French Anti-Terror Prosecutors Investigate Suspected Racist Shooting Killing Tunisian, Wounding Turkish

French authorities are investigating the racially motivated killing of a Tunisian man in Puget-sur-Argens, southern France, who was shot dead by his French neighbor, who also wounded a Turkish man. The 53-year-old suspect, a sports shooting enthusiast, posted racist and hateful videos on social media before and after the attack, prompting the anti-terrorism prosecutor's office to open an investigation into a possible terrorist undertaking linked to the crime. This incident follows the fatal stabbing of a Malian man in a mosque in southern France, highlighting a troubling rise in hate crimes against Muslims. Anti-discrimination groups like SOS Racisme condemned the killings, denouncing a toxic climate of racism and the normalization of racist rhetoric in France. Official data indicates an 11% increase in racist, xenophobic, or anti-religious crimes last year, with political discourse around immigration and Islam criticized for potentially fueling such hatred. The case has intensified calls for political and media accountability to combat the growing wave of racist violence in the country.