Two British anti-immigration activists say they were attacked during a confrontation near the Eiffel Tower in Paris on Sunday 1 November 2026. Video circulating online shows a tense encounter involving the men, but important claims about how the incident began and the identities of those involved have not been independently established.
Montgomery Toms and Will Coleshill were named in a social media statement by Toms, who said they were filming in the area when a confrontation developed with a group of men. French outlet Padup, reporting on 2 November, described the other men as informal street vendors near the monument.
What the video shows
The footage, shared across X and other platforms, shows a heated exchange on a pedestrian route near the Eiffel Tower. In the recording, a British man can be heard telling someone to step back and referring to an alleged attack on women. He then tells a woman called Lucy to move away. The encounter escalates amid shouting and movement by several people.
The clip provides evidence of a confrontation, but it does not establish every event before filming began, who first used physical force, or whether everyone depicted was involved in an assault. The allegations should not be treated as findings of fact.
Social media reports also allege that some of the group’s equipment was thrown into the River Seine. Fish 4 News has not independently verified that claim from the material reviewed.
Claims about the other men remain unverified
Toms has described the men involved as Congolese migrants and said he and Coleshill stepped in to protect a woman accompanying them. Those are his allegations. The circulating footage and published reports reviewed by Fish 4 News do not independently establish the men’s nationalities or immigration status.
The French report described the other group as street vendors, but this too should not be taken to identify every person visible in the video. No official account available to us establishes the identities of those involved.
Why the activists were in Paris
The episode took place during a weekend when activists associated with the European far right had planned a conference and march promoting “remigration”, a term commonly used by such groups for policies intended to remove immigrants, sometimes extending to people with a migrant background.
A planned Objectif Remigration demonstration in Paris on 1 November was banned by the police prefecture. The Paris city authorities’ published notice cites risks of incitement to hatred and discrimination and of clashes between opposing groups. A related conference planned for 31 October in Le Plessis-Robinson was also banned, as Le Monde reported.
Those restrictions form part of the weekend’s political context. They do not, on their own, explain who initiated the separate confrontation beside the Eiffel Tower.
What police have said
As of 3 November, Fish 4 News has not located a public statement by the Paris police prefecture or prosecutors specifically confirming arrests, injuries or a formal investigation arising from this encounter. Absence of a published statement does not mean no complaint has been made.
Video: The Eiffel Tower confrontation
Warning: The footage contains an aggressive confrontation and strong language. It is a recording circulated by accounts sympathetic to the activists, not an independent reconstruction of events.
If the player does not load, watch the original video post on X.
What we do not know
- Who first initiated physical violence and what happened before recording began.
- Whether equipment was thrown into the Seine, and whether any property was recovered.
- The identities, nationalities and immigration status of the other men.
- Whether police received a complaint, made arrests or opened an investigation.
Sources
- Circulating video shared on X, 1 November 2026
- Padup: French account and video description, 2 November 2026
- City of Paris: notice of protest restrictions and the banned Objectif Remigration march
- Le Monde: bans on the conference and march, 29 October 2026
- Montgomery Toms: publicly posted account of the incident (allegations, not independent verification)
