The French government quickly retracted claims that its security forces thwarted a terrorist attack on places of worship over the Easter weekend, saying no such plot actually existed.
Prisca Thévenot, the French government’s deputy minister and spokesperson for Democratic Renewal who was newly promoted in President Emmanuel Macron’s January reshuffle, insisted that security services had thwarted the Easter weekend terrorist attack, and that ministers He gave an update on the council’s initiatives. While this is highly commendable, it has now become clear that it never actually happened, and what’s worse is that this is the same as the minister declaring a personal campaign against what he denounced as “fake news”. It happened on the day.
“Thanks to this mobilization, we are inspired to take action,” Thévenot said of the deployment of 13,500 police officers across France over the Easter weekend to protect 4,350 “places of worship” and religious services. was able to thwart the attempt.
“Yes, there are attempts to take action, and thanks to the mobilization of these men and women every day, we can avert tragedy. This action was averted last weekend. .”
French Deputy Minister for Democratic Renewal and Government Spokesperson Prisca Thévenot speaks while gesturing during a press conference after the weekly cabinet meeting in Paris on April 3, 2024. (Photo by Ludovic Marin/AFP) (Photo by Ludovic Marin/AFP) : LUDOVIC MARIN/AFP, Getty Images)
France arrests Islamic extremist woman on suspicion of planning Easter attack on church https://t.co/Yx05oD9cEi
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) April 6, 2021
But even before Thévenot’s press conference ended, her own office retracted the statement, insisting she had made a mistake. Civil servants told Agence France-Presse that Mr Thévenot had falsely implied that the arrest of an Egyptian linked to Islamic State a month ago was a police action taken over the weekend.
As separately reported, a 62-year-old Egyptian was arrested on March 5 for allegedly planning to attack Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. He has been charged with being a “criminal terrorist organization” and will face a terrorism trial. He is one of five Islamic State officials recently arrested in France.
Regarding her error on this point, a government spokesperson said: “…A government spokesperson, in a press conference, referred to comments from the Department of Home Affairs and Overseas Territories this weekend announcing the arrest of individuals at the beginning of 2016. The marchers were attempting to attack places of worship.”
By the end of Wednesday’s press conference, Thevenot also recanted his words, saying that the questions he received from journalists at the press conference showed that he did not fully understand. “This weekend, the attack was not thwarted…I didn’t say it was an attempted terrorist attack…It was certainly not clear,” she said.
France under Macron: average of 3 church attacks a day https://t.co/flFZuZVQyN
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) March 30, 2019
French conservative newspaper le figaro She said Theveneau’s comments were “disruptive” and that she was in an awkward and somewhat ironic position, given that on the same day she launched an attack on what she derided as “fake news” by others. Ta. He told reporters that he took aim at “new fake news that has come in from yesterday evening to this morning” about the government’s tax plans, which he said are false.
In France, which has one of the most advanced terrorism problems in Europe, misunderstandings about whether terrorist plots have been destroyed and the protection of churches and synagogues from terrorist attacks are important issues. The government says it has thwarted 45 attack plans since 2017, but many have managed to evade detection, including a mass stabbing at a church in 2020 and an attempted beheading of a priest celebrating Mass in 2016. It is thought-provoking about typical targets.
Last week, France raised its national terrorism alert to the highest level following the attack on a concert hall in Moscow. The incident was in many ways similar to the 2015 Bataclan theater attack, which killed 130 people and injured hundreds more. In Moscow, armed groups mowed down concertgoers and set them on fire, and on March 22, Islamic State claimed responsibility for the massacre. The Kremlin has rejected the idea that it may have been attacked by Islamists and has moved to shift the blame to Western countries, including the United States and Britain.
France: Police arrest man on suspicion of desecrating a church with a verse from the Quran https://t.co/t4icjam3JX
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) January 16, 2020
