French far-right seizes on shock killing of teen at village party

The killing of a teenager during a village dance party has sparked shock and political controversy in France, with the far-right on Tuesday claiming the assault was anti-white racism.

Published: 21 November 2023 17:00 CET

French far-right seizes on shock killing of teen at village party

Photo by BERTRAND GUAY / AFP

The 16-year-old high school student, identified only as Thomas, was stabbed at the weekend when a group of outsiders descended on a festive crowd of around 400 people gathered in Crépol, in the southwestern Drôme region, for a dance party in the village hall.

He died on his way to hospital. Eight others were injured, two of them seriously.

Gendarmerie spokeswoman Marie-Laure Pezan on Tuesday said the weekend’s incident was marked “by violence that was quite incredible for a village of 500 people”.

Josette Place, a pensioner and member of the village’s events committee, told AFP: “This wasn’t a fight, it was an attack”. Armed with knives and blocks of concrete, “they came with the intention to kill”, she said of the attackers.

According to prosecutors, around 10 young people tried to enter Crépol village dance hall on the night of Saturday to Sunday. One stabbed a guard who stood in their way.

Guests at the dance rushed to help and a fight developed outside the building during which Thomas was fatally stabbed.

Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin on Tuesday told parliament that seven people had been arrested and investigators would now ascertain if they were behind “this odious crime”.

Far-right politicians have been quick to seize on the issue, claiming the attack was racially motivated.

Far-right activists pointed the finger at what some called “thugs from the estates”, a thinly veiled reference to young people from immigrant backgrounds, even though police have not yet provided any information as to the identity of the attackers.

“Now anti-white racism is hitting our countryside,” Marion Maréchal, the leading candidate for the far-right Reconquete! party of ex-presidential hopeful Eric Zemmour in next year’s European elections, claimed on X, formerly Twitter.

Marine Le Pen, the figurehead of the far-right National Rally (RN) party and a former presidential candidate, alleged in an interview with the weekly Valeurs Actuelles that “armed militia” were organising “raids”.

Police have not given any information as to the possible identity of the attackers.

Far-right activists have been posting videos online that they said were shot during the dance, claiming they allow to identify two of the attackers. The authenticity of the videos has not been verified.

Far-right activists have called for a silent march on Wednesday in Romans-sur-Isère, where Thomas’s high school is located, using hashtags such as #francocide, #Francaisreveillezvous (French wake up) or #Racaille (a racially loaded word that roughly translates as ‘scum’) in their online posts.

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The French Jewish community, the third largest in the world, has for months been on edge in the face of a growing number of attacks and desecrations of memorials.

“National police in Rouen neutralised early this morning an armed individual who clearly wanted to set fire to the city’s synagogue,” Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

Police responded at 6.45 am to reports of “fire near the synagogue”, a police source said.

A source close to the case told AFP the man “was armed with a knife and an iron bar, he approached police, who fired. The individual died”.

“It is not only the Jewish community that is affected. It is the entire city of Rouen that is bruised and in shock,” Rouen Mayor Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol wrote on X.

He made clear there were no other victims other than the attacker.

Two separate investigations have been opened, one into the fire at the synagogue and another into the circumstances of the death of the individual killed by the police, Rouen prosecutors said.

Such an investigation by France’s police inspectorate general is automatic whenever an individual is killed by the police.

The man threatened a police officer with a knife and the latter used his service weapon, said the Rouen prosecutor.

The dead man was not immediately identified, a police source said.

Asked by AFP, the National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s Office said that it is currently assessing whether it will take up the case.

France has the largest Jewish community of any country after Israel and the United States, as well as Europe’s largest Muslim community.

There have been tensions in France in the wake of the October 7th attack by Palestinian militant group Hamas on Israel, followed by the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip.

Red hand graffiti was painted onto France’s Holocaust Memorial earlier this week, prompted anger including from President Emmanuel Macron who condemned “odious anti-Semitism”.

“Attempting to burn a synagogue is an attempt to intimidate all Jews. Once again, there is an attempt to impose a climate of terror on the Jews of our country. Combating anti-Semitism means defending the Republic,” Yonathan Arfi, the president of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France (CRIF). wrote on X.

France was hit from 2015 by a spate of Islamist attacks that also hit Jewish targets. There have been isolated attacks in recent months and France’s security alert remains at its highest level.