Racist attack in Puget-sur-Argens: what does the far-right terrorist threat represent in France?

A turning point for the National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor's Office. Following the racist attack that left one dead and another injured in Puget-sur-Argens on Saturday, May 31, the National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor's Office (PNAT) took over the investigation, a first for an attack linked to the far-right on French soil.

The PNAT took action because the message of claim published shortly after the events by the alleged shooter contained, according to a source close to the investigation, "political demands" and a "discourse hostile to immigration".

"This terrorist case is the 20th that can be attributed to this movement" since 2017, stressed Jean-François Ricard, former national anti-terrorism prosecutor, on the BFMTV set on Monday, June 2.

"It's the first crime to be committed, carried out, but it's far from being the first," he continues, referring to "quite serious cases involving small groups training to commit real massacres."

During a hearing before a parliamentary commission of inquiry in 2016, Patrick Calvar, head of the DGSI, declared that he feared "an inevitable confrontation" between "the far-right and the Muslim world." The recent murders of Hichem Miraoui in Puget-sur-Argens and Aboubakar Cissé in a mosque in Grand-Combe on April 25 illustrate a shift in the French security landscape, in which the far-right threat is taking on unprecedented proportions.

This violence is directed "particularly against Muslims and people of Arab origin," according to areport on far-right terrorism in Europe since the 1990s by the University of Oslo's Center for Research on Extremism.

Since the end of 2016, the General Directorate for Internal Security (DGSI) has thwarted 19 planned attacks by far-right individuals or groups, compared to 40 for the Islamist threat, which is still considered a priority.

Former national anti-terrorism prosecutor Jean-François Ricard draws a link between the two movements in their structure and the equivalence of ideological transmissions. Members of this movement "are very influenced by ideologies, particularly those disseminated in the United States," but also popularized in France by the far right, and the rise of political theories, including that of the "great replacement," initiated by far-right writer Renaud Camus.

"There are American supremacist movements widely disseminated on social media with ultra-violent images of training camps, which will push a certain number of young people to join this very radical logic with training camps in certain Eastern European countries before returning with the possible intention of striking on the territory," he adds.

For Guillaume Farde, a police-justice consultant for BFMTV and an associate researcher at Cevipof, "like other forms of terrorism, far-right terrorism does not emerge out of nowhere. It feeds on discourses designating certain communities as the enemies to be fought."

In Puget-sur-Argens, the attack suspect made virulent statements in protest videos shared on social media. In these videos, Christophe B. made highly hostile political statements toward immigration, notably referring to Jean-Marie Le Pen, founder of the National Front (FN), which later became the National Rally (RN).

Moreover, one essential characteristic separates jihadism from the far-right movement: membership in an organization. "Over the past thirty years, a major change" has been taking place, argues Jean-François Ricard.

Merely belonging to an organization made the act committed by the militant a terrorist act. "Since then, things have become much more diluted, making them difficult to understand. For jihadists, there is a common ideology; here, it's more complicated. So we have to look at the material elements of the case, the claim in this case."

Like the far-right attacks perpetrated by Brenton Tarrant in Christchurch, New Zealand, or Anders Breivik in Oslo, far-right attacks are generally the work of a single individual. For Jean-François Ricard, "it is in this sense that it remains a very worrying threat."

This destructuring makes their identification more complex, even if the movement "is sometimes a little less cautious" online and on social networks, continues Paul Conge, police-justice journalist at BFMTV and author of the book Les tueurs d'extrême droite .

Article 421-1 of the Criminal Code, which defines the terrorist offense, requires that the acts be aimed at "seriously disturbing public order through intimidation or terror," recalls Jean-François Ricard.

The terrorist classification was not retained, in particular, for the racist massacre of December 23, 2022 on rue d'Enghien in Paris which left three dead and four injured among the Kurdish community, which was expressly targeted.

"This choice of qualification is, it must be recognized, one of the most intense difficulties that we can encounter. We must work from very concrete, material elements only, without any prejudice, regardless of the seriousness of the facts," retorts the former anti-terrorism prosecutor.

As debates on the recognition of far-right terrorism multiply, Jean-François Ricard emphasizes that "the difficulty is distinguishing between simple discussion and the desire to act."

This vagueness, fueled by the absence of a formal organization, unlike in the 1970s and 1980s when the Charles-Martel group operated in particular, makes the identification of dangerous profiles more difficult.

Before Puget-sur-Argens, six homicides had been attributed to far-right sympathizers since 2016. Each year, around 50 physical attacks are recorded in France as being linked to the far right.

A figure that has been steadily rising since 2019, according to data compiled by Paul Conge in The Far-Right Killers . In July 2024, 67 people from this movement were imprisoned for terrorism-related offenses.

According to the University of Oslo's report on far-right terrorism in Europe, France is an exception in Europe, as it is one of the few countries to have seen violent acts by the far-right increase in recent years.

"France could be moving in a different direction than most other Western European countries," the report notes, stressing that "France's growing political polarization has exacerbated this violence."

Adding: "While far-right violence in France remains less frequent than in Germany or the United Kingdom, its persistence and recent escalation indicate a complex relationship between far-right electoral strategies, societal polarization, and violent mobilization."

French intelligence services estimate that there are 3,300 people active in this movement, of which 1,400 are on the S list, according to Paul Conge in his book, The Far-Right Killers.

"Many come from rural backgrounds and are armed because of their activity," whether hunting or sport shooting (as in the case of the suspect from Puget-sur-Argens, editor's note), explains Guillaume Farde. The latter can "be tempted to commit violent acts when they give in to certain discourses."

The profiles of perpetrators or suspected perpetrators of terrorist acts are diverse. They can be "very young or in their fifties, often with few qualifications, and passionate about weapons or explosives," notes Guillaume Farde.

This Thursday, June 5, Christophe B., suspect in the racist attack in Puget-sur-Argens, was indicted and placed in pretrial detention. Before his trial, another trial concerning the threat from the far-right is expected.

Sixteen members of the AFO group, for Action of Operational Forces, arrested in 2018 on suspicion of anti-Muslim terrorist plots, will be tried starting this Tuesday, June 10.