By accusing 18-year-old Timothy G. in what is seen as the first terrorism case directly connected to the sexist “incel” movement, French authorities have taken a historic judicial step. According to investigators, he admitted to being a member of the ideology and planning to carry out violent assaults on women.
He was arrested near a public high school in Saint‑Étienne, carrying two knives. The National Anti‑Terrorism Prosecutor’s Office (PNAT) has formally charged him with terrorist conspiracy to commit crimes against persons.
The suspect reportedly consumed a steady diet of misogynistic content on TikTok, reflecting the radicalizing influence of online extremist rhetoric. His attorney highlighted his problematic but not necessarily extreme past by referring to him as “a teenager who is suffering, not a fighter.”
This case marks a shift in how French legal authorities define and prosecute gender‑based extremist violence, recognizing that involuntary celibacy ideologies can evolve into real-world terror threats. France now joins a growing international consensus that misogynist terrorism—including violence rooted in incel ideology—warrants the same counter‑terrorism response as other extremist ideologies.
