The primary suspect in an assault that left one vacationer useless and two different individuals injured in Paris was recognized to French intelligence companies for Islamist extremism and had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State earlier than the assault, the French authorities mentioned on Sunday.
Jean-François Ricard, France’s high antiterrorism prosecutor, mentioned at a information convention in Paris that the suspect had proven “persistent radicalization,” had a previous terrorism conviction and had been in touch on-line with jihadists chargeable for terrorist assaults in France.
However the suspect, recognized as Armand Rajabpour-Miyandoab, additionally suffers from psychiatric problems, and the authorities had not detected any imminent plans to hold out an assault, regardless of a latest alert raised by the suspect’s mom, Mr. Ricard mentioned.
The assault on Saturday laid naked not solely the issue in monitoring suspected extremists with psychological well being points but in addition the challenges that lie forward for President Emmanuel Macron’s authorities because it tries to reassure the world that the 2024 Summer time Olympic Video games in Paris will probably be protected.
In an indication of how significantly the authorities had been treating the episode, Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne oversaw a particular cupboard assembly on Sunday “to supply a full replace on the safety preparations in place, the therapy of probably the most harmful people and the aftermath of this deadly assault,” her workplace mentioned.
The French inside minister, Gérald Darmanin, informed TF1 tv on Sunday that the nation was “durably underneath menace from Islamist terrorism” however mentioned it will be able to host the Olympic Video games. They embody a gap ceremony on the Seine that critics have referred to as extraordinarily troublesome to safe.
Mr. Macron’s authorities says that tens of 1000’s of safety forces will probably be deployed in the course of the occasion, and Mr. Darmanin mentioned that areas close to the opening ceremony can be largely cordoned off, with tight safety and extremely restricted entry “in order that this sort of factor doesn’t happen.”
France was hit with large-scale Islamist terrorist assaults in 2015 and 2016, after which by a string of smaller however lethal shootings and stabbings in subsequent years. The nation has been on its highest terrorism menace alert since October, when a trainer was killed in northern France.
The French authorities says that the police and intelligence companies have thwarted over 40 assault plots since 2017 however that the terrorist menace is especially acute in the intervening time due to the struggle between Hamas and Israel.
The person who was killed in Saturday’s assault, a 23-year-old German vacationer of Filipino origin, was struck twice with a hammer and 4 occasions with a knife close to the Eiffel Tower by Mr. Rajabpour-Miyandoab, mentioned Mr. Ricard, the prosecutor.
Because the police had been pursuing him, the suspect barely wounded two different individuals, a Frenchman and a British citizen, with the hammer, Mr. Ricard mentioned. Confronted by the police, he claimed he had an explosive belt. That turned out to not be the case; he was arrested after an officer subdued him with a stun gun, the authorities mentioned.
In a video recorded earlier than the assault, Mr. Rajabpour-Miyandoab, talking in Arabic, pledged allegiance to the Islamic State, used a reputation to introduce himself that referred to the Islamic State in Afghanistan and expressed help for jihadists around the globe, Mr. Ricard mentioned. The video was printed on X, previously Twitter, from an account that was opened final month and that featured quite a few posts referring to Hamas and the struggle in Gaza, the prosecutor mentioned.
Mr. Rajabpour-Miyandoab and three relations and associates are nonetheless in police custody for questioning, Mr. Ricard mentioned.
Mr. Rajabpour-Miyandoab was born in 1997 to a nonreligious household, however he transformed to Islam in 2015 and “in a short time embraced jihadist ideology,” Mr. Ricard mentioned. In 2018, he was convicted on costs of being a part of a prison conspiracy to organize a terrorist assault that was not carried out.
On the time, Mr. Ricard mentioned, investigators decided that Mr. Rajabpour-Miyandoab had “massively consulted” propaganda movies and paperwork unfold on-line by the Islamic State, and that in 2016 he had expressed the will to affix the group in Syria or Iraq. Investigators additionally discovered that Mr. Rajabpour-Miyandoab had linked on-line with different Islamist extremists, together with some who later grew to become infamous for assaults of their very own.
Mr. Rajabpour-Miyandoab grew to become pals on Fb with the person who later murdered an off-duty police officer and his associate at their residence close to Paris, Mr. Ricard mentioned, though the 2 males didn’t trade any messages. Mr. Rajabpour-Miyandoab additionally chatted on-line with one of many assailants within the assault that killed a priest in his church in Normandy, Mr. Ricard mentioned. After his launch from jail in 2020, Mr. Rajabpour-Miyandoab was additionally in contact with the person who later murdered Samuel Paty, a French historical past trainer.
His launch from jail got here underneath strict circumstances, Mr. Ricard mentioned, together with an order to endure psychiatric therapy. He additionally mentioned that therapy stopped in April 2023, though intelligence companies continued to watch Mr. Rajabpour-Miyandoab.
Mr. Darmanin, the inside minister, informed TF1 on Sunday that Mr. Rajabpour-Miyandoab’s therapy had stopped on the request of “sure medical doctors,” however didn’t elaborate. He argued that safety companies ought to have the ability to overrule medical doctors in sure circumstances to power suspected extremists with psychiatric problems — “there are numerous of them,” he mentioned — to endure therapy.
In October, Mr. Rajabpour-Miyandoab’s mom expressed worries that her son was rising more and more reclusive, however the safety companies had no grounds to convey costs towards him, Mr. Ricard mentioned.
“These are the people who’re at all times the toughest to trace,” Laurent Nuñez, the pinnacle of the Paris police, informed BFMTV on Sunday. “As a result of you might have a background of radicalization, and you’ve got these psychiatric problems that muddy the waters and make it more durable for intelligence companies to investigate.”
