A French court has handed down a two-year prison sentence to a 19-year-old neo-Nazi for allegedly plotting against the Paris Olympic Games, French officials announced Friday.
The individual, who reportedly ran a Telegram group called "French Aryan division," faced charges for sharing bomb-making instructions, posting death threats, and endangering others by disseminating their personal information.
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin told reporters, "We know that he had a desire to hit political targets or people with immigrant backgrounds," adding that the suspect showed a "willingness to intervene during a stage, evidently, of the Olympic torch relay."
Although the suspect's Telegram posts didn't explicitly mention the Olympics, French authorities decided to act preemptively.
As Paris prepares to host its first Olympics in a century, security remains a top priority. Approximately 45,000 police officers and 10,000 soldiers have already been deployed to secure the games.
Police Chief Laurent Nunez identified radical Islamist groups as the primary concern. "Islamist terrorism remains our main concern. The terrorist threat remains just as important as the protest threat posed by radical environmental groups, the ultra-left and the pro-Palestinian movement," Nunez stated.
He added, "There is no clear-cut threat yet against the Games and our country, but I'd like to remind you that at the end of May, two individuals were arrested in Saint-Etienne and were plotting a project aimed directly at the Olympic Games."
The Olympic torch is currently making its way through France and its overseas territories, leading up to Friday's opening ceremony along the Seine River.
* Jewish Breaking News contributed to this article.
