Three soldiers were attacked with a knife on Tuesday, February 3, in the center of Nice, while they were on duty in front of a Jewish community center as part of the Vigipirate plan. The perpetrator, Moussa Coulibaly, of Malian origin and 30 years old, was arrested, and the anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office has taken charge of the investigation.
“A second person, a 43-year-old man, born in Chad and of Canadian nationality, was arrested and verifications are underway,” a police source also indicated. At present, no evidence suggests whether this was an attempted terrorist attack or the act of a deranged individual.
Fortunately, the wounded soldiers were not seriously injured and were quickly hospitalized, receiving a visit from Prefect Colrat shortly afterward.
In the evening, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve and Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian arrived in Nice to visit the soldiers. Christian Estrosi took the opportunity to show them the Urban Supervision Center. The Ministers then met with representatives of the Jewish community at the Jean Kling Center, 3 Place Masséna.
Given the irrational nature of this incident and the behavior of the perpetrator, one might wonder if the Vigipirate plan should include, in addition to the presence of law enforcement and military personnel in the field to protect sensitive sites, the presence of psychiatrists!
Terrorist or not, how can a sensible person attack a military patrol in broad daylight, in the city center, in the middle of a crowd, armed with only a knife!
To do what, beyond being able to injure one or more? Are they all seeking the famous 72 virgins who will console them in paradise?
Or could this media bombardment surrounding an admittedly priority but not exclusive problem of life result in some individuals’ heads exploding, who might need a severe review?
Didn’t a well-known psychiatrist once argue for closing the psychiatric wards in prisons, claiming that the truly insane were outside!
Episodes like yesterday’s make the following question legitimate: what if he wasn’t entirely wrong?
