{"id":10108,"date":"2013-05-22T00:08:09","date_gmt":"2013-05-21T19:08:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/archive2.ankakh.com\/?p=10108"},"modified":"2013-05-22T00:08:09","modified_gmt":"2013-05-21T19:08:09","slug":"right-wing-historian-shoots-himself-in-notre-dame-cathedral-in-protest-at-gay-marriage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive2.ankakh.com\/en\/?p=10108","title":{"rendered":"Right-wing historian shoots himself in Notre Dame cathedral ‘in protest at gay marriage’"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"n3\"<\/a>A right-wing historian shot himself dead in front of hundreds of tourists at the altar of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris today, apparently in protest at France’s legalisation of gay marriage.<\/p>\n

Dominique Venner, who had recently been campaigning against gay marriage in France, is said to have calmly walked past the crowds milling around the 850-year-old Cathedral, one of the most popular tourist sites in the world, before taking out a Herstal automatic pistol.<\/p>\n

The 78-year-old put the gun in his mouth and fired before collapsing on to the altar, according to French media reports.<\/p>\n

Mr Venner, who was awarded a prestigious prize by l’Acad\u00e9mie fran\u00e7aise for one of his historical works,\u00a0 was a former member of the Secret Army Organisation (OAS), the paramilitary group which fought against France giving up Algeria as a colony.
\nHe was jailed for 18 months in La Sant\u00e9 Prison as a political undesirable for his role in the ultra-national organisation and was freed in 1962.<\/p>\n

The Cathedral was full of visitors when the horrific incident took place, at around 4pm.<\/p>\n

‘There was screaming and lot so shouting following a loud bang,’ said one witness. ‘People were naturally very scared and began to run out in panic.<\/p>\n

An unidentified police source said Mr Venner carried a letter on his person but made no declaration before shooting himself dead in the mid-afternoon, reports Reuters.<\/p>\n

Notre Dame, which dates back to the 12th Century, has become a battleground for those fighting over homosexual marriage, with demonstrations regularly held around it.<\/p>\n

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