Protesters Outside French Consulate in NYC Slam Decision to Waive Trial of Jewish Woman’s Killer Because He Was High

Jewish
Deborah Brand

Over a hundred protestors gathered outside the French Consulate in New York City on Tuesday to express outrage over a decision by the highest court in France not to put a man who killed a Jewish woman while screaming Allah hu Akbar on criminal trial because his consumption of marijuana triggered a “delirious episode” that made him not responsible for his actions.

Kobili Traore brutally beat his 65-year-old neighbor before throwing her out of the window of her third-floor apartment to her death, as Breitbart News reported.

Tuesday’s protest, which was organized by former New York State Assemblyman Dov Hikind (D), was attended by former New York governor David Paterson as well as current New York City mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa.

Hikind, a conservative Democrat who is also the founder of Americans Against Antisemitism, said: “The highest court in France decided that what [Traore] did was nothing, he was not guilty of antisemitism, he was no guilty of anything, because when he committed this dastardly act, he was high on marijuana, you hear me?”

“[I] f this judgment is allowed to stand, then murder has become legal in France so long as a murderer gets high on marijuana first and their victim is Jewish!,” Hikind wrote on Twitter.

In a letter addressed to French President Emmanuel Macron, Hikind wrote:

She was murdered in a most brutal way by a Muslim man, Kobili Traoré, who was yelling “Allah Akbar” as he committed his vile crime. The murderer admitted that when he saw the Torah and menorah in her apartment he was triggered into brutalizing her even more.

We are seeking your commitment that he will never be able to walk the streets of France freely. Justice must prevail for the people of France and the Jewish people. The Jews of France cannot remain in France when their lives are valued less than dogs.

In a rare critique of the French judicial system, Macron on Sunday said that “going crazy” as a result of taking drugs should not be used as an excuse for criminal behavior. 

“It’s not for me to comment on a court decision, but I would like to express to the family, to the relatives of the victim, and to all our Jewish citizens who were waiting for a trial, my warm support and the Republic’s determination to protect them,” Macron told Le Figaro, before adding, that France “does not judge citizens who are sick, we treat them… But deciding to take drugs and then ‘going crazy’ should not, in my opinion, take away your criminal responsibility.”

He also called for a change in the law “ as soon as possible.”

As Breitbart reported:

France has seen an increased number of antisemitic incidents in the past two decades, particularly after the second Palestinian intifada in 2000, which provoked anti-Israel and anti-Jewish rhetoric in the elite media and in the streets. Past attacks on Jews in France have included the torture and murder of a Jewish teenager, Ilan Halimi (no relation), in 2006, and the murder of 85-year-old Mireille Knoll in 2018.

Muriel Ouaknine Melki — a lawyer representing the Halimi family — argued last month that French law is more likely to call for further penalization for people who commit crimes while under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

“I want to recall that for several offenses, for example the crime of rape, taking narcotics is an aggravating circumstance. In willful violence, it is also an aggravating circumstance,” she said.

She added that the case, should it not go to trial, would mark a watershed moment for French citizens as a whole because it would mean that “the consumption of narcotics can be a cause for exonerating from penal responsibility in criminal matters.”

COMMENTS

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