Racist attack in southern France: 'Muslims do not feel as protected as other citizens'
According to French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau, this was a "racist" crime with a "terrorist dimension." On the evening of Saturday, May 31, Hichem Miraoui, a 46-year-old Tunisian hairdresser, was shot and killed in Puget-sur-Argens, southern France, by his neighbor, Christophe B., 53.
Christophe B. claimed responsibility for the act in several videos posted on Facebook. In these messages, he called on "the fucking French" to "wake up" and say "stop, stop to those fucking Islamics." "Grow a pair, go find them where they are," he added. Christophe B. targeted those he called "bicot," a racial slur for North Africans, "illegal immigrants," "lefties," and called on the government, "which is unable to protect us, to send them home." The national anti-terrorism prosecutor's office was called in – a first for a homicide inspired by far-right ideology.
The Rhône Council of Mosques sounded the alarm in a statement released on Tuesday, saying that this crime reflected "a troubling and increasingly hostile climate toward citizens of Muslim faith in France." The atmosphere, according to essayist Hakim El Karoui, is being fueled by "frankly irresponsible politicians, who forget that the daily targeting of a segment of the population is dangerous, has serious consequences, and puts people at risk." El Karoui feared that "what we have long feared is happening: the shift of the far right to violence." He called for "all political leaders to recognize the effects of polarized debates."
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France 24
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AFP
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