DOMINANT ANGLE
Paris is unequivocal: the country is sticking to the presidential qualification of "racist terrorist attack" and debating its meaning, in an already tense climate.
Dominant angle identified — does not reflect unanimity of this country’s media
KEY POINTS
- 01
The National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor's Office is investigating "murder in connection with a terrorist enterprise" with the circumstance of a motive related to an alleged race, ethnicity, nation, or religion.
- 02
The suspect, Kévin T., 39 years old, was arrested in Coignières with a submachine gun; his apartment was booby-trapped with three gas bottles.
- 03
Emmanuel Macron denounced in Trappes "a racist terrorist attack" and "a turning point in the life of our Republic".
ANALYSIS
Paris, October 24, 2026. On Friday, October 23, around 10 am, a 39-year-old man, Kévin T., opened fire with an automatic weapon from a Clio in Trappes and then in La Verrière (Yvelines). A 26-year-old man, Pengo B.-W., was killed; five people are injured, including a 12-year-old girl who was hit by eight bullets. Five police officers from the BAC arrested the suspect in Coignières, with a Sten-type submachine gun, sixteen minutes after the start of the shooting, according to 20 Minutes.
The National Anti-Terrorist Prosecutor's Office has taken over the case for "murder in connection with a terrorist enterprise," with the circumstance of actual or supposed membership in a so-called race, ethnicity, nation, or religion. It indicates that the shooter had booby-trapped his apartment with three gas bottles. Listed in the TAJ file but unknown to the intelligence services, the suspect is in custody, as is a member of his family circle. Le Monde notes that his motivations remain nebulous.
The Minister of the Interior, Laurent Nuñez, speaks of a "terrorist crime"; the mayor of Trappes, Ali Rabeh, of an "attack, with racist connotations, probably Islamophobic," and denounces the speeches that "ideologically arm" those who take action. In Trappes, Emmanuel Macron denounces a "racist terrorist attack" and "a turning point in the life of our Republic": it is, he says, "the first time" that a planned terrorist act targets French people "because of their skin color or the religion attributed to them." He invokes premeditation and the suspect's statements "very clearly recorded," then calls for "concord" and not to "give in" to the ideas that are taking hold.
The formula raises objections: in Le Monde's live coverage, readers recall Merah in 2012 and the Hyper Cacher in 2015, and the Élysée specifies that it does not forget any past anti-Semitic attacks. Marine Le Pen condemns "a criminal act of a terrorist nature, aggravated by the abject motive of racism"; Gérard Larcher and Yaël Braun-Pivet call for calm in a country already traversed by tensions. HuffPost also notes the controversy over Pascal Perri's statements on LCI, deemed racist by left-wing officials.
SOURCES (4)
- 20 MinutesMEDIUM
- Sud OuestMEDIUM
- HuffPost FranceMEDIUM
