Irish man arrested in France for antisemitic threats

French police have arrested an Irish man in his 60s following a viral video showing him making antisemitic remarks and death threats against an Australian Jewish couple in a supermarket near Avignon.

The incident occurred in Le Pontet, on the outskirts of Avignon, after a conversation between the man and the tourists turned hostile. According to the couple, the man expressed regret that Adolf Hitler “didn’t finish the job” regarding the extermination of Europe’s Jews. While the specific Holocaust remark was not captured on video, the recording does capture the suspect issuing a violent threat, telling the woman, “You get the fuck away from me before I put a fucking bullet in your head.”

Following the widespread circulation of the footage, French law enforcement, including the judicial police and the brigade de recherches d’Avignon, launched an investigation. The suspect was taken into custody in the Marseille area on Wednesday, August 26. French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez announced the arrest and praised the gendarmerie for their swift investigative work.