Terror suspect on French train watched jihadi video on cell phone before attack

AP:
Minutes before he slung an assault rifle across his chest and walked through a high-speed train, the Moroccan suspect in the foiled attack watched a jihadi video on his cellphone, the French prosecutor said in formally opening a terrorism investigation Tuesday.

El-Khazzani, 26, was tackled and tied up by five passengers, including three Americans and a Briton, averting what President Francois Hollande said "could have degenerated into monstrous carnage."The actions by Ayoub El-Khazzani on the Amsterdam-to-Paris train Friday night and information from other European authorities on his travels and apparent links to radical Islam prompted the investigation, said prosecutor Francois Molins.

During questioning by authorities, El-Khazzani said he had no terrorism plans and had found a bag of weapons Thursday in a Brussels park and planned to use them to rob passengers, Molins said. But the suspect grew less and less lucid as he gave his explanation, the prosecutor added, and eventually stopped talking to investigators altogether.

One reason investigators suspect a premeditated attack was that El-Khazzani, who claimed to be homeless and living in a Brussels park, used a first-class ticket, Molins said. The suspect refused to take an earlier train, he added, although there were seats available — "the sign of a planned project."
...
I am not surprised he quit talking.  He was becoming incoherent.  Usually a robbery suspectr at least demands money before he starts shooting people.  The police should probably check out the park where he claimed to find the weapons to see if there are witnesses who saw  whomever provided the weapons.  It could lead to other suspects behind the alleged terror attack.

The cell phone with the jihadi video had been activated only  days before the attack.  It also may be a clue as to who helped him before the attack.  Police should be able to trace the phone to the place where it was purchased to check who actually bought it.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Should Republicans go ahead and add Supreme Court Justices to head off Democrats

29 % of companies say they are unlikely to keep insurance after Obamacare

Is the F-35 obsolete?