Overview
- Libération released a June 5, 2024 video in which LFI deputy Nathalie Oziol says she is “not in agreement” with calling Samuel Paty’s murderer a “Muslim fanatic.”
- After initially accusing the reporter of lying and claiming manipulation in now‑deleted posts on X, Oziol maintained in new comments that the attacker should be described as an Islamist terrorist and warned against conflating Muslims with Islamists.
- Montpellier’s Socialist mayor Michaël Delafosse condemned the remarks as an offense to Paty’s memory and a betrayal of left‑wing values, escalating a local political confrontation.
- Carine Chaix, lawyer for Paty’s sister Mickaëlle, denounced the comments and said she will examine whether they could amount to the offense of praising terrorism, citing investigators’ findings of the killer’s Islamist motivation.
- The interview was conducted by Taibi Bouklit, administrator of the “Oumma Montpellier” WhatsApp group that backed LFI during the 2024 European elections and opposes the sitting mayor, highlighting contested ties between local LFI figures and Muslim community networks.