Deadly ‘racist’ attack in France: Are hate crimes rising in Europe?
A gunman in northern France killed one person and injured five, including a 12-year-old girl, in a racially motivated attack on Friday.
A gunman killed one person and injured five, including a 12-year-old girl, in a 15-minute shooting spree in the Paris suburbs on Friday.
The suspect, 39-year-old Kevin T, was arrested after targeting a petrol station, a medical centre, and a children’s playground in the working-class towns of Trappes and La Verriere.
Authorities have classified the incident as a racially motivated terrorist attack.
Details of the attack
The rampage began at approximately 10:30am (08:30 GMT) and involved the suspect firing an automatic weapon at random locations.
The victims included a young Black man identified as Pengo Bassio Wangi and a woman wearing a headscarf.
The 12-year-old girl, of North African descent, was shot eight times and is in critical condition after being transferred to a children’s hospital for surgery.
Three of the five injured were reported to be in critical condition.
I think we are facing a racist person.
Investigation and response
Interior Minister Laurent Nunez stated that investigations are ongoing but the crime is clearly a terrorist act.
Prosecutors are investigating whether the suspect conspired with a 'terrorist group' and have taken a member of his family into custody.
Police found an older-style semiautomatic weapon in the suspect's car, along with tear gas grenades.
Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu described the case as 'very serious' and said all resources of the security forces are fully mobilised.
The mayor of Trappes, Ali Rabeh, called the suspect's actions 'objectively a racist attack, probably Islamophobic' and said he wanted to cause a 'bloodbath'.
Political reactions
President Emmanuel Macron called the attack a 'racist terrorist attack' and a 'turning point in the life of our Republic and our nation'.
He reiterated the nation's support for the victims and reaffirmed the determination to fight racism.
Marine Le Pen, leader of the far-right National Rally, condemned the attack as 'barbaric'.
However, Muslim groups accused the populist right of creating a climate of hatred with Islamophobic rhetoric.
The French Muslim Council blamed 'the promoters of anti-Muslim hate speech who have blood on their hands'.
Her crime was probably being of colour.
Rise in Islamophobia
The attack has occurred amid a broader context of rising Islamophobia in Europe and the United States.
The European Parliament recently passed a resolution on an EU strategy to counter Islamist entryism, which advocacy groups argue has been adopted by the far right.
Amnesty International reported that Islamophobic violence in the UK has reached 'emergency levels'.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations revealed that reports of anti-Muslim bias are at an all-time high in the United States.
California’s attorney general reported a 54 percent rise in anti-Muslim hate crimes in 2025, from 24 to 38.
Nationwide protests
The shooting took place as violent cost-of-living and student protests continue to grip France.
Far-right voices have sought to blame Muslim youths for the violence during these ongoing demonstrations.
French authorities are deploying 70,000 police officers on Saturday as protests are expected to continue.
The mayor of Trappes denounced lawmakers who make negative comments about Muslims as 'criminals' who 'ideologically weaponise those who are capable of committing crimes'.
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