2023-12-03 19:22:15
On Saturday evening, a 26-year-old man attacked passers-by in Paris, killing one person. The perpetrator was arrested. He had already been convicted of terrorism in 2018.
French police are securing access to the Bir Hakeim Bridge following the attack on Saturday evening.
Stephanie Lecocq / Archyde.com
In Paris on Saturday evening, a 26-year-old man attacked several passers-by with a knife and a hammer. He attacked a German tourist couple on a bridge near the Eiffel Tower around 9 p.m. He killed the man, but the woman was unharmed. The victim was 23 years old and a German-Filipino dual citizen. According to police, he was hit in the back and shoulder and suffered cardiac arrest.
The perpetrator then fled to another part of the city and injured two other passers-by. According to French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin, they are a 60-year-old French woman and a 66-year-old British tourist. They are out of danger. The police were then able to stop the perpetrator using an electric shock gun.
Since then, the question of how the crime might have happened has been a concern in France. The perpetrator was already known to the authorities because of Islamist ideas. He had previously served four years in prison for planning an assassination attempt. He was now able to kill a person, even though the country is currently on the highest terror alert level.
The perpetrator was receiving psychiatric treatment
According to the police, the perpetrator’s name is Armand R., a Frenchman with Iranian parents. He grew up west of Paris. In 2016, the domestic secret service arrested him because he was involved in planning a terrorist attack in Paris. Armand R. was then sentenced to five years in prison, including one year on probation. He was released in 2020.
The perpetrator has been receiving psychiatric treatment since his conviction. According to the public prosecutor’s office, several psychiatric reports have been carried out since his release. There were signs that Armand R. had de-radicalized himself. But Armand R.’s mother only recently contacted the authorities and expressed concern regarding her son’s behavior. According to the public prosecutor, however, there was no precise information for further criminal prosecution.
According to Interior Minister Darmanin, the perpetrator shouted the words “Allahu akbar!” during the attack. He later told the police that he had had enough of seeing Muslims die, especially in Afghanistan and Gaza. He also described France as Israel’s accomplice. The public prosecutor announced that Armand R. had published a video shortly before the crime. In it he swore his loyalty to the terrorist militia Islamic State.
The attack on Saturday evening is therefore classified as a terrorist attack. Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne said: “We will not give in to terrorism. Never.” President Emmanuel Macron called a security meeting with several ministers on Sunday followingnoon. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz addressed the relatives of the killed German via the short message service X. Scholz said the incident made it clear why the fight once morest hatred and terror was needed.
Authorities have to explain themselves
The focus of the political debate is now the possible failure of the security authorities and psychiatric services. The leader of the right-wing populist Rassemblement national, Jordan Bardella, said: “The French will ask themselves how a man who was convicted of planning an assassination attempt and received psychiatric care in this context might be found free and armed on the streets of France on a Saturday evening “I might walk around Paris.”
The attack also occurred at a time when security authorities are on extra alert. The highest terror alert level has been in place in France since mid-October. After anonymous threats, tourist attractions in Paris such as the Louvre and the Palace of Versailles were evacuated. Airports across France were also affected.
A teacher was murdered in Arras in mid-October. The perpetrator was under surveillance because of his Islamist radicalization. The government assumes that the war between Israel and the Islamist Hamas motivated him to commit the crime.
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