Internet searches on his computer included Islamic propaganda chants, the term “horrible deadly accidents”, and stories on the recent attacks against a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, on police officers in Dallas, and the killing of two police officials in Magnanville, outside of Paris.
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Bouhlel drove a large truck into a crowd of people watching fireworks as part of Bastille Day celebrations last Thursday.
Similar tributes were paid in Paris and around the country in a solemn ceremony that has become painfully familiar.
“They want him (Mr Valls) to resign because he didn’t put enough police on on the day”, said the 60-year-old.
An investigation into the Nice truck attack has not yet yielded any links to terror networks, France’s interior minister said Monday, as the nation marked a moment of silence for victims of the tragedy.
Tunisian-born delivery man Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, who was not on any police watchlist, did not appear to be a devout Muslim as he ate pork, drank alcohol, took drugs and had an “unbridled” sex life, Molins told a news conference.
While previous attacks in France spawned grand displays of national unity, there was no semblance of cohesion after the Nice massacre, which comes nine months ahead of presidential and legislative elections.
Confidence in the capacity of Francois Hollande’s government to combat terrorism has plummeted in the wake of the truck attack that killed 84 people in the southern French coastal city of Nice, an opinion poll published on Monday suggested.
“Everything that should have been done in the past 18 months was not done”, former president and opposition leader Nicolas Sarkozy, who is eyeing another run for the top job, said on Sunday.
“They will not take the promenade away from us”, she said.
Read|A petty criminal “radicalised quickly”?
Cazeneuve described the bitter debate as “shameful”.
After a special security meeting, defence minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said French forces in the US-led coalition struck IS targets again overnight and on Saturday.
The government’s new law would also give power to anti-terrorism units to search suspects’ computers and mobilephone communications.
“There is no zero risk”. A statement published in an IS media outlet called the attacker a “soldier”.
Who were the victims of the French Riviera horror?
French officials couldn’t confirm Monday that Bouhlel had been approached by an Algerian recruiter, saying that the investigation is ongoing.
As investigators piece together details about his motives and planning, it emerged that Bouhlel had used the rented truck to stake out the Nice seafront for two consecutive days before striking.
But bitterness is also close to the surface.
French media say he researched the route in the days before the attack.
There has also been anger at the length of time it is taking to identify victims.
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At least 10 children were among those killed in the horrific attack. “They will not win, the evil ones…The people are back”.
