AN alleged woman hater has been arrested on suspicion he was plotting a violent attack on the Olympic torch relay in France today.
Alexandre G., 26, was detained after cops discovered he belonged to a male incel group and feared he might strike the procession in Bordeaux.
Cops said they had thwarted a possible attack on the flame-carrying event that started this morning and is scheduled to end at 7.30pm local time.
Interior minister Gerald Darmanin praised police for their swift response but gave few details of the alleged plot.
Prosecutors say Alexandre G was linked with the online incel movement – one mainly made up of young men who struggle to attract sexual partners.
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They claimed he had written disturbing messages that "could correspond to glorifying crime" as well as referencing a mass killing in the US.
The torch relay is in Bordeaux on Thursday, as part of a relay around French territory, before the opening of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games kicks off on July 26.
Numerous women, including many athletes, are involved in the procession.
An unprecedented security operation has been launched to protect everybody associated with the Olympics, with thousands of police and gendarmes already mobilised.
Prosecutor Frédérique Porterie said a judicial investigation had been launched into the behaviour of Alexandre G., who was being held in a secure police station in Bordeaux.
Alexandre G. has no criminal record, said the prosecutor, but a revolver that fires rubber pellets was seized during a search of his home, along with multiple mobile phones and a computer.
The suspect had admitted to "having considered an act with no specific location" in mind, leading to fears that he was focused on the Olympic Flame relay.
He allegedly had referenced notorious incel gunman Elliot Rodger, who murdered six people during a rampage in the Californian university town of Isla Vista on May 23, 2014 – exactly 10 years ago.
Earlier this year, knifeman Joel Cauchi who murdered six people at a shopping centre in Sydney because of his hatred for women.
Cauchi, 40, stabbed five women and one man to death at the Westfield shopping centre on April 13 before being shot dead by a police officer.
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Commissioner Karen Webb of New South Wales Police said at the time: "It’s obvious to me and it’s obvious to detectives that it seems to be an area of interest that the offender had focused on women and avoided the men.
"It has been reported that five of the deceased are women and the majority of victims in hospital are also women."
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