Crowds attend Paris memorial for far-right French leader Jean-Marie Le Pen under tight security

PARIS (AP) — Over 1,000 people attended a memorial ceremony Thursday in central Paris for the founder of France’s main far-right party, Jean-Marie Le Pen, who died last week at the age of 96.

The “mass for the repose of the soul” at Notre-Dame du Val-de-Grâce church took place under tight security, as Le Pen was a polarizing figure, convicted multiple times of antisemitism, discrimination and inciting racial violence.

Family members, including his daughter Marine Le Pen, now the leading far-right figure in France, other National Rally party officials and longstanding supporters gathered inside the church. The broader public was allowed to follow the ceremony via giant screens outside.

A private funeral took place last week in Le Pen's hometown of La Trinité-sur-Mer in Brittany.

Jean-Marie had three daughters, including Marine, the youngest. She transformed her father's National Front in the 2010s, renamed it the National Rally, and made it one of France’s most powerful political forces. She is now eyeing the 2027 presidential election.

Crowds applauded Le Pen's family members as they came out of the church at the end of the mass.

Among those at the ceremony was Eric Zemmour, a controversial talk show pundit with views to the right of the far-right who competed against Marine Le Pen at the last presidential election, in 2022. Zemmour was convicted multiple times of inciting racist or religious hatred.

Le Pen’s niece, Marion Maréchal, now a member of the European Parliament who once joined forces with Zemmour before launching her own far-right party last year, was also present.

Dieudonné M’Bala M’Bala, a French comedian repeatedly convicted of inciting antisemitism or racial hatred, attended outside the church. He said on social media a court allowed him to go. The comedian has been under house arrest since May, tagged with an electronic bracelet.

Numerous police officers had been deployed Thursday around the church as authorities sought to avoid any security incident.

Last week, the death of the far-right politician pushed thousands of demonstrators onto the Place de la République in Paris to celebrate the news. The crowd could be seen dancing and chanting: “Happy New Year, Jean-Marie is dead.” Similar gatherings took place in other French cities, including Lyon and Marseille.

Anti-racism group SOS Racisme paid tribute to “generations of activists who have given their time, youth and energy to fight the National Front and its ideas.”

In an interview in 1987, Jean-Marie Le Pen referred to the Nazi gas chambers as a “detail in World War II history.”

He repeated the remark in 2015, saying he “did not at all” regret it, triggering the ire of his daughter, by then the party leader. She was seeking to distance herself from her father’s extremist image, and that year he was kicked out of the party.

Dieudonne M'Bala M'Bala, a French comedian repeatedly convicted of inciting antisemitism or racial hatred, stays outside Notre Dame du Val-de-Grace church during a public memorial for late far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen, Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025 in Paris. Jean-Marie Le Pen, the founder of France's main far-right party, died on Jan.7, 2025 aged 96. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

A woman bring a wreath a flowers at Notre Dame du Val-de-Grace church before a public memorial for late far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen, Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025 in Paris. Jean-Marie Le Pen, the founder of France's main far-right party, died on Jan.7, 2025 aged 96. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

People wait outside Notre Dame du Val-de-Grace church before a public memorial for late far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen, Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025 in Paris. Jean-Marie Le Pen, the founder of France's main far-right party, died on Jan.7, 2025 aged 96. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Eric Zemmour, founder of far-right party Reconquete (Renew), waves as he arrives at Notre Dame du Val-de-Grace church before a public memorial for late far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen, Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025 in Paris. Jean-Marie Le Pen, the founder of France's main far-right party, died on Jan.7, 2025 aged 96. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Veterans hold flags at the entrance of Notre Dame du Val-de-Grace church during a public memorial for late far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen, Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025 in Paris. Jean-Marie Le Pen, the founder of France's main far-right party, died on Jan.7, 2025 aged 96. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

Marion Marechal, center, arrives at Notre Dame du Val-de-Grace church for a public memorial for her grand-father and late far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen, Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025 in Paris. Jean-Marie Le Pen, the founder of France's main far-right party, died on Jan.7, 2025 aged 96. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Marion Marechal arrives at Notre Dame du Val-de-Grace church for a public memorial for her grand-father and late far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen, Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025 in Paris. Jean-Marie Le Pen, the founder of France's main far-right party, died on Jan.7, 2025 aged 96. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

People gather outside Notre Dame du Val-de-Grace church during a public memorial for late far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen, Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025 in Paris. Jean-Marie Le Pen, the founder of France's main far-right party, died on Jan.7, 2025 aged 96. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

People wait outside Notre Dame du Val-de-Grace church before a public memorial for late far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen, Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025 in Paris. Jean-Marie Le Pen, the founder of France's main far-right party, died on Jan.7, 2025 aged 96. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen arrives Notre Dame du Val-de-Grace church for a public memorial for her father and late far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen, Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025 in Paris. Jean-Marie Le Pen, the founder of France's main far-right party, died on Jan.7, 2025 aged 96. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Federal agents carrying out immigration arrests in Minnesota's Twin Cities region already shaken by the fatal shooting of a woman rammed the door of one home Sunday and pushed their way inside, part of what the Department of Homeland Security has called its largest enforcement operation ever.

