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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 5 hours later)
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. PARIS — The moment of silence on Monday for the victims of Thursday’s attack in Nice ended abruptly as boos and jeers rose from the crowd of thousands filling the Promenade des Anglais, where 84 people had been killed. The object of the derision was Prime Minister Manuel Valls, who had arrived flanked by national and local political leaders to pay his respects.
The investigation of Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, 31, whose rampage ended when the police shot him to death, has so far produced contradictory portraits. Cries of “Resign, resign” swept the crowd when Mr. Valls arrived, and as he left. A couple of people could be heard on a televised clip saying, “Assassins,” while others disapproved of the heckling: “They should show some respect,” one woman said.
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. The catcalls came after a weekend of finger pointing at the Socialist government by right-leaning opposition politicians. Hours later, the Paris prosecutor, François Molins, described what the investigation by the French authorities had so far revealed about the killer, who used a cargo truck and an automatic pistol to carry out a deadly assault on a crowd celebrating Bastille Day.
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. The new information further fleshed out a portrait painted by the family of the killer, Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, 31, a Tunisian citizen, as a troubled man who had uncontrolled fits of anger and a fascination with extreme violence.
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. He 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 Mr. Molins, France’s top counterterrorism prosecutor.
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. Mr. Molins described him as hardly a devout Muslim: He ate pork, drank alcohol, used drugs and led “an unbridled sexual life,” the prosecutor said at an afternoon news conference in Paris, citing witness statements.
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 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, and on nasheeds, or chants, that have been used by jihadist groups like the Islamic State.
said the authorities had not uncovered any links between Mr. Lahouaiej Bouhlel and the Islamic State. His other internet searches included Eid al-Fitr, the holiday at the end of Ramadan, and the attacks in Orlando, in Dallas and in Magnanville, France, where an Islamic State militant killed a police captain and his companion last month.
“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.” Mr. Lahouaiej Bouhlel had recently begun to grow a beard, evidently for religious reasons, Mr. Molins said, and one witness told investigators that Mr. Lahouaiej Bouhlel had mentioned the Islamic State, saying he did not understand “why Daesh could not lay claim to a territory.”
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. Investigators also found “very violent” images on Mr. Lahouaiej Bouhlel’s computer, showing 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 one-eyed Algerian operative who helped lead Al Qaeda’s affiliate in North Africa.
He had a history of domestic violence and had repeatedly beaten his wife, Hajer Khalfallah, badly enough that she was treated by a doctor on at least one occasion, said Jean-Yves Garino, a lawyer for Ms. Khalfallah in Nice.
Mr. Lahouaiej Bouhlel had also beaten his wife’s mother, Mr. Garino said. The couple were about to finalize their divorce, and she had moved away from him with her children about a year ago. She was taken into police custody for questioning and released on Monday without being charged.
The line between people who carry out acts of terrorism because of political beliefs and those who go on violent rampages mostly because they are mentally disturbed has become blurred.
And the Islamic State has muddied the distinction by lumping together those who carry out attacks under the group’s direction — like the militants who attacked Paris in November and Brussels in March — and sympathizers who, lured by the group’s message, carry out attacks in its name but act on their own.
“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.“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.
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.” 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.” That appears to have been the case for Mr. Lahouaiej Bouhlel. He searched the internet not only 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. Mr. Lahouaiej Bouhlel killed 84 people and wounded 256 others, in the third terrorist assault to inflict mass casualties in France since January 2015. Of the wounded, 74 remain hospitalized, with 28 in intensive care and 19 in critical condition, Mr. Molins said on Monday. So far, 71 of those killed have been identified.
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. The blatant cruelty of the attack, and Nice’s right-leaning politics, may have contributed to the outcry here against Mr. Valls and the central government, but the response is also a product of a growing willingness to question how the French government, and in particular the security ministries, handles terrorism.
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. After two brothers attacked the Charlie Hebdo office and another attacker held shoppers and staff members at a kosher grocery store hostage, killing four of them, there was a great show of national unity. That was true as well after the Nov. 13 attacks in and around Paris, which killed 130 people, although questions were gradually asked after that attack.
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.” Then last week, a damning report of the government’s organization of its intelligence and its rules for different security units was released by a National Assembly committee led by a Parliament member who is a former criminal judge. On Monday, the main center-right opposition party, the Republicans, asked that a similar committee be created to investigate the Nice attack.
Mr. Molins did not provide more details about the video or the hostage in it, nor did he identify the witness. “The report broke a French political taboo on criticizing the French police system and the French secret services,” said Thomas Guénolé, a political scientist and lecturer at Sciences Po.
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. And that opened the ground for other politicians and the public to voice their frustration, he said.
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. The fact that the anger came in connection with the Nice attack may not have been entirely fair, but it was a product of accumulated frustration with the government’s response, said François Heisbourg, a French intelligence and security expert.
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 all of the attacks that took place, Nice was probably the most difficult to detect and prevent, so in a way life is unfair because the house is falling down on the government over this one, but it’s the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back,” he said.
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. Mr. Guénolé said the more egregious failing was with the attack on Charlie Hebdo, which had been threatened repeatedly over several years and was easier to anticipate than the latest attack in Nice.
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. Regardless, the weekend attack prompted former President Nicolas Sarkozy to give a highly publicized interview on the evening news on the French television channel TF1: “Everything that should have been done in the past 18 months has not been done,” Mr. Sarkozy, the leader of the Republican Party, said of the government’s policies.
Of the 256 wounded, 74 remain hospitalized, 28 in intensive care and 19 in critical condition, Mr. Molins said on Monday. The government responded several hours later with a statement by Mr. Valls and Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve that “contrary to what the president of the Republican party has asserted this evening, no government has done as much up until now to fight against terrorism.”
Perhaps most telling, however, was that Mr. Cazeneuve dismissed out of hand some of the main recommendations in the National Assembly’s report, especially those recommending the merging of intelligence agencies.
He has argued that shaking up the organization of France’s intelligence services is risky at a time of high terrorism threats, but each new attack has made it harder to argue for the status quo.
“We reached over 200 victim of terrorism in less than a 18 months, which makes it obvious something is wrong with the government’s record on terrorism,” Mr. Guénolé said.
Many ordinary citizens seemed to agree. For Gilles Thévenet, owns the High Club, a disco in Nice, which became an urgent care center on the night of the attacks, not enough is being done to keep citizens safe. “We must do everything possible to be secure, to be prepared,” he said.
“This was a big street party with nearly 300,000 people,” he said, “If the political system had put police or military vehicles to block the road, the truck would have been stopped.”
“That’s why the Niçois are revolted,” he said.