- Home
- French...
French arrest over suspected Olympic torch relay plot
A man has been detained on suspicion of planning an attack on the Olympic torch relay in Bordeaux, French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin has said.
He gave few details but praised police for ensuring security during Thursday's relay.
Prosecutors said the suspect had written a disturbing message that "could correspond to glorifying crime". He also referred to a previous mass killing in the US, they added.
The Olympic flame arrived in Marseille earlier this month, ahead of the Paris Games, which start on 26 July.
Paris 2024 organisers have spoken of an unprecedented security operation, with an opening ceremony involving more than 10,000 athletes being ferried along the River Seine.
The Olympic flame was due to arrive in Bordeaux late on Thursday afternoon, after a day of events marking its passage through the surrounding area.
Bordeaux prosecutor Frédérique Porterie said an investigation had been launched in response to an online message that referred to the killing of six people in their late teens and early 20s exactly 10 years ago in Isla Vista, California.
CNews said a post on the suspect's profile referred to Isla Vista killer Elliot Rodger, who had a deep loathing of women. His attacks inspired people online who identified as being " involuntarily celibate" - or incels.
The prosecutor said the suspect - named as Alex G - had no criminal record but during a search of his home a rubber pellet revolver was seized along with several mobile phones and a computer.
According to the court in Bordeaux, the suspect had admitted to "having considered an act with no specific location" in mind, and had not directly spoken about the Olympic flame relay.
He was also described as "psychologically highly fragile".
The Olympic flame is at the start of a 12,000km (7,500-mile) odyssey around mainland France and its overseas territories. Anti-drone experts have joined police in keeping a close eye on its journey.
The flame had been due to travel as far as the Pacific territory of New Caledonia, but rioting over the past 10 days has prompted organisers to cancel that leg of the route.
- https://www.msn.com/en-my/news/world/french-arrest-over-suspected-olympic-torch-relay-plot/ar-BB1mUm3C?ocid=00000000
Related
How not to show solidarity with the Palestinian people
Malala Yousafzai has spoken up on Gaza, but aligned herself with those complicit in its destruction. She can do better.
NewsEx-president Hollande makes surprise comeback in French election
France's former Socialist president Francois Hollande on Saturday said he would run for parliament again, the latest political twist following his successor Emmanuel Macron's surprise decision to call snap legislative elections. Macron's dissolving of parliament after the French far right's victory in European parliamentary elections has swiftly redrawn the lines of French politics.
NewsTrump threatens to cut off aid to Ukraine 'prior to taking the White House as president-elect'
Former U.S. President and presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump voiced strong criticism of American aid to Ukraine at a campaign rally in Detroit on June 15. Speaking at the Turning Point USA event, Trump claimed he would "have that (U.S. aid to Ukraine) settled prior to taking the White House as president-elect." Trump described President Vo...
NewsTrump challenges Biden to a cognitive test but confuses the name of the doctor who tested him
WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump on Saturday night suggested President Joe Biden “should have to take a cognitive test," only to confuse who administered the test to him in the next sentence. The former president and presumptive Republican nominee referred to Texas Republican Rep. Ronny Jackson, who was the White House physician for part of his presidency, as "Ronny Johnson.” The moment came as Trump was questioning Biden's mental acuity,...
NewsThe Overlooked (But Real) Possibility of a Big Democratic Win
Both moderates and progressives are pushing the Biden campaign to get more ambitious.
NewsSupreme Court Makes Unanimous Decision Regarding The Second Amendment
Supreme Court Makes Unanimous Decision Regarding The Second Amendment
NewsWhy 800 people fled a sun-kissed Mediterranean village
Most of Alma al-Shaab in southern Lebanon has fled after heavy Israeli bombardment.
NewsResearchers make surprise discovery about byproducts from drill sites — and the impact could be huge
This breakthrough means we may be able to get the lithium we need without digging new mines or creating more waste. Researchers make surprise discovery about byproducts from drill sites — and the impact could be huge first appeared on The Cool Down.
News