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"In 2023, he was arrested a few weeks after the Hamas massacre on October 7, 2023, and convicted for promoting terrorism," Retailleau said on X Sunday.
By MICHAEL STARR FEBRUARY 23, 2025 17:08 Updated: FEBRUARY 23, 2025 17:28
A police car is seen in front of the market Marche du Canal Couvert, after a deadly knife attack the day before, in Mulhouse, eastern France, February 23, 2025.
(photo credit: REUTERS/MARCO TRUJILLO)
The Algerian Islamist terrorist who murdered one and wounded several more people in Mulhouse, France, on Saturday had been arrested and convicted for promoting terrorism in the wake of the October 7 Massacre, according to French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau.
"In 2023, he was arrested a few weeks after the Hamas massacre on October 7, 2023, and convicted for promoting terrorism," Retailleau said on X Sunday.
Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France (CRIF) president Yonathan Arfi said on social media that Islamism was an ideology not limited to national borders and support for Hamas was leading to the establishment of international jihadist radicalism.
"It is a threat to all democracies," said Arfi.
The terrorist, who had been born in Algeria, had entered France illegally. Retailleau said that the Interior Ministry had contacted Algerian authorities ten times to expel the illegal immigrant, but Algerian authorities did not collaborate.
French police and right-wing responses
French police organizations and unions issued statements angered that the terrorist had been able to conduct the attack while under an expulsion order (OQTF) and registered on a database of dangerous Islamic radicals in French territory (FSPRT). Law enforcement representatives called on greater training and arming of officers in the face of increasing terrorist activity.
National Rally president Jordan Bardella on Saturday decried on social media that despite the expulsion order the terrorist was "still free to commit the worst acts in France." Bardella continued that the state repeatedly abandoned its citizens in the same manner. The Association of French Mayors (AMF) said on social media that the malmanagement of individuals under expulsion orders had to be changed.
Shouting "Allah Ackbar," the terrorist had attacked passers-by and police officers at the eastern French city's canal market, according to Mulhouse Mayor Michele Lutz and French Police, but had been neutralized and arrested. Three other people had been taken into custody by authorities, according to La Parisien, including the terrorist's two brothers and his host.
Lutz praised police for their quick intervention on Instagram Sunday and offered sympathy to the victims.
French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou said Saturday that fanaticism had struck again and had left the country in mourning.
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French President Emmanuel Macron's office issued a video statement on Saturday in which he offered his sympathy to the victims of the attack.
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