Far-right militants go on trial accused of plot to kill President Emmanuel Macron with a knife

An alleged gang of far-Right French nationalists today went on trial for trying to assassinate President Emmanuel Macron.

Details of the terrorist plot were outlined at the Paris Correctional Court on Tuesday, after 13 defendants appeared in the dock.

They included is Jean-Pierre Bouyer, a 66-year-old father of five, who allegedly wanted to help kill Mr Macron as France marked Armistice Day in November 2018.

As France was focused on 100 years since the end of World War I, Bouyer wanted an accomplice to try to talk to the President, and then stab him with a ceramic knife.

According to further prosecution evidence, Bouyer had written on Facebook that Mr Macron was ‘a little hysterical dictator,’ and he called on fellow conspirators to ‘eliminate those who want to harm you.’

Jean-Pierre Bouyer, a 66-year-old father of five, who allegedly wanted to help kill Mr Macron as France marked Armistice Day in November 2018

Bouyer had written on Facebook that Mr Macron was ‘a little hysterical dictator,’ and he called on fellow conspirators to ‘eliminate those who want to harm you’

Bouyer was part of a gang called the Barjols, which translates as ‘The Crazies’, which came under surveillance by French security services in 2018.

Their known members – 11 men including Bouyer, and two women – now face a charge of ‘terrorist conspiracy’.

All have been described as ‘angry paramilitaries’ with links to ‘far-Right groups’ in the eastern Moselle region of France.

Bouyer was arrested with three accomplices on November 6, 2018, when a police spokesman said he was ‘armed with knife to assassinate Emmanuel Macron on the occasion of the centenary Armistice’.

A dagger was found in Bouyer’s car, alongside a bible, while firearms and ammunition were in his home.

Citing evidence from intercepted phone calls and online, prosecutors said the 13 also planned to kill migrants and attack mosques.

The investigation started in 2018, when France’s domestic intelligence service received a tip about the Barjols.

During police questioning, Bouyer admitted he wanted to kill Macron, but said one of his co-accused would be the assassin.

Police later arrested other members of the Barjols, including Denis Collinet (pictured), who is a proponent of the white supremacist ‘great replacement’ theory

All standing trial have been described as ‘angry paramilitaries’ with links to ‘far-Right groups’ in the eastern Moselle region of France 

The idea was for the man to approach Macron, as if to chat to him, and then use a ceramic bladed knife to kill him.

Bouyer later withdrew this confession saying it had ‘just been talk,’ according to the prosecution.

Police later arrested other members of the Barjols, including Denis Collinet, who is a proponent of the white supremacist ‘great replacement’ theory that falsely claims that France’s native white, Catholic population is being replaced by non-white immigrants.

Barjols members also allegedly wanted to kidnap members of parliament and overthrow the government.

Investigating magistrates said in a pre-trial statement that it was ‘an established fact’ that the group’s plans ‘were entirely aimed at seriously disrupting the public order by intimidation and terror’.

But defence barrister Lucile Collot said the case against her clients were was based ‘on the fiction that a violent act was going to happen.’

Because none of the alleged plots were ever carried out, prosecutors downgraded some of the initial charges over the course of their four-year investigation.

The trial is set to run until February 3.