The link between the gilet jaunes and the Strasbourg attack

There are conspiracy theories doing the rounds in France among some gilets jaunes that Tuesday’s Islamist attack in Strasbourg was somehow fabricated by the government. It was cooked up, so the social media conspirators say, to deter demonstrators from launching a fifth weekend of protests.

The various theories are all very far-fetched. The alleged gunman, Chérif Chekatt, who was shot dead by police on Thursday evening, had a history of violent crime and, more significantly, is believed to have been converted to Islamic extremism while in prison. It’s a back story shared by several other Islamists who have carried out attacks in France in the last six and a half years.

Nonetheless, there may well be a connection between the Strasbourg attack and the yellow vest movement. In an interview in Thursday’s Le Figaro, Gilles Kepel, France’s leading expert on Islamic extremism, said the protests have provoked much comment on French Jihadist internet forums.