France truck attacker Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel had long plotted the carnage that killed 84 people, prosecutor Francois Molins said, with the assistance of five suspects who have been formally charged.
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“The investigation under way since the night of July 14 has progressed and not only confirmed the murderous premeditated nature of Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel’s act but also established that he benefited from support and complicity”, Mr Molins said.
Authorities initially said they believed that Lahouaiej Bouhlel, who had not been particularly religious, had become rapidly radicalised over a few weeks before the attack.
As the Bastille Day crowd enjoyed festivities on Nice’s Promenade des Anglais, Lahouaiej-Bouhlel careered his large white lorry towards them.
On May 26 a year ago, he took a photo of an article about the drug Captagon which Molins said was “used by some jihadists responsible for attacks”. Among the suspects are a Tunisian man (same nationality as the attacker), two French-Tunisians, an Albanian, and a French-Albanian woman.
The message was dated three days after the January 2015 massacre at Charlie Hebdo, the satirical publication in Paris, and referred to the worldwide phrase of solidarity for the victims “I’m Charlie”.
He said one of the suspects had filmed the scene of the attack the day after.
Speaking from Ireland, French President Francois Hollande said the inquiry was to seek answers about whether security plans were sufficient, but called for calm.
Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve acknowledged Thursday that only lightly armed local police were guarding the entrance to a pedestrian zone on the Nice beachfront when Bouhlel sped past a barricade and ran over people.
The Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation said Thursday July 21, 2016 that it raised almost $45 million at a celebrity-filled auction gala Wednesday night in Saint Tropez for environmental action, but is donating a portion to a French anti-terrorism charity in the light of last week’s attacks.
“There’s no room for polemics, there’s only room for transparency”, he said.
The criticism comes as the National Assembly extended France’s state of emergency for six month.
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Cazeneuve launched an internal police probe into security measures taken for the Bastille Day celebrations in Nice shortly after Thursday’s backtrack. Frustration is mushrooming that French authorities were unable to prevent the July 14 attack despite being in a state of emergency after a string of previous violence. News stories displayed here appear in our category for General and are licensed via a specific agreement between LongIsland.com and The Associated Press, the world’s oldest and largest news organization. This includes the preparation of derivative works of, or the incorporation of such content into other works. Please see our terms of service for more information.
