Moroccan-Japanese Man Arrested in France for Far-Right Extremism and KKK Glorification

Hisham L., the son of a Moroccan father and a Japanese mother, was arrested, indicted and placed in pre-trial detention as part of the dismantling of an informal cell of far-right activists at the end of November. This 20-year-old apprentice baker is known to the Savoyard justice system. Last May, he had received an 8-month suspended prison sentence. His arrest had taken place in June 2022 on the street, while dressed in Ku Klux Klan attire, he was threatening neighbors with an airsoft weapon. On June 4th, he was apprehended for threatening his older brother with a knife at the family home, not far from Aix-les-Bains (Savoie). "I’m going to kill you all, you dirty sub-race," he yells at his sister during the gendarmes’ intervention. During his custody, the young man expressed his hatred of the "opposing" cultural mix. Presented in immediate appearance on June 8th, he was sentenced to one year in prison for the violence committed against his brother.

During a search of his home, the investigators came across a rifle, a shotgun, white powder, a French translation of Mein Kampf on his computer, but also videos of the Islamic State on knife-killing techniques, as well as several tutorials on making explosives. He revealed that the 4 g of white powder found in Hicham’s garage is TATP, a powerful explosive. This new revelation led to the opening of a preliminary investigation by the national public prosecutor’s office on June 15, 2023. July 3: new search. The investigators discover the necessary products for the manufacture of TATP, ammunition, as well as a flag inspired by a fascist and anti-Semitic movement of the 1930s. New hearing: Hisham L. thus defines his opinions: "authoritarianism, racialism, eugenics, national-socialism", reports Le Parisien. Questioned about the manufacture of explosives, he says he is defending himself against "thugs, scum, terrorists, those who cause disorder".

"These elements, linked to the manufacture of TATP and the far-right ideology of the person concerned, therefore gave rise to fears of a terrorist act," summarizes the PNAT. His lawyer takes up his defense. "This man has never had a real terrorist project, dismisses Romain Ruiz. Whatever his ideas, he should not suffer the wanderings of an anti-terrorist public prosecutor’s office that has clearly lost its bearings." The three other members of the arms trafficking network in the extremist movement will be arrested as part of a cyber-infiltration operation. Suspected of having sent Hisham L.’s rifle by mail, Émilien K., the man who, under the alias "John Doe" ("Mr. X" in English) was arrested on November 14 by the police. This 21-year-old soldier indicates that he began his trafficking in 2021 and pocketed between 10,000 and 15,000 euros. Jean-Paul C., a 58-year-old retired police officer, is his main arms supplier.

During a search of the home of the one who ended his career in an intelligence service, the investigators discovered more than 60 weapons, several magazines, flags bearing a swastika or even a German edition of Mein Kampf. Kader (the name has been changed) is the fourth member of the network. He would have served as an intermediary for Émilien K. for arms trafficking. "Basically, he said that if we attacked a mosque, the suburbs would heat up. He said that, as in 2005 when a negro and a bougnoule died, the neighborhoods were in flames," he summarized this interview with the soldier he met in September. And to add: "He talked to me about mass killings, mosques, and weapons in general".