This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/19/world/europe/nice-france-attacker.html

The article has changed 4 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Attacker in Nice, France, Looked for Articles on Orlando and Dallas Attacks Attacker in Nice, France, Looked for Articles on Orlando and Dallas Attacks
(about 2 hours later)
The Tunisian man who used a 19-ton truck and an automatic pistol to carry out a deadly assault on a crowd of Bastille Day revelers in Nice, France, on Thursday evening had searched the internet for articles about the recent terrorist attack on a gay nightclub in Orlando, Fla., and the killings of five police officers in Dallas, according to France’s top counterterrorism prosecutor. PARIS — The Tunisian man who used a cargo truck and an automatic pistol to carry out a deadly assault on a crowd of Bastille Day revelers in Nice, France, on Thursday evening had searched the internet for articles about the recent terrorist attack on a gay nightclub in Orlando, Fla., and the killings of five police officers in Dallas, according to France’s top counterterrorism prosecutor.
Conflicting descriptions of the man, Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, 31, have emerged in the days since the attack, which killed 84 people and wounded 256, and was the third terrorist assault to inflict mass casualties in France since January 2015. He had a record of petty crime and of domestic violence, but he seemed at first more like a surly misfit than a radicalized jihadist. The investigation of Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, 31, whose rampage ended when the police shot him to death, has so far produced contradictory portraits.
Even as the Islamic State claimed Mr. Lahouaiej Bouhlel as a “soldier” who had responded to its call to wage war against countries that are fighting the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, there has been nothing to suggest that he had any direct links with the group. On the one hand, Mr. Lahouaiej Bouhlel was hardly a devout Muslim: He ate pork, drank alcohol, used drugs and led “an unbridled sexual life,” the prosecutor, François Molins, said at an afternoon news conference in Paris, citing witness statements.
François Molins, the Paris prosecutor who has once again become the face of the French judicial system’s response to terrorist attacks, said at a news briefing on Monday afternoon that the authorities had not uncovered any links between Mr. Lahouaiej Bouhlel and the Islamic State. On the other hand, Mr. Lahouaiej Bouhlel had — in just the two weeks before the attacks — searched “on a near-daily basis” for information on suras, or chapters of the Quran; on nasheeds, or chants, that have been used by jihadist groups like the Islamic State; on Eid al-Fitr, the holiday that marks the end of Ramadan; and on attacks in Orlando, Dallas and Magnanville, France, where an Islamic State militant killed a police captain and his companion last month. And Mr. Lahouaiej Bouhlel had recently begun to grow a beard, evidently for religious reasons.
Investigators also found “very violent” images on his computer — of corpses; fighters brandishing the Islamic State’s flag; covers of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, the target of a January 2015 attack in Paris that killed 12 people; Osama bin Laden; and Mokhtar Belmokhtar, the Algerian operative who helped lead Al Qaeda’s affiliate in North Africa.
Mr. Lahouaiej Bouhlel killed 84 people and wounded 256 in the third terrorist assault to inflict mass casualties in France since January 2015. He had a record of petty crime and of domestic violence, but he seemed at first more like a surly misfit — a man who beat his wife until she threw him out — than a determined jihadist.
Although the Islamic State has claimed Mr. Lahouaiej Bouhlel as a “soldier” who had responded to its call to wage war against countries that are fighting the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, Mr. Molins
said the authorities had not uncovered any links between Mr. Lahouaiej Bouhlel and the Islamic State.
“Although no evidence in the investigation at this stage demonstrates an allegiance” to the Islamic State, he said, or “links with individuals aligning themselves with this organization,” investigators found on Mr. Lahouaiej Bouhlel’s computer “a certain — and at this stage of the investigations, recent — interest in radical jihadist movements.”“Although no evidence in the investigation at this stage demonstrates an allegiance” to the Islamic State, he said, or “links with individuals aligning themselves with this organization,” investigators found on Mr. Lahouaiej Bouhlel’s computer “a certain — and at this stage of the investigations, recent — interest in radical jihadist movements.”
The line between people who carry out terrorist acts because of deep-seated political beliefs and those who go on violent rampages mostly because they are mentally disturbed has become blurred. The Islamic State has also intentionally muddied the distinction, by lumping together those who carry out attacks under the terrorist group’s direction and those who, lured by its message, carry out attacks in the group’s name. The line between people who carry out terrorist acts because of deep-seated political beliefs and those who go on violent rampages mostly because they are mentally disturbed has become blurred. The Islamic State has intentionally muddied the distinction by lumping together those who carry out attacks under the terrorist group’s direction — like the militants who attacked Paris in November and Brussels in March — and sympathizers who, lured by the Islamic State’s message, carry out attacks in its name.
In Tunisia, Mr. Lahouaiej Bouhlel’s relatives have described him as not particularly religious. Indeed, witnesses told French investigators that Mr. Lahouaiej Bouhlel had an “unbridled sexual life,” Mr. Molins said. “The painful news of this past month shows that terrorist attacks come either from commandos or cells that carry out attacks that were planned in the Iraq-Syria area, or from individuals who obey the constant messages calling for murder, by any means, that are put out by terrorist organizations, which have made France a chosen target,” Mr. Molins said.
