Overview
- The national anti-terror prosecutor opened a judicial investigation for criminal terrorist conspiracy and for acquisition and carrying of weapons, seeking indictment and provisional detention.
- Police arrested the 22- and 20-year-old near Longuenesse prison, seizing a loaded 9mm handgun, hydrochloric acid, aluminum and an Islamic State flag.
- In custody, the brothers admitted turning to an attack in France after failing to travel to Syria or Palestine and said they aspired to martyrdom.
- Investigators report two years of radicalization with a sharp escalation days before the arrest, including a March 7 ISIS allegiance video and contacts with radicalized or convicted individuals.
- Encrypted-messaging searches for handguns or assault rifles shortly before the arrest suggested an imminent act of violence, and a parallel probe into drone deliveries at the prison led to the pair’s stop and additional detentions including a minor and four inmates.