Rabat – French police found leaflets from the far-right National Rally (RN) party in the car of Kevin T., the suspect in a racist attack that killed one person and injured five others in Trappes and La Verrière on Friday.
Le Monde quoted a source who confirmed that investigators had found leaflets from the far-right RN while examining evidence pointing to racist motives behind the attack.
The suspect also reportedly told police he targeted people of color and Arabs to “avenge” business owners whose shops were looted during the October 17 protests.
The far-right party, led by its parliamentary group leader Marine Le Pen and its president Jordan Bardella, has historical roots and controversies, as its critics and researchers have long associated the RN with xenophobia, racism, and antisemitism.
The party has repeatedly campaigned for strict limits on legal and irregular immigration.
The suspect, who is now under psychiatric observation, was described as racist by several family members questioned by police, according to Le Monde.
Although RN leaflets were found in his car, the suspect’s relatives questioned by investigators have not described him as a member or activist of the far right.
“An analysis of his digital devices, which is underway, will help establish whether he had links to other individuals from this movement,” Le Monde said.
According to sources close to the investigation, the suspect was not known to intelligence services.
The sources quoted by Le Monde also described him as an “isolated” individual. The report added that the suspect claimed to suffer from schizophrenia.
Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez described the attack as a racist “terrorist attack,” echoing French President Emmanuel Macron’s remarks.
The minister made his remarks on BFMTV, stating that it was “not uncommon” for the police custody of people suspected of carrying out terrorist attacks to be lifted for psychiatric reasons, “including in cases involving acts of Islamist terrorism.”
The interior minister said the suspect’s psychological vulnerabilities “do not change anything about the seriousness of the act or the fact that it was a racist terrorist attack.”
