Man charged over plot to assassinate Emmanuel Macron
Prosecutors claim man planned to shoot French President on Bastille Day
A 23-year-old man has been charged with plotting to kill Emmanuel Macron during next week's Bastille Day parade.
Prosecutors in Paris told CNN he was aligned to the "extreme right" and wanted to murder the French President, as well as "blacks, Arabs, Jews and homosexuals".
In what the London Evening Standard described as a "Day of the Jackal-style plot", the man planned to shoot Macron with a Kalashnikov assault rifle while the politician took the salute at the Bastille Day celebrations on 14 July.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
US President Donald Trump will be among the guests of honour at the ceremony.
The man has been charged with plotting to commit a terrorist act after coming to the attention of the security services monitoring a video games forum, where he mentioned his search for a weapon.
Police said it was too early to say if he was linked to a wider network.
Bastille Day is the most important date in France's ceremonial calendar. It commemorates the storming of the Bastille prison in 1789, sparking the start of the French Revolution, and was also the setting for Frederick Forsyth's 1967 novel The Day of the Jackal, which portrays the attempted assassination of Charles de Gaulle.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
In 2002, Maxime Brunerie, a neo-Nazi, fired at President Jacques Chirac during the Bastille Day parade, reports RMC radio. He was sentenced to ten years in prison before being released in 2009.
-
AI agents: When bots browse the webfeature Letting robots do the shopping
-
Will Chuck Schumer keep his job?Today's Big Question Democrats are discontented and pointing a finger at the Senate leader
-
Dick Cheney: the vice president who led the War on Terrorfeature Cheney died this month at the age of 84
-
Nigeria confused by Trump invasion threatSpeed Read Trump has claimed the country is persecuting Christians
-
The Louvre’s security measures are in hot water after a major heistIn the Spotlight Millions of dollars in jewels were stolen from the museum
-
France’s ‘red hands’ trial highlights alleged Russian disruption operationsUNDER THE RADAR Attacks on religious and cultural institutions around France have authorities worried about Moscow’s effort to sow chaos in one of Europe’s political centers
-
The WW2 massacre dividing Senegal and FranceUnder the Radar A new investigation found the 1944 Thiaroye attack on ‘unarmed’ African soldiers was ‘premeditated’, and far deadlier than previously recorded
-
Sanae Takaichi: Japan’s Iron Lady set to be the country’s first woman prime ministerIn the Spotlight Takaichi is a member of Japan’s conservative, nationalist Liberal Democratic Party
-
Prime minister shocks France with resignationSpeed Read French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu submitted his government’s resignation after less than a month in office
-
Russia is ‘helping China’ prepare for an invasion of TaiwanIn the Spotlight Russia is reportedly allowing China access to military training
-
Interpol arrests hundreds in Africa-wide sextortion crackdownIN THE SPOTLIGHT A series of stings disrupts major cybercrime operations as law enforcement estimates millions in losses from schemes designed to prey on lonely users