BORDEAUX: French authorities fearing an attack arrested a 26-year-old man ahead of the Olympic torch relay procession in Bordeaux on Thursday, officials said.
“An individual planning a violent act during the Olympic torch relay in Bordeaux has been questioned,” Interior Minister Gerald Darminin said on X, the former Twitter.
An investigation into the individual, identified as Alex G., opened after alerts to France’s online extremism watchdog detected posts referring to a 2014 mass killing in California.
The man, who was arrested on Tuesday, appeared before an investigating magistrate on Thursday. Prosecutors requested an investigation for “criminal conspiracy and justification of crime.”
The Olympic torch went through the southwestern city as part of a nationwide tour ahead of the Olympics that open on July 26. Bordeaux will host several football matches in the Olympic tournament. The whole relay is surrounded by strict security.
The prosecutor recommended Alex G. be remanded in custody after he admitted to considering carrying out an attack, sources said. “No reference was made to the Olympic torch,” Bordeaux prosecutor Frederique Porterie said in a press statement.
According to a police source, Alex G. shared a video clip featuring Elliot Rodger, who killed six people and himself in a 2014 rampage in California, writing, “we miss you, Elliot.”
Police seized “a revolver, a rubber bullet gun, several cell phones, and a computer” during a search of the suspect’s house in a Bordeaux suburb.
The prosecutor said people close to the suspect say he is “psychologically very fragile. However, the appointed psychiatrist has not revealed any particular disorder.”
Initial investigations showed an interest in the incel movement, an online group of women-hating men who describe themselves as “involuntarily celibate,” Porterie added.
![]()
Man arrested over threat to Olympic torch relay
Short Url
https://arab.news/n8rt8
Man arrested over threat to Olympic torch relay
US warships arrive off coast of Haiti
- US embassy in Haiti says flotilla sent as a part of ‘Operation Southern Spear’
- US military campaign targets alleged drug traffickers in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific
WASHINGTON: US military officials said Tuesday American warships had arrived off the coast of Haiti, as the island country’s leaders cling to power in their ongoing war against violent drug gangs.
The USS Stockdale, USCGC Stone and USCGC Diligence entered the Bay of Port-au-Prince to “reflect the United States unwavering commitment to Haiti’s security, stability and a brighter future,” the US embassy in Haiti posted on X.
The flotilla was sent “at the direction of the Secretary of War” Pete Hegseth as a part of “Operation Southern Spear,” the statement said, referring to the US military campaign targeting alleged drug traffickers in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific that has killed more than 100 people in boat strikes.
After facing years of violence and instability, Haiti is entering a new phase of political turbulence in the days before the official end of the mandate for the country’s Presidential Transitional Council on February 7.
Gang violence forced the resignation in 2024 of a previous prime minister, Ariel Henry, and the country has not held elections since 2016, with government authority collapsing in much of the country, leading to overlapping security, health and economic crises.
Haiti is the poorest country in the Western hemisphere, with swaths of the country under the control of rival armed gangs who carry out murders, rapes and kidnappings.
The US recently announced new visa restrictions targeting senior officials, who are accused of supporting gangs.
The USS Stockdale, USCGC Stone and USCGC Diligence entered the Bay of Port-au-Prince to “reflect the United States unwavering commitment to Haiti’s security, stability and a brighter future,” the US embassy in Haiti posted on X.
The flotilla was sent “at the direction of the Secretary of War” Pete Hegseth as a part of “Operation Southern Spear,” the statement said, referring to the US military campaign targeting alleged drug traffickers in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific that has killed more than 100 people in boat strikes.
After facing years of violence and instability, Haiti is entering a new phase of political turbulence in the days before the official end of the mandate for the country’s Presidential Transitional Council on February 7.
Gang violence forced the resignation in 2024 of a previous prime minister, Ariel Henry, and the country has not held elections since 2016, with government authority collapsing in much of the country, leading to overlapping security, health and economic crises.
Haiti is the poorest country in the Western hemisphere, with swaths of the country under the control of rival armed gangs who carry out murders, rapes and kidnappings.
The US recently announced new visa restrictions targeting senior officials, who are accused of supporting gangs.
Latest updates
Recommended
© 2026 SAUDI RESEARCH & PUBLISHING COMPANY, All Rights Reserved And subject to Terms of Use Agreement.