A 33-year-old Algerian man was charged Wednesday with tried homicide and different crimes after setting hearth to a synagogue in southern France final week, prosecutors stated.
Officers stated the person expressed a deep hatred of Jews and informed investigators he acted to “help the Palestinian trigger.” However he denied meaning to trigger hurt, France’s nationwide anti-terror prosecutor’s workplace stated in a press release launched Wednesday.
Within the assault early Saturday morning, several fires were set in the Beth Yaakov Synagogue in La Grande Motte, a resort city on the south coast of France.
5 individuals who lived on the primary flooring of the constructing and have been inside on the time, together with the synagogue’s rabbi, have been unhurt within the assault. A policeman was barely injured when a gasoline cylinder exploded close to a burning automobile.
French authorities described the assault as an act of anti-Semitic terrorism.
The person, recognized solely by the initials EHK, was charged with tried homicide – on a terrorist foundation and motivated by race or faith – in addition to collaborating in a terrorist plot, arson and assaulting cops. He was ordered to be remanded in custody, the prosecutor’s workplace introduced.
The assault rocked France and deepened anxiousness amongst its massive Jewish group, which has been focused by a number of deadly attacks in recent times and confronted a rise anti-Semitic manifestations since war in Gaza.
The assault was “able to creating an environment of concern and uncertainty among the many inhabitants and engendering within the Jewish group and past a way of concern and direct risk,” the anti-terrorist prosecutor’s workplace stated in a press release.
Prosecutors stated the person’s police questioning and social media posts appeared to indicate he had been “radicalized within the follow of his faith” for a number of months and that he harbored “a long-standing hatred of Jews, significantly targeted on the scenario in Palestine .”
“He additionally informed a few of his family members about his intention to go and struggle in Gaza,” the prosecutor’s workplace stated.
After his arrestthe person informed investigators he was performing in help of the Palestinian trigger, “denying any murderous intent however claiming he supposed to impress concern” and “provoke a response from Israeli authorities,” prosecutors stated.
Three different individuals have been additionally arrested after the assault. One was rapidly launched with out cost, however the different two, males aged 28 and 30, have been additionally charged Wednesday, prosecutors stated.
Prosecutors didn’t establish any of the boys, however stated they have been members of the attacker’s “entourage.” One of many males drove the attacker again residence after the assault and was charged with harboring a legal terrorist; the opposite appeared to have been informed in regards to the plot by the attacker and has been charged with collaborating in a terrorist plot, prosecutors stated.
Within the weeks main as much as the assault, the prime suspect legally obtained a gun and searched on-line for native synagogues, Jewish holidays and the time of the Sabbath, prosecutors stated.
The attacker was carrying an ax with the phrases “Palestine, Gaza and the blood of Muslims,” prosecutors stated, though they didn’t specify what the phrases have been. On the time of the assault, he was sporting the kafiya, the headband that has turn into an emblem of Palestinian identification, and had a Palestinian flag tied round his waist.
The person was not on the radar of French or international counterterrorism companies, and French authorities stated he didn’t look like linked to a bigger group.
The person, who was born in Blida, Algeria, had utilized for residency papers and was in France legally, prosecutors stated. He had no job or revenue and lived in Nîmes, a metropolis in southeastern France about 24 miles from the location of the assault, prosecutors stated.
The person was arrested later Saturday in Nîmes after an trade of gunfire with cops. The person fired clean cartridges, however was wounded within the arm and chest in return hearth, the prosecutor’s workplace stated.
Gérald Darmanen, France’s inside minister, stated earlier that the person had a legal report for a number of minor offences, however prosecutors stated he had solely been convicted as soon as, in 2022, of drink-driving.
Prosecutors stated the person had gone to the synagogue alone the night time earlier than the assault and slept in his automobile close by. On Saturday, simply earlier than 8:30 a.m., he climbed a wall surrounding the synagogue compound, carrying plastic bottles full of gasoline, and set a number of fires, burning two automobiles to ashes.
The person hid briefly within the synagogue compound, prompting Mr. Darmanin to counsel final week that he might have been ready to assault individuals leaving the constructing.
However prosecutors stated the person left rapidly, by chance setting his automobile on hearth as he fled and abandoning the car earlier than assembly an acquaintance at a close-by market who drove him again to Nîmes.
