A 27-year-old Tunisian man in France illegally is in custody at the General Directorate for Internal Security (DGSI) in Paris on charges of a planned violent attack against the Louvre Museum and an attack targeting the Parisian Jewish community.
The suspect was brought before the anti-terrorism court on Monday, according to Le Monde, after being arrested on May 7. According to the public prosecutor’s office, his formal charges include planning “a violent attack inspired by jihadism,” as well as considering joining the ranks of the jihadist group Islamic State (ISIS), either in Syria or Mozambique.
The accused, Dhafer M., was born in Djerba, Tunisia, and came to France in 2022 from Lampedusa, Italy, looking for work. He was arrested while driving with a fake driver’s license and taken into custody for possession of a forged administrative document. After realizing that he was in France illegally, with no valid residence permit, he was transferred to an administrative detention center.
After an analysis of his mobile phone, investigators found that the suspect had specifically mentioned his intention to attack the Louvre Museum and the Jewish community of the 16th arrondissement of Paris. No specific target has been identified regarding the Jewish community.
He also had numerous videos of jihadist propaganda as well as hundreds of photos of firearms and knives. On his social media accounts, his profile picture is an image of an ISIS fighter executing prisoners, taken from a video released by the terrorist organization.
A video was also discovered of him filming himself raising his finger as a sign of unity, a symbol of allegiance to jihadist groups, and crying out, “Allahu Akbar!”
Dhafer M. has also had conversations on secure messaging apps with several contacts abroad, possibly linked to jihadist groups, about plans for terrorist attacks. In one of these discussions, he explains that he knows access points to the Louvre and mentions manufacturing explosives that he could plant at the museum. A video showing the museum’s facade, with its French flags flying, is saved on his phone. In another conversation, he discusses making ricin, a poison, and his desire to attack Jews in the 16th arrondissement, the neighborhood where he usually works.
The accused has also messaged his contacts that he regrets having emigrated to France, calling it a country of “kuffar” (infidels), and expressed his desire to make his “hijra” to settle in Islamic lands.
Analysis of Dhafer M’s ChatGPT searches corroborated his intentions to carry out an attack. Police discovered searches such as “how to make a bomb,” or those related to finding precursors and chemical materials used in the manufacture of explosives. An exchange with the chatbot revealed that he was trying to find out about the damage caused by using approximately 100 grams of TNT—a question ChatGPT ultimately refused to answer.
The Tunisian man was also interested in jihadist groups in Syria and in African countries such as Mozambique and Niger.
After nine days in administrative detention following the traffic stop, the court ordered the release of Dhafer M., who had appealed his deportation order. The young man was, however, arrested immediately upon his release by officers from the DGSI, which had been alerted to the contents of his phone.
During his detention, Dhafer M. denied any terrorist plot, justifying his searches and discussions as mere “curiosity” and his desire to understand “the way of thinking” of ISIS sympathizers. His lawyer, Réda Ghilaci, declined to comment at this time, note Le Monde.
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