In the aftermath of the terrorist knife attack in the heart of the capital, political reactions continue to abound. A German-Filipino tourist was killed shouting “Allah Akbar” in the 15th arrondissement of Paris, while two other people, one British and the other French, were injured. The companion of the deceased victim is for her part “shocked”, in the words of Gérald Darmanin who went to the scene on Saturday evening.
Traveling to Qatar, the President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron sent “all [his] condolences to the family and loved ones of the German national who died this evening during the terrorist attack (…) [I] think with emotion of the people currently injured and being treated. My most sincere thanks to the emergency forces who made it possible to quickly arrest a suspect.” The national anti-terrorism prosecution, seized of the case, “will be responsible for shedding light on this matter so that justice is done in the name of the French people,” added the head of state.
“We will not give in in the face of terrorism,” said Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne on X. “My thoughts are with the victim, the injured and their loved ones. I salute the courage and professionalism of our law enforcement and our mobilized emergency services,” the head of government wrote.
The Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin, who came to the scene, congratulated the police for their courage and their composure when controlling the assailant with tasers. “Paris is in mourning,” wrote Clément Beaune, the Minister of Transport, on the social network, who expressed his “thoughts and solidarity for the families and loved ones of the victims.”
On the majority side, the President of the National Assembly Yaël Braun-Pivet deplored that “once again terrorism strikes on our soil”, before inviting the French to unity “to fight against those who attack our values” .
On the right, it was also time for compassion and thanks. The mayor of Nice, Christian Estrosi, shared his support for the victims and congratulated the police. Former presidential candidate and current president of the Île-de-France region Valérie Pécresse also praised “the responsiveness of the police”.
If the day before, the president of the Republicans Éric Ciotti had also shown his support for the victims and congratulated the police, this morning he was much more indignant: “The attacker who caused the death of a tourist and who injured two people in Paris is a radicalized individual, on S file and already convicted for acts linked to terrorism. Once again, this Islamist was known!”, he protested against
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Further to the right, it was already time to question the French judicial system. Jordan Bardella was thus more incisive. After carefully discussing “what is likely a murderous attack with Islamist motivations”, the president of the RN suggested that citizens were being put in danger by too much laxity. “Tomorrow morning, the French will wonder how a man on file, already convicted of having planned an attack, a notorious psychiatric case, in the current context, was able to walk freely and armed on a Saturday evening in the streets of Paris,” he said. -he thus denounced on X.
“More death on our soil. Again this cry of “Allah Akbar”. Another S file. More broken families. Today, walking under the Eiffel Tower, in the heart of Paris, is taking the risk of dying. What have they done to our country?” for his part, was indignant Éric Zemmour, the president of Reconquête!
On the left, the reactions were much later. Fabien Roussel, national secretary of the PCF, reacted this Sunday morning on X by evoking a “horrible terrorist act in Paris”. “Congratulations to the police and emergency services for their responsiveness,” he added. Before deciding: “Let us be firm with their authors and those who encourage them.” Olivier Faure, leader of the Socialists, also wanted to speak this Sunday: “All my thoughts and condolences to the relatives of the tourist murdered last night in Bir Hakeim as well as to the relatives of the injured. All my gratitude to the police officers who arrested the terrorist,” he said on X.
The ecologist Sandrine Rousseau relegated the “political” question to insist on the “psychiatric” subject: “Without denying the political basis of this act there is also a psychiatric subject and, behind it, the question of how people with psychological conditions are monitored,” she wrote on X, without mentioning the term “terrorism”.
The Socialist Deputy Mayor of Paris Emmanuel Grégoire spoke on Saturday evening, sharing his “thoughts for the victims”, just like Clémentine Autain, MP for France Insoumise, who said on X: “Horror. Horror. Horror. My total empathy for the relatives of the murdered victim and the injured.”
