Macron Assassination Plot Foiled, As French President Calls For End Of State Of Emergency

Police foiled an alleged lone wolf assassination plot against French president Emmanuel Macron. The plan was to attack Macron on July 14 during a parade on the Champs-Élysées in Paris, where President Donald Trump is slated to be a guest, according to CNN Monday.

A 23-year-old was arrested in connection with the plot and charged with individual terrorist activity.

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French CNN affiliate BFMTV reported that the man is a self-described far right nationalist and told police that he wanted to kill Macron as a political statement and that he also wanted to attack “blacks, Arabs, Jews and homosexuals.”

Police were alerted by users of a video game site where the man posted about wanting to buy a Kalashnikov-style assault rifle online. The man previously convicted of terrorist-related activity in 2016.

July 14 is Bastille Day in France and it commemorates the Storming of the Bastille in 1789, a turning point of the French Revolution. It is celebrated by a French military parade. Last year the day was marred by a terrorist attack in Nice, France where Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel drove a cargo truck into a crowd and killed over 80 people. Former French President François Hollande extended a French state of emergency after the attack. The state of emergency was first put in place following the terrorist attacks in Paris in 2015.

The coordinated attacks took place on Nov. 13 and 14, 2015. ISIS claimed responsibility for the incident that killed 130 people and wounded over 300. The incident involved several suicide bombings near a soccer match, several shootings and a hostage situation and mass shooting at a concert.

Macron announced Monday that he would lift the state of emergency at some point later this year. Macron spoke at the Palace of Versailles to the newly elected members of the French Assembly and Senate.

“(We) will work to prevent any new attack, and we will work to fight (attackers) without pity, without regrets, without weakness,” said Macron.

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He also recommitted to France’s battles with extremists abroad in Africa, Iraq and Syria according to the Washington Post Monday.

In his address Macron committed to strengthening the European Union after Britain’s vote to exit. Macron also indicated that he wanted to speed up and simplify law making in France and reduce the 925 member parliament by one-third.