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2 Wounded in Paris Knife Attack Near Charlie Hebdo’s Former Office 2 Wounded in Paris Knife Attack Near Charlie Hebdo’s Former Office
(about 4 hours later)
PARIS — Two people were wounded by a knife-wielding assailant in eastern Paris on Friday near the site of the former Charlie Hebdo office — the scene of a 2015 terrorist attack targeting the satirical newspaper that is the focus of an ongoing trial. PARIS — A knife-wielding assailant wounded two people in Paris on Friday near the site of the former Charlie Hebdo office — the scene of a 2015 terrorist attack targeting the satirical newspaper that is now the focus of a criminal trial.
A primary suspect was arrested a short time later, the authorities said. A primary suspect was arrested a short time later. Gérald Darmanin, the French interior minister, said Friday evening that the suspect, believed to be an 18-year-old Pakistani, had not been previously identified by the authorities as a possible extremist.
Jean-François Ricard, France’s top antiterrorism prosecutor, told reporters at the site of the attack that the police had taken a second person into custody to verify “their connections to the main perpetrator.” But he called the attack an “act of Islamist terrorism” because of its location — in front of the building where Charlie Hebdo had its offices at the time of the January 2015 attack that left 12 dead — and because of the nature of the assault, against random bystanders. French prosecutors have opened a terrorism investigation.
Mr. Ricard said prosecutors were opening a terrorism investigation because of the location of the attack — in front of the building where Charlie Hebdo had its offices at the time of the terrorist attack in January 2015 that left 12 people dead — and because of its timing. A trial is ongoing for several people accused of aiding the assailants in the 2015 attack. “It is a new, bloody attack against our country,” Mr. Darmanin told France 2 television.
Prime Minister Jean Castex, who cut short a scheduled speech when the attack took place, told reporters that the attack had occurred “in a symbolic location,” not far from a mural that pays tribute to the victims of the 2015 attack. Prime Minister Jean Castex, who cut short a scheduled speech after the attack occurred, told reporters that it happened “in a symbolic location,” not far from a mural that pays tribute to the victims of the 2015 massacre. Authorities also pointed to the timing of the attack, which came amid the ongoing trial of several people accused of aiding the 2015 assailants.
The assailant, who was not immediately identified, attacked “two people he knew nothing about and who were just taking a cigarette break,” Mr. Ricard said. Their lives were not in danger, Mr. Castex said. The authorities did not provide evidence of a link to the past attack, however, or say if the suspect had any affiliation with a terrorist group.
The two victims were employees of Premières Lignes, a documentary production company that is next door to the former Charlie Hebdo office. Some of its employees were the first witnesses to the January 2015 attack. The victims’ lives were not in danger, Mr. Castex said. They were employees of Premières Lignes, a documentary production company next door to the former Charlie Hebdo office. Some of its employees were the first witnesses to the January 2015 attack.
Luc Hermann, a journalist at Premières Lignes, told the BFM TV news channel that the two employees, a man and a woman, appeared to have been attacked “totally by chance.” Luc Hermann, a journalist and filmmaker at Premières Lignes, told the BFM TV news channel that the two employees, a man and a woman, appeared to have been set upon “totally by chance.”
Mr. Hermann said that it was “a surprise attack, by a man armed with a very large bladed weapon,” who inflicted “extremely violent blows.” He blamed the authorities for failing to secure the area surrounding Charlie Hebdo’s former offices. Mr. Hermann said that it was “a surprise attack, by a man armed with a very large bladed weapon,” who inflicted “extremely violent blows.”
He also noted that there had been “absolutely no security” on the street since the start of the trial, which he said was a major problem. But Mr. Hermann blamed the authorities for failing to secure the area surrounding Charlie Hebdo’s former offices, noting that there had been “absolutely no security” on the street since the start of the trial.
A few hours after the attack on Friday, the satirical weekly wrote on Twitter that its “entire team offers its support and solidarity to its former neighbors and colleagues” at Premières Lignes, “and to the people affected by this heinous attack.” Mr. Darmanin, the interior minister, said he had asked Paris police to review why the threat in that neighborhood had been “underestimated.”
The main suspect was arrested in the Bastille neighborhood, an area in Paris not far from the site of the attack, according to the police. The authorities initially gave a higher number of people injured, revising it later on Friday. Al Qaeda had recently issued new threats against Charlie Hebdo, which moved after the 2015 attack to highly secure offices elsewhere. The threats followed the newspaper’s decision to reprint satirical cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad at the opening of the trial.
Minutes after the attack, dozens of politicians from across the political spectrum posted messages on Twitter in support of the victims, some with the hashtag #JeSuisCharlie or #IAmCharlie, a popular refrain in the wake of the 2015 attack, although no connection between the two attacks has been officially established yet. A few hours after the attack on Friday, the weekly wrote on Twitter that its “entire team offers its support and solidarity to its former neighbors and colleagues” at Premières Lignes, “and to the people affected by this heinous attack.”
Schools and day care centers in the area went on lockdown as a precautionary measure before reopening later on Friday. The main suspect was arrested in the Bastille neighborhood, not far from the site of the attack, the police said.
