Has the case of the security guard threatened by a man with a knife, Wednesday evening in Cannes, taken on more importance than it should have? The information, shared by the Minister of the Interior himself, in a post on took place near a synagogue. The National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s Office is however, at least at this stage, not seized of the investigation.
This Thursday, the city’s LR mayor David Lisnard, president of the association of mayors of France, denounced a “fairly grotesque media and political excitement with many sensational interpretations”. 20 minutes make the point.
What happened ?
At around 7 p.m., an individual moved into the confines of a car garage which carries out technical inspections at the corner of rue de Mimont and avenue Saint-Nicolas, just behind Cannes station. . He rolls out a carpet to begin prayers. The security guard, realizing his presence, asks him to leave. And that’s when “the man took out a pocket knife while shouting ‘Allah Akbar'”, explained the Grasse public prosecutor, Damien Savarzeix, according to the guard’s statements, heard by the police.
“He tried to stab me in the stomach. I avoided him and returned to my [bureau] to take something to defend myself, said the latter, in a testimony collected on site by Nice morning. When I came out, this person had escaped. She was caught up a little later by the BAC. » The mayor of Cannes David Lisnard specifies, in light of the city’s video surveillance images, that there was “an altercation […] without an exchange of blows, then […] arrest” of the accused who “would be in an irregular situation”. Placed in police custody for “apology of terrorism” and “violence with weapons”, the suspect is “a priori” without a fixed address, the prosecutor also specified on Wednesday evening. The Grasse public prosecutor’s office, which is following this case, the National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s Office not having taken it up, plans to issue a press release “during the day” on Thursday, a source indicated to 20 minutes.
The (relative) proximity of a synagogue mentioned
It is Gérald Darmanin himself who shares the information first. In a post published at 8:39 p.m. on He adds: “Thanks to them, they avoided the worst.”
Initial press articles appear with the precision, communicated by a “police source”, that the events took place “in front of a synagogue”. The publication of the Minister of the Interior and those of the media are widely shared. The facts actually occurred 200 m from the religious building, located on Boulevard d’Alsace, and the director of the Cannes municipal police, questioned by 20 minutes, quickly argues that the facts have “no connection with the synagogue” and that “any correlation would only be an extrapolation”. The Grasse prosecutor also indicates for his part that “it is too early to indicate whether there is any link” between the two elements.
Was the handling of this case disproportionate?
In any case, this is what the mayor of Cannes is saying. This Thursday morning, in a post published on Facebook, David Lisnard denounces a “fairly grotesque media and political excitement with many sensational interpretations”.
A situation which reflects, according to him, “the tension due to the context in which we live and to the tone of the tweet (very “prompt”) from the Minister of the Interior”, he attacks. In fact, “the link with the synagogue is at this stage an extrapolation”, the councilor also specifies. “An attack is unfortunately possible here but not everything is an attack,” he points out again. The suspect’s custody and investigation continue.