Paris:
The man alleged to have slapped French President Emmanuel Macron in the face ran a club for enthusiasts of medieval swordsmanship and had no preceding criminal record, sources close to the investigation stated on Wednesday.
A police supply identified the suspect as 28-year-old Damien Tarel.
He is beneath investigation for assault against a public official, the neighborhood prosecutor stated.
Macron, who has been on a tour to take the pulse of the nation following the pandemic and significantly less than a year just before the next presidential election, was hit on Tuesday for the duration of a walkabout in southern France as he greeted a modest crowd of onlookers.
Tarel, dressed in a khaki T-shirt, then shouted “Down with Macronia” and “Montjoie Saint Denis”, the battle cry of the French army when the nation was a monarchy.
A supply close to the investigation described him as a person who was “a bit lost, a bit geeky, a bit of a gamer”.
Tarel and a second man had been nevertheless in police custody on Wednesday, the supply added.
The charge of assault against a public official carries a maximum sentence of 3 years in jail and a 45,000 euro fine.
Tarel managed a neighborhood club of martial arts enthusiasts focused on the practice of historical European martial arts, such as classic swordsmanship.
Macron stated he had not feared for his security, and continued shaking hands with members of the public following he was struck.
In an interview with the Dauphine Libere newspaper following the incident, Macron stated: “You cannot have violence, or hate, either in speech or actions, otherwise, it’s democracy itself that is threatened.”
Macron has been targetted just before by disenchanted citizens in 2016, when he was economy minister, he was pelted with eggs by hardleft trade unionists more than labour reforms and two years later was left shaken following he was heckled by anti-government protesters.
“We can disagree with what President Macron has done. We vote next year and there will be plenty of people voting against him,” stated Parisian Louis Bernard “but this electoral campaign cannot be based on violence.”
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