Attack in Paris: the alleged author thought to attack the headquarters of Charlie Hebdo, he would have made scouting

Steph Deschamps / September 26, 2020

According to Le Parisien, which revealed the information, the man, who identifies himself as an 18-year-old Pakistani, had scouted outside the building and wanted to attack Charlie Hebdo reporters. Elements which were confirmed to AFP by this source close to the investigation.

He is suspected of having attacked at the end of the morning on Friday two employees of the First Lines press agency, on a cigarette break in front of their building located at 10, rue Nicolas Appert (XIth arrondissement), which formerly housed the premises of Charlie Hebdo.

The satirical newspaper has moved its offices for five years to an address kept secret, which is the subject of "reinforced security with static guard since the start of the opening of the trial" of the January 2015 attacks in early September, according to the police Department.

In custody, the man declared "to assume his act which he situates in the context of the republication of the cartoons (of Charlie Hebdo, note) which he did not support", at the beginning of September on the occasion of the opening of the trial, according to the source close to the investigation.

Six other people were also placed in police custody as part of this investigation opened by the National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor's Office (Pnat), entrusted to the anti-terrorism section (SAT) of the criminal brigade and to the General Directorate of Internal Security (DGSI ).

These are five men who were in an apartment in Pantin (Seine-Saint-Denis), the last presumed home of the main suspect and a former roommate of the latter, when he was staying in a social hotel in Cergy- Pontoise.