An 18 -year -old man arrested and detained, intended to do attack with a knife against women, proud to be “male”, according to its national anti -terrorist prosecution (PNAT) France. This is the first case that is exclusively linked to the misogyny phenomenon “Incel”.
The 18 -year -old suspect, Timothy Z., was arrested near a high school in St Etienne province in Central East France, armed with two knives he intended to use in attack, and was detained yesterday (01.07.2025) in Paris.
Claiming to be a member of the “Incel” movement- “inadvertent abstinence from sex”, men who believe that they remain free because women do not want them- is accused of conspiracy for committing terrorist acts to prepare one or more crimes against persons, according to PNAT.
The “Incel” movement is an online network of men who are motivated to exercise violence against women who believe that women are unjustly rejecting their sexual or romantic suggestions to them.
Young and shy in appearance, with an almost hairless face and a slim body, dressed in a blue t -shirt, Timothy Z. appeared yesterday before a judge, who found him in custody, a French agency reporter said.
“I met a suffering teenager, not a fighter ready for action,” his lawyer, Maria Snitsar, told the French Bureau.
PNAT has confirmed that a judicial investigation “against a young man aged 18, who claims to be a member of the Incel Movement”, adding that he is investigating “working with terrorist criminals to prepare one or more crimes against people”.
According to one of the sources near the case, the 18 -year -old, who wants to become an engineer, was watching a video on Tiktok toxic masculinity. According to another source with knowledge of the case, this is the first referral by PNAT about a person who is solely identified as “Incel”.
The MINI-Series Adolescence on Netflix has mainly revealed the toxic and misogynistic influences that teenagers on the internet are exposed, pushing Britain and France governments to integrate the program to attend schools.