French Teenager Attacks Jewish Teacher with Machete, Says He Did So for the Islamic State

A 15-year-old high school student who assaulted a Jewish teacher on his way to work in the southern French city of Marseille told police that he was acting "in the name of Allah and Daesh" — the Arabic acronym for the Islamic State.

Speaking at a press conference on Monday, Marseille prosecutor Brice Robin said that the teen claimed that French Muslims were "dishonoring Islam" and that the French army was "protecting Jews." Robin described the attack as "premeditated" and "anti-Semitic."

The teenager, who is of Turkish-Kurd origin and turns 16 next week, attacked the teacher with an eight-inch machete at about 9am. The 35-year-old victim, who was wearing a yarmulke, shielded himself from his assailant using a copy of the Torah.

According to the police, the victim sustained injuries to his hands and back.

The attacker fled the scene but was later arrested by officers from France's Anti-Crime Brigade. According the French daily Le Parisien, the teen made "incoherent" remarks to officers when he was apprehended outside a subway station.

Robin said that the teen was carrying another blade at the time of his arrest, which he was "planning to use on officers." During questioning, the high schooler threatened to acquire a gun upon his release and go after police officers.

Yannick Blouin, the deputy director of Marseille's public safety department, said that the boy's family were "flabbergasted" by the reports. The teenager — who was not known to French intelligence services or the police, and who has not been named — has been described as a hard-working student with good grades.

Robin remarked to reporters that it was likely that the youth became radicalized online.

Soutien à la victime de la révoltante agression antisémite de — Bernard Cazeneuve (@BCazeneuve)January 11, 2016

Earlier in the day, France's Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve tweeted his support to the victim of "the revolting anti-Semitic attack in Marseille," and confirmed that an investigation was underway.

Prime Minister Manuel Valls described the attack as "repulsive" and urged the country to "stand up to those who go after our republican unity."

L'agression antisémite d'un professeur à Marseille nous révulse. Intransigeance face à ceux qui s'en prennent à notre unité républicaine.

— Manuel Valls (@manuelvalls)January 11, 2016

The student is being investigated for "attempted murder on grounds of religion" and "defense of terrorism."

According to the French daily Libération, the Marseille prosecutor's office has investigated 70 terror-related incidents since the November 13 attacks that left 130 people dead in around Paris.

In the days following the Paris attacks, a 56-year-old Jewish teacher in Marseille was stabbed by three men, one of whom was wearing an Islamic State T-shirt. The night before, a Muslim woman wearing a veil was attacked in Marseille by a man wielding a box cutter.