Attempted Assasination, French Pres. Chirac, Bastille Day

TBO.com ^ | 7/14/02 | ASP

[ASP]

Thank GOD this Neo-Nazi didn't succeed. NN's seem to be popping up all over the place lately.

Man Gets Out Gun as French President Passes; Arrested by Police

PARIS (AP) - Police arrested a man who pulled a rifle out of a guitar case as French President Jacques Chirac was inspecting troops Sunday during the annual Bastille Day military parade, police and witnesses said. Cries of alarm from the crowd lining the parade route apparently alerted police, and the gunman fired a single shot as he was wrestled to the ground. Agents stood him up, searched him and took him away in a van.

The Paris police said in a statement that the man was 25 years old and was a member of "neo-Nazi and hooligan" groups. Chirac crushed far-right candidate Jean-Marie Le Pen in presidential elections in May.

Members of the crowd said the man, who had short, brown hair and looked to be in his 30s, took his gun out of a guitar case as the French president was being driven past, down the Champs-Elysees aboard an open-topped jeep.

Paris police said the gun was a .22-caliber. Officers in civilian clothes put the gun and the brown guitar case in the van that took the man away. It was not known whether Chirac was aware of the gunman.

The military parade, a colorful pageant with troops, armored vehicles and aircraft roaring overhead, continued uninterrupted. The parade is a highlight of celebrations marking Bastille Day, France's national holiday.

The man was arrested at the top of the Champs-Elysees where it empties into Place Charles de Gaulle, site of the famous Arc of Triumph.

He managed to reach the flag-bedecked Champs-Elysees despite heavy security. Police lined the avenue and mingled with crowds along the route.

[tet68]

Ah, French security!

Darn hooligans!

Where is Hooly any way?

[ASP]

It's also horribly ironic that families of fallen NYFD are guests of French FD in Paris during this event.

Paris trip bittersweet for families of fallen New York firefighters, By JOSEPH COLEMAN Associated Press Writer
July 13, 2002, 2:59 PM EDT

PARIS -- Families of New York firefighters killed in the
Sept. 11 terror attacks are on a dazzling visit to Paris: a boat ride on the Seine, an elegant reception at the top of the Eiffel Tower, dinner on the Champs-Elysees.

They say they are enjoying themselves _ up to a point. Behind all the fanfare lie the painful personal losses that brought them here.

"Bittersweet is the only way you can describe it," Geraldine Halderman, who lost her firefighter son David Halderman, said on Saturday. "The reason we're here is so sad."

Halderman, 68, of Brentwood, Long Island, is one of 75 family members and a handful of New York firefighters on a 12-day visit to France as guests of the Paris Fire Brigade. The FDNY lost 343 members in the World Trade Center attack.

The families and a group of department members attended the signing on Saturday of a cooperation agreement between Paris firefighters and the FDNY that provides for annual meetings and a sharing of firefighting and anti-terrorism tactics.

"As our world is changing, we need to get together with others to learn what they know," said Chief of Department Daniel Nigro. He added that it was the first agreement of its kind.

At the ceremony at the Paris Fire Brigade headquarters, French officials praised the FDNY for courage and dedication and expressed sympathy for families of the fallen.

"The psychological shock that we felt turned into a great feeling of admiration for our American counterparts," said the chief of the Paris firefighters, Gen. Jacques Debarnot.

French officials were doing their best to keep their guests busy.

Later Saturday, the group was hosted at Paris City Hall where the two fire departments demonstrated their firefighting gear. Other activities included the singing of a song commemorating Sept. 11, a gymnastics performance by the Paris brigade and a reception in the ornate City Hall's Hall of Tapestries.

The French government on Friday awarded the FDNY a medal for courage and devotion.

On Sunday, the families were to attend a huge parade marking Bastille Day, France's national holiday. The parade will include a New York fire truck and will be led this year by a squad of cadets from West Point military academy in New York.

The trip has been difficult at times for the families. Janice Testa, who lost her brother, Henry Miller, in the attack, broke into tears during the signing of the cooperation agreement.

