2013 La Défense Attack
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On the afternoon of 25 May 2013, French soldier Cédric Cordier was attacked and stabbed in the Paris suburb of
La Défense La Défense () is a major business district in France's Paris metropolitan area, west of the city limits. It is located in Île-de-France region's Departments of France, department of Hauts-de-Seine in the Communes of France, communes of Courbe ...
by a man who was later ruled by a court not to be criminally responsible for psychiatric reasons.


Background

In March 2012, French-Algerian Mohammed Merah went on a series of shooting sprees targeting soldiers and
Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
schoolchildren in
Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...
and
Montauban Montauban (, ; ) is a commune in the southern French department of Tarn-et-Garonne. It is the capital of the department and lies north of Toulouse. Montauban is the most populated town in Tarn-et-Garonne, and the sixth most populated of Oc ...
,
southern France Southern France, also known as the south of France or colloquially in French as , is a geographical area consisting of the regions of France that border the Atlantic Ocean south of the Marais Poitevin,Louis Papy, ''Le midi atlantique'', Atlas e ...
. France was also on a state of high alert due to a threat from
al-Qaeda , image = Flag of Jihad.svg , caption = Jihadist flag, Flag used by various al-Qaeda factions , founder = Osama bin Laden{{Assassinated, Killing of Osama bin Laden , leaders = {{Plainlist, * Osama bin Lad ...
in North Africa. The threat was sent in response to the French campaign to liberate northern Mali from Islamist occupation. Due to the alert, some 450 soldiers were placed on patrol in train stations and other locations in Paris. The attack occurred three days after of the murder of a British soldier in
Woolwich Woolwich () is a town in South London, southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was mainta ...
, London, though President Hollande said there was no evidence to link the two attacks, despite this there was speculation as to whether it was a copycat attack.


Attack

In late afternoon, Saturday 25 May 2013, private first class Cédric Cordier was patrolling a busy underground hall in
La Défense La Défense () is a major business district in France's Paris metropolitan area, west of the city limits. It is located in Île-de-France region's Departments of France, department of Hauts-de-Seine in the Communes of France, communes of Courbe ...
in uniform with two other servicemen. Around 6 p.m., a man approached Cordier from behind and attacked him with a knife. The attacker stabbed Cordier in the neck and fled into a crowded shopping area before the other servicemen could react. The attacker stabbed the soldier several times, narrowly missing Cordier's jugular vein and carotid artery.


Victim

The soldier attacked was 23-year-old private first class Cédric Cordier. He was stabbed in the neck and had lost a considerable amount of blood; however, his injuries were not life-threatening. He was in a stable condition and was treated at a nearby military hospital. He was released by 29 May. Some sources described Cordier as 25 years old; others identified him as Cédric Cordiez.


Suspect

The suspected attacker was then-21-year-old Alexandre Dhaussy, a recent Christian
convert to Islam Reversion to Islam, also known within Islam as reversion, is adopting Islam as a religion or faith. Conversion requires a formal statement of the ''Shahada, shahādah'', the credo of Islam, whereby the prospective convert must state that "there i ...
. He turned 22 on 30 May. Dhaussy, unemployed and homeless, was already known to police since 2009 for petty crimes. He was known as becoming more radicalized in February, but had not been considered dangerous. Prosecutor François Molins said that Dhaussy's attack was believed to be motivated by his Islamic belief. In 2012, the police stopped him when he acted suspiciously as he did not want to wait for a bus with women; in 2011, he refused a job that involved working with women.


Investigation

French
Minister of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...
Jean-Yves Le Drian Jean-Yves Le Drian (; born 30 June 1947) is a French politician who served as Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs in the governments of Prime Ministers Édouard Philippe and Jean Castex (2017–2022) and as Minister of Defence under Preside ...
said Cordier was targeted "because he was a soldier". The case was assigned to a counter-terrorism prosecutor. The attacker, a "tall, athletic, bearded man", was recorded on security cameras wearing a light-colored robe called djellaba. He was seen saying a Muslim prayer before the attack. The attacker took off his robe and fled in European clothing. On Wednesday 29 May,
Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...
Manuel Valls Manuel Carlos Valls Galfetti (born 13August 1962) is a French–Spanish politician who serves as Minister of the Overseas in the Bayrou government since 2024. He served as Prime Minister of France from 2014 until 2016 under president Françoi ...
stated that a man—later identified as Alexandre Dhaussy—was arrested in the morning in
Yvelines Yvelines () is a department in the western part of the Île-de-France region in Northern France. In 2019, it had a population of 1,448,207. He admitted the attack to the police who arrested him. Prosecutor François Molins said that Dhaussy "wanted to attack a representative of the state" and "acted in the name of his religious ideology", considering the character and timing of the attack. Molins also stated that Dhaussy stabbed Cordier with a "fairly clear intent to kill".


Legal proceedings

On Friday 31 May 2013, Dhaussy appeared before anti-terrorism judges Thierry Fragnoli and Gilbert Thiel, who determined there was enough evidence to proceed with an investigation. He was placed under formal investigation for "attempted murder linked to a terrorist enterprise". In November 2015, the court declared him not criminally responsible for psychiatric reasons.


Reactions

Minister of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...
Jean-Yves Le Drian Jean-Yves Le Drian (; born 30 June 1947) is a French politician who served as Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs in the governments of Prime Ministers Édouard Philippe and Jean Castex (2017–2022) and as Minister of Defence under Preside ...
said he was determined to lead "an implacable fight against terrorism".
Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...
Manuel Valls Manuel Carlos Valls Galfetti (born 13August 1962) is a French–Spanish politician who serves as Minister of the Overseas in the Bayrou government since 2024. He served as Prime Minister of France from 2014 until 2016 under president Françoi ...
warned of growing radicalization of young French Muslims online and by extremist imams.


See also

* 2015 Nice attack (attack on soldiers guarding a Jewish community center in France)


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:La Defense attack 2013 crimes in France 2013 in Paris 2010s in Île-de-France Attacks in Europe in 2013 History of Hauts-de-Seine La Défense Stabbing attacks in 2013 Knife attacks in France Attacks in France in the 2010s May 2013 in France May 2013 crimes in Europe 2010s crimes in Paris 2013 in military history Military history of Paris 21st-century military history of France