Post date: May 21, 2013 7:1:31 PM
Police evacuate Paris' Notre Dame cathedral after a far-right former activist commits suicide.
PARIS, FRANCE (MAY 21, 2013) (REUTERS) - Police evacuated Paris' Notre Dame cathedral on Tuesday (May 21) after a well-known far-right former activist committed suicide by shooting himself in the mouth in front of its main altar, a police source said.
The man, 78-year-old Dominique Venner, is a historian known in France for his far-right political essays and was an fierce opponent of gay marriage, which Francelegalised on Saturday.Nestled on an island in the Seine river, the 850-year-old Notre Dame is one of the French capital' most visited tourist attractions.
"Notre Dame is one of the most visited monuments in France with many people entering at all times, the man, without any notice arrives and shoots himself in the head, for sure that's shocking so it's a trauma which will stay for everyone, so they emptied the cathedral of its visitors," said student Prince Salabanzi who was outside the cathedral when Venner shot himself.
Shortly before his suicide, Venner urged readers of his blog on May 21 to descend into the streets for a protest against gay marriage on Sunday.
France became the 14th country to allow gay weddings on Saturday when President Francois Hollande signed a bill allowing same-sex marriage, a campaign pledge of the Socialist leader.
While the bill was going through parliament, it sparked huge demonstrations by conservative opponents of gay marriage, which is one of the biggest social reforms since the death penalty by Hollande's late mentor, former president Francois Mitterrand.
The suicide comes days after a man killed himself with a sawed-off shot-gun at a primary school in a posh Parisian neighbour, to the horror of on-looking children and their teacher.
The leader of the far-right National Front party, Marine Le Pen, paid tribute to Venner on her Twitter feed, saying that his suicide was a political gesture aimed at "waking up the French people".