But on Monday, The Associated Press quoted Mr. Lahouaiej Bouhlel’s uncle, Sadok Bouhlel, as saying that about two weeks ago, his nephew had come under the influence of an Algerian member of the Islamic State in Nice, and that the Algerian “found in Mohamed an easy prey.” The uncle said he had learned about the Algerian’s involvement from relatives who live in Nice. He added, “Support for these messages, and radicalization, can occur all the more rapidly when they are addressed to disturbed personalities or individuals who are fascinated by extreme violence.”
That appears to have been the case for Mr. Lahouaiej Bouhlel. He not only searched the internet for information about the Bastille Day festivities in Nice, but also for videos of deadly car accidents, using search terms like “horrible deadly accident” and “shocking video, not for the faint of heart.”
In Tunisia, Mr. Lahouaiej Bouhlel’s relatives have described him as not particularly religious.
But on Monday, The Associated Press quoted Mr. Lahouaiej Bouhlel’s uncle, Sadok Bouhlel, as saying that about two weeks ago, his nephew had come under the influence of an Algerian member of the Islamic State in Nice, and that the Algerian had “found in Mohamed an easy prey.” The uncle said he had learned about the Algerian’s involvement from relatives who live in Nice.
On the computer, investigators found violent images and evidence that Mr. Lahouaiej Bouhlel had searched for information about the Orlando and Dallas attacks. The killer in Orlando, Omar Mateen, had pledged loyalty to the Islamic State, but the killer in Dallas, Micah Johnson, was an Army veteran who appears to have been motivated primarily by his views of the treatment of African-Americans by the police in the United States.On the computer, investigators found violent images and evidence that Mr. Lahouaiej Bouhlel had searched for information about the Orlando and Dallas attacks. The killer in Orlando, Omar Mateen, had pledged loyalty to the Islamic State, but the killer in Dallas, Micah Johnson, was an Army veteran who appears to have been motivated primarily by his views of the treatment of African-Americans by the police in the United States.
Mr. Molins said that a witness had told investigators that Mr. Lahouaiej Bouhlel had shown him a video of a hostage’s being decapitated about seven or eight months ago. The witness told investigators that when he had expressed surprise about the video, Mr. Lahouaiej Bouhlel had answered, “I am used to it.” Mr. Molins said a witness had told investigators that Mr. Lahouaiej Bouhlel had shown him a video about seven or eight months ago of a hostage’s decapitation. When the witness expressed shock at the video, Mr. Lahouaiej Bouhlel responded, “I am used to it.”
Mr. Molins did not provide more details about the video or the hostage in it. Nor did he identify the witness. Mr. Molins did not provide more details about the video or the hostage in it, nor did he identify the witness.
Monday is the last of three days of national mourning in France for the victims in Nice, and at noon, the nation observed a moment of silence for the victims. Monday was the last of three days of national mourning in France for the victims in Nice, and at noon, the nation observed a moment of silence for the victims.
At a ceremony near the Promenade des Anglais in Nice, the site of the attack, tearful mourners holding flowers stood on the rocky beach in silence on Monday. Among those paying their respects was Prime Minister Manuel Valls, who was heckled and booed as he arrived at and left the promenade.At a ceremony near the Promenade des Anglais in Nice, the site of the attack, tearful mourners holding flowers stood on the rocky beach in silence on Monday. Among those paying their respects was Prime Minister Manuel Valls, who was heckled and booed as he arrived at and left the promenade.
President François Hollande, Mr. Valls and other officials have been faulted for not doing more to improve the gathering and analysis of intelligence, and the protection of large crowds and high-risk events, after two sets of attacks in and around Paris — in January and November 2015 — that killed a total of 147 people. President François Hollande and other officials have been faulted for not doing more to improve the gathering and analysis of intelligence, and the protection of large crowds and high-risk events, after two sets of attacks in and around Paris — in January and November 2015 — that killed a total of 147 people.
Of the 84 people killed in Nice, the authorities have identified 71, Mr. Molins said. Three Americans — a father and son from near Austin, Tex., and a 20-year-old student at the University of California, Berkeley, who was studying abroad in France — were among the dead. On Monday, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve lashed out at the critics, singling out Marine Le Pen, the leader of the far-right National Front Party, and Mr. Hollande’s predecessor as president, Nicolas Sarkozy. Mr. Cazeneuve said that Ms. Le Pen “only has one angle — it’s to point the finger at the Muslims of France” — and noted that Mr. Sarkozy, as part of efforts to cut government spending, had reduced the number of employees devoted to law enforcement.
Of the 256 wounded, 74 remain hospitalized, 28 are in intensive care and 19 are still in critical condition, Mr. Molins said on Monday. Of the 84 people killed in Nice, the authorities have identified 71, Mr. Molins said. Three Americans — a father and son from near Austin, Tex., and a 20-year-old student at the University of California, Berkeley, who was studying in France — were among the dead.
Of the 256 wounded, 74 remain hospitalized, 28 in intensive care and 19 in critical condition, Mr. Molins said on Monday.