Anti-Semitic attack at the synagogue in La Grande-Motte: the suspect in the arson arrested in the Pissevin district of Nîmes

Les pompiers devant la synagogue de La Grande-Motte ce samedi. France Bleu – *

On the evening of Saturday, August 24, 2024, the perpetrator of the anti-Semitic attack at the synagogue in La Grande-Motte was apprehended by law enforcement in the Pissevin district of Nîmes.

The man suspected of starting the fire at the Beth Yaacov synagogue in La Grande-Motte this Saturday morning was arrested by the police in the evening in Nîmes, the Minister of the Interior said on his X account (formerly Twitter).

Hit by police gunfire

Hunted by more than 200 police officers, as Gabriel Attal had indicated during his trip to the Hérault city this Saturday, the suspect was finally arrested by the police order.

L’auteur supposé de l’incendie criminel de la synagogue a été interpellé. Merci aux effectifs des forces de l’ordre, et principalement du RAID, qui sont intervenus avec beaucoup de professionnalisme malgré ses coups de feu.

— Gérald DARMANIN (@GDarmanin) August 24, 2024

The man was located on the top floor of a building in the Pissevin district of Nîmes. It was the police officers from the National Research and Intervention Brigade (BRI-Nat) and the elite RAID service who managed to neutralize the suspect this Saturday evening.

The police officers had to use their weapons. The individual was hit several times by bullets while he was in the tower in the Nîmes district. He was taken care of by emergency services, “but his life is not in danger”, the news channel details.

The suspect filmed

The man had been filmed by the video surveillance of the synagogue of La Grande-Motte leaving the premises after the fire and the explosion in front of the Jewish religious building flying a Palestinian flag, we learned on Saturday from a source close to the investigation, confirming information from BFMTV.

The video surveillance camera shows in particular, according to another source close to the case, this man with empty bottles in his hands and wearing a Palestinian flag around his waist.

Five people, including the rabbi, inside the synagogue

Inside the synagogue were five people including the rabbi, who were not injured, the Justice Ministry said.

“Elements that were in the synagogue's parking lot exploded, shares a prefectural source close to the investigation. There was a pergola and gas bottles in this place where the Jewish community organizes moments of conviviality. Two cars were set on fire, as well as the pergola, the barbecue and the two entrance doors, that of the place of worship and that of the meeting room right next door. A car that was parked in front of the synagogue burned to the ground."

The Prime Minister's strong words

The resigning Prime Minister said he was "revolted" and "indignant". He went to the Beth Yaacov synagogue this Saturday afternoon in the presence of the Chief Rabbi of France and his resigning Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin.

He arrived with his Minister of the Interior, also resigning, Gérald Darmanin, who remained silent, to meet with members of a community devastated by an attack that could have been considerably more serious.

However, he recalled that “the individual was extremely determined”. And in the presence of the faithful, "there would have been human victims", insisted the tenant of Matignon.