Suspected French neo-Nazi sympathizer suspected of attacking Olympic torch sentenced to 2 years in prison

PARIS (AP) — A suspected French neo-Nazi sympathizer has been sentenced to two years in prison after making threats online and being suspected of planning to attack the Olympic torch relay, authorities said Saturday.

The Paris prosecutor’s office said in a statement that the 19-year-old man was convicted after a speedy trial Friday night of sharing bomb-making instructions on social media, messages inciting hatred and death threats, and messages containing personal information that put people in danger.

The man, who was arrested Wednesday morning at his home in the Alsace region of eastern France, led a group called “French Aryan Division” on the social media channel Telegram, the statement said.

According to the public prosecutor’s office, his alleged remarks, which prompted the investigation by the unit dealing with combating online hatred, were not specifically aimed at the Olympic Games in Paris. The Games begin Friday with a heavily guarded opening ceremony.

French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said Wednesday that anti-terrorist police had arrested the man and that he was an alleged neo-Nazi sympathizer who was suspected of “being prepared to intervene during a phase of the torch relay.”

The relay is nearing the end of a months-long journey across France and the French overseas territories before the opening of the Games.

Darmanin, who will remain in an interim role at the Interior Ministry until a new government is formed after parliamentary elections earlier this month, said the suspect had previously been flagged by police “for far-right ideas, which can be described as neo-Nazi.”

“We know that he had an a priori desire to target political targets or people with an immigrant background,” he said.

The French capital’s security operation for the first Olympic Games in a century involves some 45,000 police and gendarmes, plus a 10,000-strong military force patrolling streets and venues in the Paris region and carrying out other security missions.