While in recent years many attacks in France have targeted law enforcement officers, including in 2017 when a veteran police officer was shot and killed on the Champs-Élysées, assailants have also orchestrated indiscriminate attacks. Jean-François Ricard, France’s top antiterrorism prosecutor, told reporters that the police had taken a second person into custody to verify “their connections to the main perpetrator.”
In March, 2018, a gunman killed four people in a supermarket in southern France, including a police officer, and two months later an attacker stabbed five people near the Paris Opera, one fatally. In October 2019, a veteran police employee killed four of his colleagues in a knife attack at the headquarters of the Paris police, in what the authorities later called a terrorist attack. The assailant attacked “two people he knew nothing about and who were just taking a cigarette break,” Mr. Ricard said.
Al Qaeda, the terrorist group, had recently issued new threats against Charlie Hebdo, which moved after the 2015 attack to highly secured offices elsewhere. The threats followed the newspaper’s decision to reprint satirical cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad at the opening of the trial of several people accused of aiding the assailants. Five other people were taken into custody later on Friday, although no details were disclosed. The French police routinely carry out sweeping arrests of acquaintances of the main suspects in terrorist attacks, sometimes releasing them shortly afterward without charge.
Marika Bret, Charlies Hebdo’s head of human resources, said this week that she had been forced to leave her home 12 days ago after her security guards received detailed and precise threats against her. Mr. Darmanin, the interior minister, said the police were still trying to determine the primary suspect’s exact identity and age. Preliminary investigation, he said, had determined that the suspect had arrived in France three years ago as an “isolated minor,” and had been briefly under arrest a month ago for carrying a weapon — a screwdriver. The exact circumstances of that arrest were unclear.
Minutes after the attack, dozens of politicians from across the political spectrum posted messages on Twitter in support of the victims, some with the hashtag #JeSuisCharlie or #IAmCharlie, a popular refrain in the wake of the 2015 attack.
Marika Bret, Charlie Hebdo’s head of human resources, said this week that she had been forced to leave her home 12 days ago after her security guards received detailed and precise threats against her.
Speaking to the weekly Le Point, Ms. Bret, who has been living under police protection since 2015, said that the threats reflected “the unprecedented level of tension we are facing.”Speaking to the weekly Le Point, Ms. Bret, who has been living under police protection since 2015, said that the threats reflected “the unprecedented level of tension we are facing.”
Jean-Charles Brisard, director of the Paris-based Center for the Analysis of Terrorism, wrote in an op-ed in Le Figaro on Thursday — before the attack — that the trial for the January 2015 attacks had led to “renewed activity and hostility” in Islamist circles, and heightened threats. Jean-Charles Brisard, director of the Paris-based Center for the Analysis of Terrorism, wrote in an op-ed in Le Figaro on Thursday — a day before the knife assault — that the trial for the January 2015 attacks had led to “renewed activity and hostility” in Islamist circles, and heightened threats.
Mr. Brisard, writing alongside Thibault de Montbrial, a lawyer representing a former Charlie Hebdo journalist at the trial, added that the release of numerous convicts in terrorism cases whose sentences will end in the coming months, combined with other upcoming high-profile terrorism trials, “lead us to fear a resurgence of terrorist attacks” in France. Mr. Brisard, writing along with Thibault de Montbrial, a lawyer representing a former Charlie Hebdo journalist at the trial, added that the release of numerous convicts in terrorism cases whose sentences will soon end, combined with other coming terrorism trials, “lead us to fear a resurgence of terrorist attacks.”
In the 2015 attack, two brothers, Chérif and Saïd Kouachi, stormed into the building that housed the satirical newspaper and fatally shot a maintenance worker. The brothers then forced at gunpoint a cartoonist who had just stepped outside to enter a security code to access the offices. Mr. Darmanin, the interior minister, said that more than 100 people convicted on a range of terrorism charges were expected to be released from prison in 2020 and 2021.
“We are still at war with Islamist terrorists,” he said, adding that 32 attacks had been thwarted in the past three years and that the threat had been “mutating” from organized to isolated acts.
In the 2015 attack, the brothers Chérif and Saïd Kouachi stormed into the building that housed the satirical newspaper and fatally shot a maintenance worker. The brothers then forced at gunpoint a cartoonist who had just stepped outside to enter a security code to access the offices.
The gunmen entered as journalists were holding a weekly news meeting and opened fire with semiautomatic rifles, killing 10 people and critically injuring four others. They left the building less than two minutes later and shot and killed a police officer who tried to stop them as they fled. After a two-day manhunt, the Kouachi brothers were killed in a shootout with the police in a small town north of Paris.The gunmen entered as journalists were holding a weekly news meeting and opened fire with semiautomatic rifles, killing 10 people and critically injuring four others. They left the building less than two minutes later and shot and killed a police officer who tried to stop them as they fled. After a two-day manhunt, the Kouachi brothers were killed in a shootout with the police in a small town north of Paris.
Al Qaeda’s branch in Yemen later claimed responsibility for directing the attack.
“Since the start of the trial and with the republication of the cartoons, we have received all kinds of horrors, including threats from Al Qaeda and calls to finish the work of the Kouachi brothers,” Ms. Bret said.“Since the start of the trial and with the republication of the cartoons, we have received all kinds of horrors, including threats from Al Qaeda and calls to finish the work of the Kouachi brothers,” Ms. Bret said.
Elian Peltier contributed reporting from London.Elian Peltier contributed reporting from London.