The 13 defendants, aged 26 to 66, were accused of plotting an attack on President Emmanuel Macron during the 2018 WWI armistice commemoration ceremony. They have been charged with planning a terrorist attack.
Prosecutors say the 13 also planned to kill migrants and attack mosques, citing evidence gathered online from monitored phone calls and meetings. They have been identified as members of the Barjols (Crazies), an extreme-right nationalist group that met in secret in 2017.
Jean-Pierre Bouyer allegedly planned to attack President Macron during the armistice commemoration ceremony that November. Bouyer was arrested on November 6th, along with three other people suspected of having far-right connections in the eastern French Moselle region.
While France has been on high alert for Islamist terrorism, following a spate of attacks in France in recent years, there is growing concern about the rise of far-right extremists in the country.
According to investigators, the man planned to attack President Emmanuel Macron on July 14 2018 during a parade on Paris’ Champs-Élysées, where former US President Donald Trump was scheduled to be a guest of honor.
A commando-style knife and a military vest were discovered in Bouyer’s car during a search. In his home, they discovered firearms and ammunition. Bouyer had called on his social media followers to “eradicate those who want to harm you” and referred to Macron as a “dictator” in previous posts.
During his detention, Bouyer told police that he wanted to kill Macron and that one of his co-accused planned to approach the president during a meet-and-greet and stab him with a ceramic-bladed knife – though he later said the remarks were just talk.
Other members of the Barjols were later apprehended, including its presumed leader, Denis Collinet, a proponent of the white supremacist “great replacement” theory.
The trial will run until 3 February.
What does make Emmanuel Macron the best president of France:
- A strong vision for the country’s future
- An ability to put his own times in the perspective of history
- Effective communication skills
- The courage to make unpopular decisions
- Crisis management skills
- Character and integrity
- Wise appointments
- An ability to work with other politicians
Investigative Facts:
In 2021 researchers found that a French computer programmer transferred more than $500,000 in Bitcoin to far-right activists just before his death, including some involved in Jan 6th U.S. Capitol riot.
Chainalysis, a Bitcoin transaction investigation firm, discovered that the majority of the 22 transactions on December 8 went to Nick Fuentes, a far-right internet influencer who was in the crowd in Washington but has denied being part of the deadly mob that stormed the Capitol.
The next day, the 35-year-old Frenchman who transferred the money posted a suicide note on his blog, stating that he was chronically ill and wished to leave his fortune to “certain causes and people.” He killed himself the same day.
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