Advertisement

France arrests teen over alleged plot to target Jewish and LGBTQ communities

AFP
AFP - news@thelocal.fr
France arrests teen over alleged plot to target Jewish and LGBTQ communities
This photograph shows a police crest reading "Police Nationale - Prefecture de police" (police prefecture). (Photo by Julie SEBADELHA / AFP)

French authorities have arrested a 15-year-old boy who was planning to carry out a "violent act" targeting the Jewish or LGBTQ communities, anti-terror prosecutors told AFP on Friday.

Advertisement

The teenager, apprehended last week in the southeastern Rhone region, is charged with "participation in a terrorist criminal conspiracy with a view to preparing one or more crimes against persons," according to France's national counterterrorism prosecutor's office (PNAT).

He "admitted to wanting to die as a martyr and to having planned to carry out a violent act targeting the Jewish or LGBT community", prosecutors added.

No further details regarding the teenager's identity or the nature of the potential attack were immediately available.

In late 2025, France's national anti-terrorism prosecutor Olivier Christen noted a "four- or five-year" trend of younger defendants linked with "terrorist" offences, observing that "most are under 20" and there are "many minors these days."

Advertisement

The head of the PNAT added that the suspects are primarily boys, many of whom are isolated and often "failing at school or relatively detached from it".

More

Comments

Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at news@thelocal.fr.
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.

Please log in to leave a comment.

See Also