French anti-terror police have detained an alleged neo-Nazi sympathizer suspected of wanting to target the Olympic torch relay, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said Wednesday.
The Paris prosecutor's office said the man was detained Wednesday morning at his home in the Alsace region of eastern France. It said he runs a group titled "French Aryan division" on the social media channel Telegram, and was detained for questioning about death threats, hate speech and other postings he allegedly made.
The prosecutor's office said his alleged comments that triggered the probe by its unit dedicated to fighting online hate didn't specifically target the Paris Olympics, which kick off with a high-security opening ceremony on July 26.
Darmanin, however, said: "There was a willingness to intervene during a stage, evidently, of the torch relay."
The Olympic torch is nearing the end of its months-long trip around France and overseas French territories before the Games' opening.
