The attack in Trappes and La Verrière, in France’s Yvelines department, left one person dead and four seriously injured on Friday, October 23. Suspect Kevin T. acknowledged a racist motive and said he had specifically targeted people he perceived as Muslim, African or North African, according to the account of the case. Investigators found political material he had made at home expressing ideological proximity to the National Rally (RN).
Kevin T. reportedly chose Trappes because he believed it was a “haven for Islamists.” On Tuesday, November 3, anti-terrorism prosecutor Olivier Christen said on RTL that the suspect’s profile fell within the “radical violent far right.” The attack has renewed attention to the meaning of that label.
Historian Nicolas Lebourg, a specialist in the far right and political radicalism, describes “ultra-right” as a policing category that applies to individuals and groups, not only to terrorism. In 1994, France’s Central Directorate of General Intelligence created the category to distinguish the violent or potentially violent part of the far right from political parties and electoral organisations, which it was not permitted to investigate under constitutional protections for political parties.
The article’s available text also reports that 23 proceedings linked to the ultra-right have been recorded since 2019. The remainder of the original article was not available in the recovered text.
Sources: Le Monde Politique.