Planned Terror Attack Motivated by Misogynistic 'Incel' Ideology
First Case in France of Charges Filed Over Crime Plot Based on 'Incel' Beliefs
A teenage male student who was planning a knife attack targeting women has been arrested by police in France. He reportedly became immersed in the belief that he had suffered losses because of women, which led him to plot the crime.
According to Yonhap News on July 2 (local time), citing French daily Le Monde and AFP, the Directorate General of Internal Security (DGSI) under the French Ministry of the Interior arrested Timothee G. (18), a student at a public high school, near the school in southeastern Saint-Etienne on June 27. At the time of his arrest, two knives were found in his bag.
Judicial authorities have provisionally charged the student with participating in a criminal organization for terrorist purposes. Authorities said he planned the attack based on the so-called "incel" ideology.
"Incel" is an abbreviation for "involuntary celibate." Originally, it was a neutral term referring to people who want to date or marry but are unable to do so. However, in recent years, its meaning has changed significantly, now referring to a male subculture in which men, feeling rejected and wronged by women, express hostility and violence toward women.
The first large-scale murder case based on such beliefs occurred in Canada in 1989. At that time, a self-proclaimed "anti-feminist" 25-year-old man opened fire at the Montreal Polytechnic, killing 13 female students and one female secretary before taking his own life.
The 2014 mass shooting by Elliot Rodger in the United States is also a symbolic case. He blamed women for his romantic failures and opened fire, killing six university students before killing himself. Since then, numerous incel-related incidents have occurred in places such as Canada and Plymouth, United Kingdom.
The teenage student arrested in France was reportedly a supporter of incel ideology and had a history of mainly watching male-supremacist videos on TikTok. This is the first case in France in which someone has been charged in connection with a terror plot based on incel ideology.
However, his lawyer denied the charges, stating that his client is "simply a suffering adolescent, not a militant preparing for action," and added, "A proper investigation will reveal the true nature of my client's personality and the charges."
Le Monde pointed out that this case is evidence that incel ideology is beginning to emerge in France. While it remains at an early stage, the French Directorate General of Internal Security views it as a threat of emerging violent extremism.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
