A guy who set fire to a synagogue was shot and killed by French police
The latest alleged act in a storm of antisemitism sweeping France was the shooting and killing by French police of a man armed with a knife and a metal bar who is accused of setting fire to a synagogue in the Normandy city of Rouen early on Friday.
When officers arrived to the synagogue on Friday morning, they saw the individual in person after receiving a tip that smoke was billowing from the building, according to the national police information agency.
The guy reportedly charged at the cops with a knife and a metal bar. According to authorities, the individual was fatally injured when an officer opened fire. Authorities said the man’s identity was still pending. On the social networking platform X, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said that the armed person was “clearly wanting to set fire to the city’s synagogue.” He commended the police for “their courage and their reactivity.” France has been more tense and angry about the Israel-Hamas conflict. The nation has the greatest populations of Muslims and Jews in western Europe, and antisemitic incidents have increased there. The individual is believed to have climbed atop a garbage can and tossed “a sort of Molotov cocktail” into the synagogue, setting it on fire, according to Rouen Mayor Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol.
