French officials credited spectators and police for thwarting an assassination attempt on President Jacques Chirac by a neo-Nazi who pulled a rifle from a guitar case during the annual Bastille Day parade.
The man fired at least once from a fully loaded rifle as Chirac, riding in an open-top jeep about 50 yards away, was reviewing troops at the start of a pomp-filled military parade to celebrate France’s national holiday on Sunday. Cries of alarm sprang out from members of the crowd along the tree-lined edge of Paris’ Champs-Elysees, near the Arc de Triomphe.
At least one spectator grabbed the gun and turned it upwards. Caught by police, the man tried to turn the gun on himself. Paris police said the man was 25 years old and a member of ”neo-Nazi and hooligan” groups.
LCI television and a police officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, both identified him as Maxime Brunerie.
LCI reported that he was once connected to the far-right group of Bruno Megret, a former lieutenant of National Front leader Jean-Marie Le Pen. In last year’s municipal elections, the man ran for city councilman under Megret’s party, the National Republican Movement, Liberation newspaper reported. The police officer said the gunman was also linked to a far-right student group, the Groupe Union Defense, and had a history of psychiatric problems.
The man was transferred to a police psychiatric facility for testing, where he remained on Monday morning.
”I saw a guy with a gun,” said a tourist, Mohamed Chelali, who told LCI television that he and others in the crowd helped subdue the man.
Another man, identified as Jacques Weber, knocked the rifle out of the attacker’s hand and ”I threw myself forward, grabbed the gun and then everyone started calling: ‘Police, police,”’ Chelali said. ”They took a long time to come, maybe two to three minutes.”
Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy told a news conference he had congratulated in person both the police and a ”courageous spectator” who thwarted the attack.
It was not immediately clear if the shot came near Chirac or if it went into the air as police converged on the gunman. ”It was an assassination attempt,” said a government minister, Patrick Devedjian. ”He fired a first shot, which was turned away, then he was overcome and tried to turn the weapon against himself.”
”He admitted he wanted to kill the president,” added Devedjian, who is the minister in charge of local liberties.
When asked by reporters if the gunman was trying to kill her husband, Bernadette Chirac said, ”Yes, clearly?.
Paris police said the gun was a .22-caliber rifle. The guitar case was brown. Officers in civilian clothes put both in the van that took away the man, who wore a grey hooded top.
Sarkozy said the rifle was bought last week and was fully loaded with five bullets.
The attempt on Chirac comes as several European countries are facing a resurgence in support for far-right groups. They have won votes by playing on fears of immigration, crime and economic stagnation.
In Holland, anti-immigration politician Pim Fortuyn was assassinated May 6. Police arrested an environmental and animal rights activist in the killing. France was shocked by Le Pen’s strong showing in the first round of the presidential elections, when he knocked former Prime Minister Lionel Jospin out of the race.
Despite the attack, the Bastille Day parade, a colourful pageant with troops, armoured vehicles and aircraft roaring overhead, continued uninterrupted. The man was arrested at the top of the Champs-Elysees where it empties into Place Charles de Gaulle, site of the famous Arc de Triomphe. He managed to reach the flag-bedecked Champs-Elysees despite heavy security.
Police had lined the avenue and mingled with crowds along the route. In a traditional televised interview after the parade, Chirac was not asked about and did not mention the attack.
Later, he hosted a Bastille Day garden party for thousands of invited guests at his presidential Elysee Palace. Again, he did not mention the attack in a brief appearance. After saluting the bravery of New York firefighters, who were invited guests, he dove into the crowd with a smile to shake hands. – Sapa-AP