The suspect had already planned the attack and had several photos of Saint-Etienne Stadium on his computer and cell phone
An 18-year-old has been arrested on suspicion of preparing a terrorist attack during the Olympics.
The information is provided by BFMTV, which describes that the suspect had plans to attack a football match to be held in the city of Saint-Etienne.
According to French television, the suspect is Chechen and was arrested on May 22 on suspicion of a jihadist-inspired attack.
According to the preliminary data of the investigation, the young man was detained at home, and had already conducted field work to find out what to do on the day of the attack. He is currently in pretrial detention after charges were brought against him on May 26.
The suspect denies all accusations, and only admits to exchanging messages and some conversations via encrypted messaging apps, such as Telegram or Discord.
While searching the young man's home, the authorities found a picture of Saint-Etienne Stadium on the computer. The suspect's cell phone also had photos of the same location, which will host several games during the Olympics.
The investigation believes the targets were onlookers and police officers.
The French Minister of the Interior previously confirmed the arrest of the young man, congratulating the authorities on the preventive operation. Gerald Darmanin also confirmed the suspect's “Islamic inspiration.”
He added, “He wanted to attack the spectators and also the security forces and die as a martyr.”
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