French prosecutor finds evidence that Paris attacker that killed four people was a radicalized Muslim.

Two women hug as they leave the French police headquarters. Reuters. 

France's lead terrorism prosecutor has found evidence that the man who stabbed and killed four people on Friday was a radical Muslim. Reuters. Francois Ricard said that the 45 year old IT specialist had contacts with a "Salafist" group. The man worked for the police department and killed three police officers and a administrative worker before getting shot and killed himself. The attacker, only identified as Mickael H. was born on the French island of Martinique and had converted to Islam 10 years ago. 

My Comment:

I didn't cover this story yesterday for a couple of reasons, the biggest being I was too busy to write anything up. But it was also because there was very little information on what exactly had happened. Even back then it looked pretty likely to have been a terror attack. Though there isn't 100% confirmation that this attacker was a terrorist, assigning France's top terror prosecutor to the case is a huge sign. 

It seems clear that they discovered that this attacker had some links to a terror organization. The big question is which one as none of the news stories I have read have named it. The only hint is that it is a Salafist group, which doesn't really narrow things down. 

However, there are only a few groups still active. ISIS has been largely defeated on the battlefield but they still have supporters online and could be the culprit. Al-Qaeda is in even worse shape than ISIS but they too could have encouraged this attack. Finally, it's possible the man's terror links were with a smaller terror group or even with a group of unorganized radicals. 

I do find it incredibly shocking that a man could kill four people in a police station before getting shot and killed himself. Not all French police are armed and this attack seemed to occur in an administrative setting. Still, you would think that there would have been someone there to shoot this attacker before he killed four people. 

It doesn't speak well of the French police to have this man on staff either. He was an IT worker that worked with the police. Did they not give him a background check when he was hired? I know he wasn't a cop but given the situation in France you would think they would be asking recruits if they had any connections with terror groups and actually following through to make sure they didn't. Perhaps this attack will change things but I can't believe that wasn't the case already. 

It does seem like these attacks are getting rarer though. With international terror groups on the run with little financial ability to launch attacks, they can really only inspire lone wolf attackers like this. Even the pace of those attacks, which seemed almost weekly during the height of the terror wave that hit Europe this decade, has slowed to a craw, to the point where I can't remember the last time I had to write about one. Hopefully this is a trend that continues.