French Anti-Terror Police Detain Neo-Nazi Sympathizer Suspected of Targeting Olympic Torch Relay

French anti-terror police have detained an alleged neo-Nazi sympathizer suspected of planning to target the Olympic torch relay, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said Wednesday.

The Paris prosecutor’s office announced that the man was detained Wednesday morning at his home in the Alsace region of eastern France. Authorities said he runs a group called the “French Aryan division” on the social media platform Telegram and was detained for questioning regarding death threats, hate speech, and other postings he allegedly made.

While the prosecutor’s office clarified that the suspect’s comments which triggered the investigation by its unit dedicated to combating online hate did not specifically target the Paris Olympics, Darmanin highlighted the threat to the torch relay. “There was a willingness to intervene during a stage, evidently, of the torch relay,” Darmanin said.

The Olympic torch is nearing the end of its extensive journey around France and its overseas territories before the Games’ opening on July 26.

Darmanin, who is currently serving in a caretaker capacity at the interior ministry until a new government is formed following recent legislative elections, stated that the suspect had previously been flagged by police for holding “ultra-right ideas, which can be termed neo-Nazi.” He added, “We know that he had, a priori, a desire to hit political targets or people with immigrant backgrounds.”

The prosecutor’s office added that in addition to alleged death threats and hate speech, the suspect is being investigated for allegedly sharing personal information that put people at risk and for disseminating bomb-making instructions.

Paris is ramping up security for its first Olympic Games in a century, deploying up to 45,000 police and gendarmes along with a 10,000-strong military force to patrol streets and sites in the Paris region and undertake other security missions.