French judge extends detention of 6 in alleged Macron plot

PARIS – A French judge has extended the detention of six people arrested this week on suspicion of plotting to attack French President Emmanuel Macron.

A judicial official said Thursday the six can remain in detention without formal charges until Saturday with this ruling. A preliminary investigation of alleged criminal terrorist association opened on Tuesday, the day of their arrest.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the allegations, said the alleged plot appeared to be incomplete, but violent. Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said it’s believed they were far-right activists.

French presidents have been targeted before. In 2002, a far-right sympathizer tried to attack President Jacques Chirac on Paris’ Champs-Elysees Avenue on Bastille Day.

U.S. President Donald Trump comes to France this weekend for the World War I Armistice centenary.