84-year-old arrested in connection with a mosque attack in Bayonne, France - - wanted to “avenge the destruction of Notre Dame Cathedral”

An 84-year-old man who has been accused of setting fire to the main entrance of a mosque in the town of Bayonne and is alleged to have shot two people, wanted to “avenge the destruction of Notre Dame Cathedral” which he claimed was done by Muslims, said prosecutor Marc Mariee at a press conference on Tuesday.
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Claude Sinké, who had received military training in his youth, had been a candidate for local elections in 2015 under the banner of Marine Le Pen’s party, the National Front (now known as "National Rally"). The party has since condemned the attack in a statement saying that Sinké had been removed from the party for "speech judged contrary to the spirit and the political line of the National Rally" and "had since not participated in any action of the movement."