PARIS (Sputnik) — The man, coming from the Argenteuil commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, was charged on Saturday with an individual act of terrorism, the BFMTV broadcaster reported.
According to the broadcaster, it was the young man's online footprint on a gaming website that allowed the police to track him down. The potential assassin wanted to buy a Kalashnikov rifle and threatened police officers with a kitchen knife during the arrest. The police also found bladed weapons in his car.
Following the arrest the man said he wanted to make a political move by assassinating Macron during the parade on July 14 as well as to attack “the blacks, the Arabs, the Jews, and the homosexuals.” The man has previously been arrested in 2016 on grounds of advocating terrorism.
On July 14, 2002, nationalist Maxime Brunerie attempted the assassination of the then-President Jacques Chirac during the Bastille Day parade.