A young man radicalized and monitored by the intelligence services, a father expelled from the country for the same reason, a brother serving a sentence for terrorism… Two days after the stabbing of a teacher in Arras, northern France, they get to know each other. more details about the alleged murderer and his family. And the question arises: why the attack was not prevented, taking into account the profile of the assailant and his family.
Mohamed M., 20 years old, was radicalized and booked for it. His family was also under suspicion and, in fact, his older brother is serving a sentence for advocating terrorism and for having participated in an attempted attack on the Elysée, as confirmed by the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin.
Criticism of the Government is growing for these cracks in the system that allowed Mohamed M. to enter the institute where he studied on Friday and stab a teacher. The president of National Rally, Jordan Bardella, has called for Darmanin’s resignation. The minister does not believe that there has been “a problem with the intelligence services.” At a press conference on Saturday, he recalled that they dismantle a terrorist attack every two months. Darmanin also said that from now on all foreigners who have a suspicious profile will be expelled.
The family of the alleged murderer, of Russian origin, arrived in France in 2008, when he was a child. The family had applied for asylum in 2014, which was rejected, and there was a collective expulsion order, which was ultimately not executed.
Manuel Valls, Minister of the Interior at that time, explained why: They met the conditions to stay: “They had been on French soil for more than five years, the children were small, they were attending school and they spoke French,” he explained to the media. Telegram me.
“At that time, the family did not have any particular suspicions and did not represent any public order problem,” said the former minister.
Mohamed M. was a student at the institute where he stabbed the teacher on Friday. He lived in a radicalized family unit. His father was booked and was expelled from French territory in 2018. There is also his older brother, who is serving a sentence in Paris for advocating terrorism and for having participated in an attempted attack against the Elysée. Mohamed’s phone was tapped, but investigators have explained that his conversations showed no indication that he could take action. On Thursday he was subjected to a police check, but nothing unusual was detected either.
Marc (not his real name) went to class with Mohamed. On Friday he was behind the police cordon that protected the institute where they both studied, talking with other friends, without explaining very well “how Mohamed could do that.” “He never said anything against France, he never did anything that made us think he could do something like that,” says the 21-year-old boy.
This Sunday a rally was held in Arras in tribute to Dominique Bernard, the stabbed teacher. There are a dozen people still in police custody, of whom two were released this Sunday. The attacker’s sister, her mother and her uncle remain detained. The aggressor appears “uncooperative” and did not want to explain to the investigators the motivations for his attack.