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At the end of the ceremonies, a glowering, hostile crowd surrounded Laniel and Pleven. Gaullist hooligans lunged at them, shouting: "Resign! Resign!" Leaflets showered down: "They fired Juin today, will they arrest De Gaulle tomorrow?" A man shook his fist in the Defense Minister's face. Officials helped Laniel elbow his way to a police car. Police had to link arms and plow a path before Pleven could make it to his own car. "This is the first time such a disgraceful and disagreeable scene has ever occurred at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier," said an official.
The demonstration was shocking enough, but the reports that went out to France and the rest of the world were even more shocking. Correspondents (including those of the Associated Press, United Press, New York Herald Tribune) reported colorfully, and in varying detail, that Pleven had been slapped, his hair pulled, his glasses knocked off, and that the Premier of France had been kicked—one said in the pants. "Both were jostled badly," said one of the demonstrators later, "but not hit. I am sorry Pleven was not mauled."
So the Marshal of France was fired. But his supporters had no intention of letting him fade away. Though he had often disavowed any political ambition, it remained to be seen whether Soldier Juin would become a power on the turbulent French political scene.