French Politician Removes Graphic Photo of Slain Journalist James Foley on Twitter
James Foley's parents publicly asked Marine Le Pen to delete the photo.
— -- French far-right politician Marine Le Pen has deleted a picture she had published on her Twitter account of American journalist James Foley decapitated by the Islamic State, or ISIS, telling news agency AFP she "didn’t know" it was him. She said she immediately removed the graphic image after a request from his family.
On Wednesday Le Pen posted three graphic pictures of executions by ISIS in response to French journalist Jean-Jacques Bourdin, who she said had drawn a parallel between her party – the National Front - and the terrorist group.
Hours after posting the pictures, John and Diane Foley, James’ parents, publicly asked her to remove the image of their son, saying in a statement that they were "deeply disturbed by the unsolicited use of Jim for Le Pen's political gain."
French prosecutors in Nanterre, a suburb of Paris, have launched an investigation into "the dissemination of violent images" by the leader of the National Front party.
France's Prime Minister Manuel Valls tweeted about the incident, saying the photos published by Le Pen were insulting and disrespectful.