paris.