Teen plotting attacks on women charged in France’s first ‘incel’ case

An 18-year-old French man suspected of planning attacks on women has been charged in the country’s first case of a terror plot linked to the misogynist “incel” movement, officials said on Wednesday.

According to a source close to the investigation, the suspect, Timothy G., was arrested on Friday by the DGSI domestic intelligence agency near a public high school in the southeastern city of Saint-Etienne.

Sources added that the suspect was arrested with two knives in his bag and identified himself as a member of the “incel”, or involuntary celibate, subculture.

The “incel” movement is an internet subculture rife with misogyny, with men tending to blame women and feminism for their romantic failings.

They typically target those who they see as attractive or sexually active women.

The National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s Office (PNAT) said that an investigation had been opened on Tuesday “against an 18-year-old man claiming to be part of the ‘incel’ movement”.

The man has been charged with terrorist conspiracy with a view to preparing one or more crimes against persons, the PNAT said.

The involvement of anti-terror prosecutors appears to indicate that French authorities recognise this form of gender-based violence as terrorism.

‘Suffering’ teenager

On Tuesday evening, Timothy G. appeared before a judge who remanded him in custody.

He looked shy and had an almost hairless face and a slender build, according to an AFP journalist.

His lawyer Maria Snitsar described him as “a teenager who is suffering, not a fighter preparing for action”.

According to one of the sources close to the case, the teenager, who wanted to become an engineer, was a fan of misogynist videos on social media, particularly TikTok.

Another source close to the case said that this is the first time the PNAT has been called upon to investigate a man who exclusively identifies as part of the “incel” subculture.

The concept had previously appeared only marginally in at least two cases handled by the anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office.

The PNAT announcement was also a sign of changing attitudes in France.

A judicial source told AFP in late 2023 that the PNAT had long refused to take up cases linked to the movement, believing that “these mass killing plans were not for them”.

Netflix hit “Adolescence” has sparked widespread debate about the toxic and misogynistic influences to which young boys are exposed online.

The hard-hitting show is to be shown in UK and French schools, officials have said.

In 2022, the US Secret Service’s National Threat Assessment Center (NTAC) highlighted the threat posed by “misogynistic extremism”.

In the United Kingdom, MI5, the domestic intelligence service, has warned of links between “incels” and other violent conspiracy movements.

In 2014, an American man, Elliot Rodger, who had professed frustration over his virginity and women rejecting him, killed six people, including three women, in California before committing suicide.

In 2018, Alek Minassian, a man claiming to have been part of the movement, drove a rented van onto a busy Toronto sidewalk, killing 11, mostly women.

He was sentenced to life in prison for those murders, but was never charged with terrorism.

AFP