French nationalist and former presidential candidate Éric Zemmour was sentenced on Wednesday by the Paris Criminal Court to a fine of €9,000 for inciting racial hatred, following inflammatory comments made in the aftermath of the racially aggravated Crepol stabbing, where he portrayed France as divided between “two peoples.”
The sentence, amounting to 60 daily fines of €150, may result in incarceration if unpaid.
The court found that Zemmour’s remarks — made during a televised appearance on RMC and BFMTV on Nov. 30, 2023 — constituted serious racial insults and hate speech delivered at a highly sensitive moment of national tension.
Zemmour, president of the right-wing Reconquest party, had referred to the fatal stabbing of Thomas, a 16-year-old White high school student, by a group of Black youths as symbolic of a broader conflict in French society.
“We have, today, a situation where we have two peoples, two Frances, two youths — that of Thomas, that of Chahid,” he said. He further described Arab-Muslim individuals as “scum” responsible for “dozens of deaths,” while dismissing concerns about protests from nationalist groups in the aftermath of the attack as a “media smokescreen.”
His comments were reported by self-proclaimed anti-racism groups, including SOS Racisme, the Interministerial Delegate for the Fight against Racism, Anti-Semitism and Anti-LGBT Hatred (Dilcrah), two MPs from the leftist France Insoumise (LFI), and a private citizen.
Zemmour defended his statements as an exercise of free speech and denied any racist intent.
The court, however, strongly condemned his language, noting that Zemmour “designates as murderers” individuals of Arab and Muslim origin “based solely on their names” and perpetuates a narrative that pits one part of France against another.
“Such discourse further aggravates dissension and sharpens resentment,” the judges wrote, especially at a time when tensions were high and fears of violence were mounting.
In its ruling, the court stated that Zemmour engaged in “gross generalization,” contrasting the idealized image of White French youth with a caricatured portrayal of minority groups as predatory and violent.
Taking to social media following the verdict, Zemmour wrote, “The justice system has decided to condemn me because I said, ‘It’s always the Thomases who fall, and it’s always the Chahids who kill them.’
“Of course, I will appeal because it is unacceptable that the truth is so muzzled in our country. This judgment is highly symbolic, especially the week we learned that Thomas died because his killers considered him a “dirty gwer,” a dirty “White” in Arabic.
“Anti-white racism kills, but in France, it is those who fight it who are punished by justice,” he added.
Last week, Marie-Hélène Thoraval, the mayor of Romans-sur-Isère from where the attackers resided, strongly criticized a newly published book on the attack, accusing its authors of distorting the truth and downplaying the racial and social tensions at the heart of the tragedy.
The book, written by investigative journalists Jean-Michel Décugis, Pauline Guéna, and Marc Leplongeon, claimed the attack was “seized upon” by “fascists” and questioned the racial undertones that many — including the victims’ families — believe were central to the crime.
“Denying the existence of anti-White racism is absurd. Racism cannot only go one way,” she told Valeurs Actuelles. “Imagine if the situation were reversed, if youths from Crépol had attacked a party in La Monnaie. Anti-racist organizations would have immediately taken up the case, and this tragedy would never have been dismissed as a simple fight.”
