Emmanuel Macron vows to wage ‘unrelenting’ war on terror after Paris police killings

Pressure is mounting on the French government to explain how the killer’s radicalisation was not acted upon

epa07905233 French President Emmanuel Macron stands by coffins during a ceremony to pay tribute to the victims of the 03 October knife attack in Paris' Police headquarters, in Paris, France, 08 October 2019. Four officers were killed in a knife attack by Police employee Mickael Harpon on 03 October. EPA/IAN LANGSDON

French President Emmanuel Macron stands by coffins during a ceremony to pay tribute to the victims of the 03 October knife attack in Paris' Police headquarters. EPA

Claire Corkery

Oct 08, 2019

France’s President Emmanuel Macron has vowed to wage “an unrelenting fight” against Islamic extremists at a memorial to honour four Paris police staff who were murdered by their colleague last week.

Mickael Harpon, a computer expert who worked in the Paris police headquarters’ intelligence-gathering department, stabbed to death three police officers and an administrative worker before being shot dead by police.

Prosecutors said initial investigations had shown that the 45-year-old Muslim convert, who was born on the French island of Martinique, had been radicalised and was in contact with a hardline Salafist iman in the months prior to the deadly rampage.

TOPSHOT - A picture obtained on October 5, 2019 shows Mickael Harpon, 45-year-old computer expert, shot dead by a policeman after he stabbed four colleagues to death in a frenzied attack at Paris police headquarters in Paris on October 3, 2019.
Three police officers and an administrative worker -- three men and one woman -- died in the lunchtime attack on October 3, 2019 at the police headquarters, in the historic heart of Paris. Preliminary enquiries suggest that the attacker, a convert to Islam, could have become radicalised, said sources, who added that he had worked in a section of the police service dedicated to collecting information on jihadist radicalisation. - RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS
/ AFP / - / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS — Mickael Harpon, 45-year-old computer expert, shot dead by a policeman after he stabbed four colleagues to death. AFP

"We will wage an unrelenting fight in the face of Islamist terrorism," Mr Macron vowed at a ceremony on Tuesday.

He said that it was “inconceivable and unacceptable" that Harpon, who had worked for the police since 2003, had carried out the killings "in the very place where we pursue terrorists and criminals".

Mr Macron said he wanted to build a “society of vigilance” in France, which has seen several extremist attacks in recent years.

Police officers control an area outside the Paris police headquarters, Thursday, Oct.3, 2019 in Paris. An administrator armed with a knife attacked officers inside Paris police headquarters Thursday, killing four before he was fatally shot. AP Photo/Michel Euler

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Pressure has mounted on the French government to explain how a radicalised individual could have been able to work in the police with access to classified data within the Paris police’s intelligence division.

Interior Minister Christophe Castaner, who is facing calls to resign from opposition MPs, acknowledged there had been “failings”.

The killer had previously “justified” a deadly attack on satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in front of colleagues but no written report was made.

Mr Castaner posthumously bestowed the Legion of Honour, France’s highest award, on the four victims. The trainee police officer who killed the assailant will also receive the award.

The memorial came on the same day that media reports said a USB stick found at the home of Harpon contained extremist propaganda.

Le Parisien, citing sources close to the inquiry, said the memory stick also contained the details of dozens of other officers. However, it said it was unclear whether the killer had the stick as part of his job or whether it had been extracted from the office.