A 73-year-old retired French railway worker was sentenced to seven years in prison this week for attacking a migrant encampment in Paris with a sword, a crime a court heard was driven by racist animosity and a desire to terrorize foreigners into leaving the country. The conviction, reported by Breitbart News, is the first of two cases against the man, who also stands accused of a deadly shooting spree at a Kurdish cultural centre in the French capital just days after his release from custody in the earlier matter.
Court Convicts Malet for 2021 Sabre Attack
William Malet was found guilty by the Paris Criminal Court on Monday for the December 8, 2021, assault on a migrant camp in Bercy Park, according to the outlet. Prosecutors said Malet wielded a sabre during the attack, slashing at tents and leaving two people with wounds. One victim, a Sudanese migrant, was struck in the thigh. A second man, from Ethiopia, was attacked from behind as he went to urinate; the sword cut into his back and thigh. He later described his assailant as silent and masked, “like a ninja,” Le Parisien reported.
During the trial, Malet admitted that his motive was a racist dislike of foreigners, telling the court he had hoped the violence would drive migrants out of France. “I wanted to hurt them, I wanted to terrorise them, so that they would leave there,” he said, according to the French daily. Witnesses said Malet shouted “damn foreigners!” as he hacked at the tents.
The seven-year sentence closes one chapter in a case that has raised questions about pre-trial detention and monitoring in France. Malet had spent a year in custody before his trial. He was released from detention on December 23, 2022 — a decision that would quickly prove catastrophic.
Released, Then Accused in a Deadlier Attack
Just 11 days later, on January 23, 2023, Malet allegedly went on a mass shooting spree at a Kurdish cultural centre in central Paris. The attack left three people dead and three others injured. According to Breitbart’s report, Malet claimed the centre was a front for the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a group designated as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States, and the European Union.
Investigators have said Malet admitted to a “pathological hatred” of foreigners, describing the rampage as an act of self-destruction. “I wanted to kill myself, and I told myself that I was going to take some of them to death,” he said, per the report.
Malet now faces a second trial for the Kurdish centre attack, scheduled to begin in February of next year — this one on charges of racially aggravated murder and attempted murder. The concurrent proceedings mean the 73-year-old could spend the rest of his life behind bars if convicted on the more serious counts.
Pattern of Violence Raises Questions
The case has drawn attention to the gap between Malet’s release in late 2022 and the attack that followed less than a fortnight later. French authorities have not publicly explained the decision to release him after the sword attack, though pre-trial detention in France is subject to judicial review and time limits. The timing — a man with a documented history of racial violence freed, then accused of a mass casualty attack days later — is likely to feature prominently in the upcoming trial and in any broader debate over how the justice system handles extremist offenders.
For the migrant communities targeted in both attacks, the convictions represent a measure of accountability. The Sudanese and Ethiopian men wounded in 2021 survived, but the 2023 shooting at the Kurdish centre killed three people and wounded three more, leaving a scar on a community that had already faced violence in the French capital.
Malet’s sentencing this week closes only the first case. The second, set for February, will determine whether the man who told a court he wanted to “terrorise” foreigners will be held responsible for the deaths that followed his release. Breitbart News reported that Malet will be tried for racially aggravated murder and attempted murder in that proceeding.
The Paris Criminal Court’s seven-year sentence for the sword attack is considerably less than the maximum penalty for armed assault, but it reflects the charges brought in that case. The February trial will carry far heavier potential consequences. Until then, Malet remains in custody.
Source: www.breitbart.com — https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2026/09/19/73-year-old-man-jailed-for-sword-attack-on-migrant-camp-in-paris/