The French interior minister stated that there was a significant failure in the psychiatric care of the individual who stabbed a German tourist to death in central Paris over the weekend. Concerns over extremist attacks have been raised in France, especially with the upcoming 2024 summer Olympic Games in the French capital.
The attacker, a Frenchman born to a non-religious Iranian family, had a history of prison time for planning an attack and was known to authorities as a radical with mental troubles. The interior minister emphasized that there was a failure in psychiatric care, as the attacker had an “acute mental illness” and had been deemed to be doing better and more normal by doctors.
The attacker, Armand Rajabpour-Miyandoab, was born in 1997 and killed a 23-year-old German-Filipino man with a hammer and knife. The investigation is being handled as a suspected “terrorist” plot by French anti-terror prosecutors. The attacker’s mother had previously reported concerns about him and had warned police that he was no longer taking his medication.
The attacker had been radicalized through contacts on the internet and had associated with individuals who were involved in previous attacks. Despite concerns over the attack and its impact on the upcoming Olympics, the Sports Minister stated that there was no plan to scrap the idea and that alternative plans were being considered.