“When you see the time it took for the Interior Minister to respond … it gives the impression that French people of the Muslim faith have no place in our country,” said Ludovic Mendes, a National Assembly member from Macron’s centrist group who recently authored a report on Islamophobia in France.
Retailleau’s detractors add that his fiery remarks criticizing Muslim headscarves — he shouted “down with the veil” at a recent rally — fuel what Mendes describes as “ordinary racism” in France at a time when official statistics show that anti-Muslim hate crimes are rising. Reports of such incidents were up 72 percent from January through March this year compared with the same period in 2024, according to interior ministry figures.
Retailleau also was criticized from within his own political camp. Xavier Bertrand, the conservative president of the northern Hauts-de-France region and a supporter of Retailleau’s party leadership run, told BFMTV he was “firmly convinced” that the interior minister should have visited the attack site “straight away.”
“When a man is savagely murdered in France because he is a Muslim, we have to fight that … our outrage cannot depend on the circumstances,” Bertrand said.
The suspected attacker fled the scene and remained at large for three days before surrendering to authorities in Italy on Monday. Prosecutor Abdelkrim Grini said that while hate was considered the most likely motive, other scenarios are still being examined.
The assailant’s lawyer, speaking to reporters in Italy, said his client had not “said anything against Islam or Mosque” and was “confused” by the accusation that his acts were motivated by hate.
Elena Giordano contributed to this report.