Mobile Phone of Nice Church Terrorist Reveals He Planned to Go to Paris

A picture taken on February 1, 2021 in Paris shows the flooded banks of the river Seine wi
MARTIN BUREAU/AFP via Getty Images
Chris Tomlinson

Text messages obtained from the phone of Nice basilica terrorist Brahim Aouissaoui revealed the Tunisian illegal immigrant allegedly came to France specifically to commit an attack, and his original target was Paris.

The more than 2,000 text messages sent during Brahim Aouissaoui’s voyage from Tunisia to Nice — via the migrant landing hotspot of Lampedusa — reveal that he was in contact with someone in Paris. On October 25th, just three days before his terrorist attack that killed three people, he had written from Rome: “Tomorrow I will leave for France, the land of the disbelievers and dogs.”

After arriving in Nice on October 27th, the 22-year-old Tunisian wandered around the area of the city’s main train station and sent a text to a friend in Paris, saying: “I’m still in Nice, I want to come to where you are, to the Eiffel Tower, but the ticket is 150 euros [£130/$180].”

Samia Maktouf, a lawyer representing the family of one of the victims, said the text messages show that the Tunisian had come to France specifically to carry out an attack, broadcaster BFMTV reports.

“He wanted to hit Paris. Nice was a fallback because he didn’t have enough money,” Ms Maktouf said and added that the 22-year-old had originally wanted to target the Eiffel Tower.

Police subdued Aouissaoui after his attack, resulting in the terrorist needing hospitalisation. He was transferred to the Paris region, where he was indicted in December on charges of murder and attempted murder in connection to a terrorist act.

Prior to his indictment, a man armed with a knife was arrested at the Paris region hospital treating Aouissaoui. The suspect in the case admitted he wanted to “deliver justice” to the Tunisian.

According to Ms Maktouf, Aouissaoui has not only contested all of the accusations against him, but claims to have amnesia.

Follow Chris Tomlinson on Twitter at @TomlinsonCJ or email at ctomlinson(at)breitbart.com

COMMENTS

Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.