At least nine pigs' heads were left outside several mosques in the Paris region on Tuesday, according to the city's police chief, prompting alarm over rising anti-Muslim hatred.
Laurent Nuñez told a press conference that four of the heads were found in Paris and five in the inner suburbs, adding that officers were not ruling out the possibility of more. Several of the heads had the surname of President Emmanuel Macron scrawled on them in blue ink, the Paris prosecutor's office said.
Police have opened an investigation into incitement to hatred aggravated by racial or religious discrimination. Nuñez described the acts as “despicable” and said there could be parallels with past incidents linked to “foreign interference”, but urged “extreme caution”.
The incidents drew swift condemnation from political and community leaders. President Macron met representatives of the Muslim community to express his support, while Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo denounced the “racist acts” and said the city had taken legal action. Interior minister Bruno Retailleau called the incidents “outrageous” and “absolutely unacceptable”.
Anti-Muslim incidents in France rose by 75 per cent between January and May 2025 compared with a year earlier, with attacks on individuals tripling, the interior ministry said in July. Chems-Eddine Hafiz, rector of the Grand Mosque of Paris, called the acts “a new and sad stage in the rise of anti-Muslim hatred”.
