French authorities have arrested a 15-year-old boy suspected of planning a “violent act” locally targeting either the Jewish or LGBTQ communities.
According to anti-terror prosecutors, the teenager was detained last week in the southeastern Rhône region. The national counterterrorism prosecutor’s office (PNAT) said he was charged with
participation in a terrorist criminal conspiracy with a view to preparing one or more crimes against persons.
Prosecutors said the suspect “admitted to wanting to die as a martyr and to having planned to carry out a violent act targeting the Jewish or LGBT community.” No further details were provided about his identity or the possible nature of the planned attack.
The arrest comes amid growing concern in France about the involvement of minors in terrorism-related cases. In late 2025, PNAT head Olivier Christen described a “four- or five-year” trend of increasingly young defendants linked to such offences, noting that “most are under 20” and that “there are many minors these days.”
He also said suspects are predominantly male and often socially isolated, with many “failing at school or relatively detached from it.”
