PARIS– French anti-terrorism police have detained an alleged neo-Nazi sympathizer suspected of wanting to target the Olympic torch relay, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said on Wednesday.
The Paris prosecutor’s office said the man was detained on Wednesday morning at his home in the Alsace region of eastern France. It said he runs a group titled “French Aryan Division” on the Telegram social media channel and was detained for questioning over death threats, hate speech and other posts he allegedly made.
The prosecution said his alleged comments that triggered the investigation by its unit dedicated to combating online hate were not specifically aimed at the Paris Olympics, which begin with a high-security opening ceremony on July 26.
Darmanin, however, said: “There was a desire to intervene during a stage, obviously, of the torch relay.”
The Olympic torch is nearing the end of its months-long journey through France and French overseas territories before the opening of the Games.
Darmanin, who remains acting at the Ministry of the Interior until a new government is formed after legislative elections earlier this month, said the suspect has already been reported by the police “for ultra-right ideas, which can be called neo-Nazi.”
“We know that he had, a priori, a desire to target political targets or people of immigrant origin,” he said.
The prosecutor’s office said that in addition to alleged death threats and posts that incite hatred, the suspect is also being investigated on suspicion of sharing personal information that put people at risk and sharing instructions for making bombs.
The security operation in the French capital for its first Olympic Games in a century involves up to 45,000 police and gendarmes, in addition to a military force of 10,000 men who patrol streets and locations in the Paris region and carry out other security missions.
This story originally appeared on ABCNews.go.com read the full story