In a dramatic scene similar to those playing out across Minneapolis, agents captured a man in the home just minutes after pepper spraying protesters outside who had confronted the heavily armed federal agents. Along the residential street, protesters honked car horns, banged on drums and blew whistles in attempts to disrupt the operation.

Video of the clash taken by The Associated Press showed some agents pushing back protesters while a distraught woman later emerged from the house with a document that federal agents presented to arrest the man. Signed by an immigration officer, the document — unlike a warrant signed by a judge — does not authorize forced entry into a private residence. A warrant signed by an immigration officer only authorizes arrest in a public area.

Immigrant advocacy groups have conducted extensive “know-your-rights” campaigns urging people not to open their doors unless agents have a court order signed by a judge.

But within minutes of ramming the door in a neighborhood filled with single-family homes, the handcuffed man was led away.

More than 2,000 immigration arrests have been made in Minnesota since the enforcement operation began at the beginning of December, said Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told Fox News on Sunday that the administration would send additional federal agents to Minnesota to protect immigration officers and continue enforcement.

The Twin Cities — the latest target in President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement campaign — is bracing for what is next after 37-year-old Renee Good was shot and killed by an immigration officer on Wednesday.

“We’re seeing a lot of immigration enforcement across Minneapolis and across the state, federal agents just swarming around our neighborhoods,” said Jason Chavez, a Minneapolis city councilmember. “They’ve definitely been out here.”

Chavez, the son of Mexican immigrants who represents an area with a growing immigrant population, said he is closely monitoring information from chat groups about where residents are seeing agents operating.

People holding whistles positioned themselves in freezing temperatures on street corners Sunday in the neighborhood where Good was killed, watching for any signs of federal agents.

More than 20,000 people have taken part in a variety of trainings to become “observers” of enforcement activities in Minnesota since the 2024 election, said Luis Argueta, a spokesperson for Unidos MN, a local human rights organization .

“It’s a role that people choose to take on voluntarily, because they choose to look out for their neighbors,” Argueta said.

The protests have been largely peaceful, but residents remained anxious. On Monday, Minneapolis public schools will start offering remote learning for the next month in response to concerns that children might feel unsafe venturing out while tensions remain high.

Many schools closed last week after Good’s shooting and the upheaval that followed.

While the enforcement activity continues, two of the state’s leading Democrats said that the investigation into Good's shooting death should not be overseen solely by the federal government.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and U.S. Sen. Tina Smith said in separate interviews Sunday that state authorities should be included in the investigation because the federal government has already made clear what it believes happened.

“How can we trust the federal government to do an objective, unbiased investigation, without prejudice, when at the beginning of that investigation they have already announced exactly what they saw — what they think happened," Smith said on ABC’s "This Week."

The Trump administration has defended the officer who shot Good in her car, saying he was protecting himself and fellow agents and that Good had “weaponized” her vehicle.

Todd Lyons, acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, defended the officer on Fox News Channel’s “The Sunday Briefing.”

"That law enforcement officer had milliseconds, if not short time to make a decision to save his life and his other fellow agents,” he said.

Lyons also said the administration’s enforcement operations in Minnesota wouldn't be needed “if local jurisdictions worked with us to turn over these criminally illegal aliens once they are already considered a public safety threat by the locals.”

The killing of Good by an ICE officer and the shooting of two people by federal agents in Portland, Oregon, led to dozens of protests in cities across the country over the weekend, including New York, Los Angeles, Washington D.C. and Oakland, California.

Contributing were Associated Press journalists Giovanna Dell’Orto in Minneapolis; Thomas Strong in Washington; Bill Barrow in Atlanta; Christopher Weber in Los Angeles; and John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio.

A woman gets into an altercation with a federal immigration officer as officers make an arrest Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)

A federal immigration officer deploys pepper spray as officers make an arrest Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)

A family member, center, reacts after federal immigration officers make an arrest Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Bystanders are treated after being pepper sprayed as federal immigration officers make an arrest Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)

A family member reacts after federal immigration officers make an arrest Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Federal agents look on after detaining a person during a patrol in Minneapolis, Minn., Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press via AP)

Bystanders react after a man was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents during a traffic stop, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Robbinsdale, Minn. (AP Photo/John Locher)

People stand near a memorial at the site where Renee Good was fatally shot by an ICE agent, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jen Golbeck)

A man looks out of a car window after being detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents during a traffic stop, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Robbinsdale, Minn. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Border Patrol agents detain a man, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)

People shout toward Border Patrol agents making an arrest, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)

Demonstrators protest outside the White House in Washington, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent who fatally shot Renee Good in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey holds a news conference on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jen Golbeck)

Protesters react as they visit a makeshift memorial during a rally for Renee Good, who was fatally shot by an ICE officer earlier in the week, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)