Overview

• SOS Racisme lodged a criminal complaint on August 12 with the Paris prosecutor alleging Lenoir’s CNews comments constitute a public insult based on origin
• On August 11, the former minister said “millions of Algerians… can pull out a knife in the metro or drive a car into a crowd,” reacting to the Constitutional Council’s partial invalidation of an immigration and security bill
• Despite the Council’s ruling, the government promulgated the contested law on August 12 to tighten measures on irregular foreigners in detention centres
• In a statement this week, Lenoir said she meant “thousands” rather than “millions” but affirmed her broader caution about security threats from a small group under removal orders
• Lenoir reported filing a police complaint over death threats and insults as the Paris prosecutor’s office begins reviewing SOS Racisme’s allegations