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PARIS—French prosecutors are pressing preliminary charges including murder as a hate crime—but not terrorism—against the suspect in Friday’s attack at a Kurdish cultural center in the French capital that killed three people and injured three others.
The suspected gunman in the attack, a 69-year-old Frenchman, also faces preliminary charges of attempted murder as a hate crime and acquiring and carrying prohibited firearms, said French prosecutors, who requested that the suspect be jailed pending a potential trial.
The suspected gunman was arrested Friday after he was subdued by one of his victims inside a Kurdish hair salon near the cultural center. After Friday’s attack, the suspect said that he had intended to kill as many non-European foreigners as possible and had then planned to take his own life.
Members of the Kurdish community in France have been protesting in the streets of Paris, with some community leaders arguing that the killings should be investigated as a potential terrorist attack aimed specifically at their community. Thousands of Kurdish people protested Monday near the scene of Friday’s attack, which comes nearly 10 years after three Kurdish activists in Paris were shot in what officials said was a targeted assassination.
Protesters have accused French officials of doing too little to protect Kurds in France. Similar protests on Friday and Saturday led to clashes with police, who fired tear gas at demonstrators.
Prosecutors say police have so far found no evidence linking the suspect to extreme-right ideology or groups. The alleged gunman instead told police that he was motivated by a pathological hatred of foreigners and had chosen to attack the Kurdish center in part because it was close to his parents’ home, prosecutors said.
The suspect had previously been accused of attacking Sudanese immigrants in a Paris park roughly a year ago, and was released from custody only weeks ago while that investigation continues. He had been convicted on weapons charges in 2017 and is currently appealing that conviction.
Preliminary charges are a pivotal step in the French judicial process that indicates authorities are deepening an investigation.
Over the weekend, prosecutors transferred the suspect, who they said had described himself as depressed and suicidal, to the police psychiatric unit. It will now be up to the investigating magistrates to work with police to gather evidence and determine whether the suspected gunman should stand trial and if so, on what charges.
Write to Sam Schechner at Sam.Schechner@wsj.com
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