"It's a pity Hitler didn't finish the job": The anti-Semitic incident at the French supermarket ends with only a suspended sentence

A French court convicted an Irish citizen of making death threats motivated by anti-Semitism against a Jewish tourist, after he said "It's a pity Hitler didn't finish the job" and threatened to shoot her. The judges sentenced him to six months suspended prison and a fine, and rejected the prosecution's request to ban him from the country. Jewish organizations criticized the leniency of the sentence.

A court in Avignon, southern France, convicted Patrick O'Brien, a 60-year-old Irish citizen, of making death threats motivated by anti-Semitism and justifying crimes against humanity, after he threatened to murder a Jewish tourist from Australia in a supermarket. The judges sentenced him to six months suspended prison and ordered him to compensate the woman and her husband with 500 euros each. The prosecution's request to ban him from France for three years was rejected. The incident occurred on August 11 at an Auchan hypermarket in the town of La Founte. The conversation began amicably about football, but deteriorated when the defendant told the couple, according to their testimony, "It's a pity Hitler didn't finish the job." When the woman began recording, he threatened to put a bullet in her head. The woman's father is a Holocaust survivor. Jewish organizations that joined the proceedings criticized the leniency of the sentence.