Eleven individuals are set to face trial for the murder of Thomas Perotto, a 16-year-old who was stabbed during a party in Crépol, a town in the Drôme region of France. The case has drawn attention due to an aggravating circumstance of racism, based on witness accounts of statements like "we are here to stab whites" or "dirty French piece of shit." This classification is described as "quite unprecedented" and even "a first" for a homicide by Evan Raschel, a professor of criminal law who spoke to 20 Minutes. He explains that French law does not distinguish between different forms of racism, focusing instead on whether the victim was targeted due to their race. Sociologist Éric Fassin, however, questions the very idea of "anti-white racism," suggesting it may reflect a political stance rather than a legal necessity. According to the judges' instruction order, issued last Friday, the defendants made statements during the fight that targeted "the white race and the French nation." This formulation is considered a first in French legal history. Evan Raschel, a professor of criminal law at the University of Clermont Auvergne, told 20 Minutes that this is enough to make the "investigation not quite complete" and that the "what will really be historical is when a trial court decides." Guillaume Fort, one of the defendants' lawyers, has already announced an appeal on BFM TV. The mayor of Romans-sur-Isère, Marie-Hélène Thoraval, praised the decision to include "the aggravating circumstance of anti-white and anti-French racism," stating on X (formerly Twitter), "Faced with reality, we must act!" The term "anti-white racism" is not explicitly mentioned in French law. Article 132-76 of the Penal Code addresses membership, real or supposed, in an ethnicity, a nation, a supposed race, or a religion, but does not specify particular groups. Evan Raschel explains that the law is careful not to distinguish between different forms of racism. The key question is whether the victim was targeted because of their race. He notes that in law, the focus is on objectivity: if the victim was attacked or insulted because of their race, it is considered racism. Courts have previously sanctioned insults like "dirty white," but never, to his knowledge, a murder. He asserts that "it is rare, simply because anti-white racism is much less frequent than other forms of racism." The law provides for two scenarios: either it is proven that the victim was targeted due to their race, which is "almost impossible," according to the professor, or racist statements were made during the attack, which is "much easier to characterize." In the Crépol case, witnesses reported hearing phrases like "we are here to stab whites" or "dirty French piece of shit." The prosecution considered these testimonies "minor, sometimes imprecise or even contradictory" and opposed the addition of the aggravating circumstance. Defense lawyers also contest the collective attribution. Seydi Ba and Diala Al-Shaman, cited by AFP, stated that "this referral raises a major question: how can our client be referred for aggravated murder by a racism circumstance when neither the fatal blow nor any racist statement is personally attributed to him?" The judges cite a "single scene of violence," for which each participant is responsible. "It is a matter of appreciation of the evidence," says the criminal law professor. "It will be up to the court of assizes, which will start from scratch, to decide."