A far-right leader politician in France has hailed the suicide of a far right activist opposed to gay marriage as an "eminently political act". Marine Le Pen paid tribute to Dominique Venner on Twitter, saying his suicide was a political gesture aimed at "waking up the French people".
Le Pen won nearly a fifth of the first-round vote in the 2012 presidential election there.
78-year-old Dominique Venner shot himself at the famous Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris yesterday. The landmark was filled with 1,500 visitors at the time and was evacuated for a time.
Venner, a historian and political essayist, laid a letter on the altar and then shot himself. In the final essay on his website posted earlier in the day, he had railed against France's adoption of a "vile law" legalising gay marriage.
He wrote "There will certainly need to be new, spectacular, symbolic gestures to shake off the sleepiness... and re-awaken the memories of our origins. We are reaching a time when words must be backed up with acts."
Tout notre respect à Dominique Venner dont le dernier geste, éminemment politique, aura été de tenter de réveiller le peuple de France. MLP
— Marine Le Pen (@MLP_officiel) May 21, 2013
Le Pen's Tweet yesterday
Mr. Venner had a long career publishing right-wing essays, military histories and books on weaponry and hunting.
The rector of the cathedral, Monsignor Patrick Jacquin, said "We did not know him, he was not a regular at the cathedral."
A police source said the letter contained similar writings to those on the historian's website but did not disclose the specifics of the note.