"It's still a shock," said Testa, 49, of Valley Stream. "Moments like this bring back memories."

Still, she said she appreciated all the attention as proof that people outside of New York still remember the sacrifice of her brother and so many others.

"It's hard in one way because we've had a loss," said Testa, whose father is a retired firefighter. "But it's good in a way because it takes our minds off of it."

http://newsday.com/news/local/wire/ny-bc-ny--france-fdny0713jul13.story?coll=ny%2Dap%2Dregional%2Dwire

[Thane_Banquo]

The Paris police said in a statement that the man was 25 years old and was a member of "neo-Nazi and hooligan" groups.

The French quickly signed the surrender papers to the Hooligan group.

[jimtorr]

"The Paris police said in a statement that the man was 25 years old and was a member of "neo-Nazi and hooligan" groups. Chirac crushed far-right candidate Jean-Marie Le Pen in presidential elections in May. "

Interesting paragraph. So Le Pen now organizes "neo-Nazi and hooligan" groups?

[irish guard]

>>>>>>>>Police arrested a man who pulled a rifle out of a guitar case as French President Jacques Chirac was inspecting troops Sunday during the annual Bastille Day military parade, police and witnesses said. <<<<<<<

Inspecting "troops"....France has an army???...hehehe...perhaps it was one of those gay dance troups.....or maybe Chirac was in another country inspecting real troops!

[dennisw]

Ah, French security!
Darn hooligans!
____________________________

Was this at a soccer game?

[Dog Gone]

It almost reads as if Le Pen planned the assassination.

[cake_crumb]

"The Paris police said in a statement that the man was 25 years old and was a member of "neo-Nazi and hooligan" groups"

Gee...it's not bad enough that a neo-Nazi is running around in a socialist country...but he had to be a HOOLIGAN too. Can't trust that hooligan group.

[Mr.Clark]

Sounds like "Day of the Jackal".

Edward Fox was no hooligan though. A professional.

[Dales]

Ya no chit. There is no linkage that the reporter could make with any facts, so he just puts the two unrelated facts that his own bias links together right next to each other so that a reader will, hopefully in his eyes, make the same linkage.

Reporters are consistent if nothing else.

[APBaer]

"Can't trust that hooligan group."

Might he run with the feared "Soccer Hooligan Group"?

[Teacher317]

Why are so many of the high-profile modern assassinations done with a .22? I would think they would opt for a bit more power or larger caliber.

[ASP]

I would think after the tragedy on 9/11, the supportive reaction from the French, and hosting families from our fallen NYFD members...all out of empathy for the US...that we would have more expressions of concern. French must feel really concerned and angry over this attempted assasination. I don't understand this kind of callous, arrogant sarcasm.

[cake_crumb]

"So Le Pen now organizes "neo-Nazi and hooligan" groups?"

I was wondering WHY Le Pen's name wound up in there too. Almost as though this is a thinly veiled attempt to discredit all that Le Pen stands for, by manufacturing a tenuous link to the guy from the Hooligan group.

[norton]

We appear to have a right wing, in fact neo-nazi, group [certainly not muslims - wouldn't be right], headed up by a politician who embarrassed the current government by actually drawing votes in an open election, motivated to attempt to assasinate the President from the middle of a crowd, with a .22 rifle carried a-la Al Capone, as the President drives past in a parade.

If this is not a set up for repression of opponents of the government it is at least clear proof that the French are totally nuts.

Bet the perp does not survive his incarceration.
In fact, I smell a gaelic Lee Harvey Oswald.
[Please pardon the pun]

[OldFriend]

Did the French insist that no jewish families be part of the American group?

[Timesink]

What did Bush know and when did he know it?

[ASP]

Did the French insist that no jewish families be part of the American group?
No. Do you have any reason to believe they did?

[illbenice]

Because .22s are very accurate within 100 yards, and present no recoil. Another factor could be how cheap they are. At least that is what I think, I am not a assasin so I cannot talk for them. ;-)