Members of far-right group jailed in Macron attack case

• 3 members of a far-right group were convicted of conspiring to harm Emmanuel Macron.
• With Jean-Pierre Bouyer receiving the longest punishment of 4 years.
• With one year suspended.

A far-right group’s three members were convicted of conspiring to harm French President Emmanuel Macron.

The so-called “Barjols” decided to assault the president with a knife at a World War One commemorative event he was scheduled to attend in November 2018.

Their attorneys asserted that they were just bumbling zealots without a clear strategy.

Prosecutors, however, claimed that the group intended to violently overturn the government.

They were all held responsible for planning a terrorist act.

Jean-Pierre Bouyer, 66, received the longest punishment of four years in prison with one year suspended, which is far less than the maximum sentence of ten years in prison.

Two more received sentences that were less severe.

For having a weapon, a fourth man received a six-month sentence with probation.

The eastern Moselle region is where they were all detained.

Authorities discovered guns at Bouyer’s residence after discovering a commando-style dagger and an army vest in his car.

Nine other group members received clean chits.

The court was informed throughout the trial of racist internet exchanges in which the participants broached the topics of immigration, civil war fears, and Mr. Macron loathing.

In one exchange, a mother of three bragged that she could take control of 500 Russian soldiers and raid the presidential palace.

Also, the organization was accused of planning attacks on immigrants and mosques.

“I was so furious, so angry that I might have said that,” one defendant, a 55-year-old woman, told the court when asked about an idea of kidnapping and burning Muslims.

The chief prosecutor called the group an “incubator of violent action”, and while some of their views could appear “eccentric”, the “threat was real”.

Defense attorneys, however, claimed that the gathering consisted of outcasts from the countryside who were all members of the anti-government Yellow Vest movement. One attorney acknowledged that some members of the group voiced “hate,” but claimed that it was motivated by “social misery.”

The organisation was founded in 2017 in response to Islamist attacks in France, including those in 2015 at the Bataclan concert venue in Paris and the Charlie Hebdo magazine.

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