The French government plans to honor a police officer for shooting and killing an Algerian migrant who was under a deportation order and attempted to set fire to a synagogue. The 29-year-old migrant, armed with a knife, was shot dead by police after climbing onto the roof of a synagogue in Rouen and throwing an incendiary device. The police responded to a report of smoke coming from the building and confronted the man who refused to cooperate and threw a chisel at the officers.
Despite the standard procedure of detaining the officer who fired the shots, the French interior minister praised the officer’s actions as “extremely courageous and professional” and announced that he will be decorated by the state. The motive behind the attack is still being investigated, with the prosecutor considering charges related to arson and violence against public authority.
The President of the French Jewish group thanked the police for preventing a potential tragedy and the mayor of Rouen expressed shock and called for a rally in the town center. The Algerian suspect was in violation of a deportation order and should not have been in the country at the time of the attack. The synagogue suffered significant fire damage, but fortunately, there were no other injuries.
Antisemitic attacks have been on the rise in Belgium and France following the Hamas attack in Israel. Data from the French Interior ministry and community groups showed a substantial increase in attacks, with the number of incidents in the three months after the Hamas attack equaling the total number of attacks in the previous three years combined.
