Identified by video surveillance and then arrested in a neighboring department, the alleged perpetrator of the attack targeting the synagogue of La Grande-Motte is unknown to the intelligence services. Who is he?
The alleged arsonist who attacked the Beth Yaacov synagogue in La Grande-Motte on Saturday, August 24, was on the run but did not last long. The main suspect was arrested in the evening in Nîmes. Spotted thanks to the location of his phone in a sensitive area of Nîmes, less than fifty kilometers from La Grande-Motte, RAID and BRI officers were able to arrest him late in the evening after an exchange of gunfire in which only the suspect was injured. Taken to hospital, he has not yet been interviewed by the police, who have been profiling him for two days.
The man arrested is unknown to the intelligence services but he is listed in the police files for drug use, BFMTV reported. His name is El Hussein Kheifri and he is 33 years old. A regular Algerian national and the father of a child born in 2019, he arrived in France “in 2018 via Spain” according to Valeurs actuelles, and lived in La Grande-Motte then in Nîmes. For a while, he attended a mosque in Nîmes before being refused access. The cause is that he was allegedly the cause of several problems with worshipers. Also known for being a squatter, he was arrested in a home he was illegally occupying on Saturday a little before midnight.
The National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s Office (PNAT) stated that he had been injured in the face and arm and that his condition required surgery. The operation was to take place over the weekend so that he could be transferred to Paris on Monday, August 26. An investigation for “attempted murder in connection with a terrorist enterprise”, “destruction by dangerous means in connection with a terrorist enterprise” and “terrorist criminal association with a view to preparing crimes against persons” was opened by the PNAT. In the meantime, the police have also arrested three other people, including two close friends of the suspect, men in their thirties.
Identified by video surveillance
Very quickly after starting several fires near the synagogue, the man was spotted by a video surveillance camera and an image of him circulated, particularly on social networks. It showed a man, his face uncovered, with a Palestinian flag tied around his waist and a keffiyeh on his head. In his hands were two plastic bottles that could have contained the fuel that allowed him to start the fires. The man also appeared to be in possession of a firearm visible at his waist. Not far from the synagogue, the police found an axe with Arabic inscriptions.