Two ultra-right activists, accused of calling for violent actions on the encrypted messaging application Telegram and of having made racist and anti-Semitic remarks, were arrested and taken into custody on Tuesday, November 16. They are targeted by an investigation by the national anti-terrorism prosecution for “terrorist criminal association”. As in all police custody as part of an anti-terrorism investigation, theirs can last 96 hours.
Investigation
These two individuals were arrested Tuesday, November 16 as part of the ultra-right movement by the General Directorate of Internal Security (DGSI) and targeted by an investigation by the anti-terrorism prosecution, franceinfo learned Wednesday, November 17 from a judicial source. They are under investigation for “terrorist criminal association” and “direct provocation by an online means of communication to an act of terrorism”.
According to a source familiar with the matter, these two activists exchanged to carry out “arms purchases”. Many weapons and ammunition were found during searches of one of them, including hunting weapons.
Police custody, which began on Tuesday, November 16, and which can last up to 96 hours as in all anti-terrorism investigations. They should make it possible to determine for what purpose these weapons were acquired and stored.
Currently, seven procedures concerning the ultra-right are underway at the national anti-terrorism prosecution, preliminary inquiries and judicial inquiries.
Their profiles
The first of the two activists is a 46-year-old man, municipal employee of the town hall of Montauban (Tarn-et-Garonne). Weapons were found at his home during his arrest.
The second activist is a 60-year-old man, arrested in Gironde, already known to the courts. In 2006, he was sentenced to 14 years in prison for murder.
According to a source familiar with the matter, these two men are considered “white supremacists” and belong to the “accelerationist trend”, that is, they are convinced that a “race war” will explode and it must be provoked. According to Nicolas Lebourg, historian and specialist on the European far right, invited Thursday, November 18 on franceinfo, “accelerationism is a notion that arose among white American nationalists”, with this idea that “If the whites don’t strike first, the race war will wipe them out altogether.”
What they were broadcasting on Telegram
Thursday, November 18, franceinfo was able to learn about the Telegram loop of one of them, a 46-year-old employee of the town hall of Montauban (Tarn-et-Garonne). Weapons were found at his home. On this Telegram loop, he defended violence and survivalist theses.
Among the documents shared on its Telegram loop, a “sniper manual”, a summary of “Mein Kampf fundamentals”, a “manual of the accelerationist activist, written by and for men of action”, manuals of “survival in the midst of chaos”, “combat in urban areas” or for “to become a citizen-soldier”. These documents were shared with at least several dozen subscribers, accompanied by numerous racist and anti-Semitic comments.