According to the newspaper JDD, a single man forced his way into a church in Ambazac (Haute-Vienne) at around 6.30 pm on Tuesday the 17th of June 2025. Visibly agitated and under the influence of alcohol, he insulted the worshippers and shouted threatening words: ‘If you move, you’re dead!’ and ‘We’ll kill you all one day’. He also accused the church of supporting ‘the Israelis’ and described its members as ‘paedophiles’.
The man, who was identified as Hasein O. and was born in 1968, was arrested without resistance at around 8.30pm. He is already known for 86 offences on his criminal record – including thefts, burglaries, death threats and carrying a stabbing weapon – but is not registered for radicalisation, although his statements were strongly religious and politically tinged.
The attack, in which no one was injured, deeply shocked witnesses. It is part of a nationwide context of repeated attacks on churches, which are often concealed despite their frequency. The JDD points out that religious freedom is now under threat in the centre of rural areas, in a climate that is tense due to the aftermath of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.