Three minors detained in Orléans after school video praising terrorist attacks

On Wednesday, three minors were taken into police custody in Orléans as part of a preliminary investigation into alleged terrorism apology, according to the public prosecutor's office. The case relates to a video recorded inside the François Villon high school in Beaugency, where students performed a rap song that references the 2012 Mohamed Merah school shooting and the 2015 attacks involving Salah Abdeslam. Prosecutor Emmanuelle Bochenek-Puren confirmed the probe, noting the offenses concern praising terrorism through the song's lyrics.

The clip had been circulated on social media, and European Parliament member Matthieu Valet posted it on X, stating he had immediately alerted the prosecutor. In a parallel development, authorities in Vendée opened a separate investigation after a video from a church in Soullans showed adolescents singing the same song, prompting the diocesan office of Luçon to condemn the act as a serious violation of a place of worship. Prosecutor Sarah Huet of La-Roche-sur-Yon said the youths appear to be around 13 years old and that the behavior cannot be dismissed.