Investigations will seek to determine the origin of a fire which destroyed in a few minutes several vehicles parked opposite the Muslim religious building, which had already been the target of hateful acts in recent weeks.
Tags, a shooting and now burned cars? The Cherbourg mosque (Manche) seems to have been targeted again this Sunday, May 5. Around 3:30 a.m., there was “a car fire with spread to eight others in an open parking lot. […] A total of nine vehicles are affected., reported the Manche firefighters. According to West Francewhich cites local residents, almost half of the twenty vehicles were charred “in just twenty minutes”.
If the fire was brought under control thanks to the intervention of the firefighters, the public prosecutor of Cherbourg, Pierre-Yves Marot, affirmed that an investigation was underway to determine the causes of the fire. “It remains to be seen whether this was an incident or a voluntary act,” underlines Patrice Martin, deputy to the city of Cherbourg-en-Cotentin, with France Bleu.
Because beyond the material damage, the location of the fire raises questions. Opposite the car park, the Cherbourg mosque has already been targeted several times in recent times. Islamophobic tags, including death threats, were discovered on its walls at the end of November. At the beginning of April, an investigation was opened after the discovery of a bullet hole from a large caliber weapon in the gate of the building. “This fire actually adds to recent events”, notes Patrice Martin. “Hence the importance of quickly finding the causes.”
End of February, the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, announced that anti-Muslim acts increased by 30% in France in 2023 compared to 2022, with 242 acts recorded.
