Would-Be Assassin Fires Shot as French President Passes; Arrested by Police

July 14, 2002

PARIS  — A would-be assassin pulled a rifle out of a guitar case and fired at least one shot as French President Jacques Chirac passed Sunday during the annual Bastille Day military parade. The man was arrested and no injuries were reported.


The man was a right-wing extremist who intended to kill the French president, according to a government minister, Patrick Devedjian. He told The Associated Press that the man fired a shot and then tried to shoot himself.

Cries of alarm from the crowd lining the parade route apparently alerted police, and the gunman fired just before he was wrestled to the ground. Agents stood him up, searched him and took him away in a van.

"It was an assassination attempt," said Devedjian, who is under the Interior Minister. "He fired a first shot ... then he was overcome and tried to turn the weapon against himself."

"He admitted he wanted to kill the president," added Devedjian.

The Paris police said in a statement that the man was 25 years old and was a member of "neo-Nazi and hooligan" groups. France 2 television said he had a history of emotional problems.

The man was 40 to 55 yards from the French president. It was not immediately clear if the shot came near Chirac or if the gunman fired into the air as police converged on him. LCI television said the gunman fired "at least one shot," suggesting the possibility of more rounds.

The man's motives for attacking Chirac were not immediately known. The center-right leader crushed far-right candidate Jean Marie Le Pen in presidential elections in May.

Members of the crowd said the man, who had short, brown hair, took his .22-caliber gun out of a brown guitar case as the French president was being driven past, down the Champs-Elysees aboard an open-topped jeep.

Officers in civilian clothes put the gun and the guitar case in the van that took the man away. It was not known whether Chirac was aware of the gunman or heard the shot.

The military parade, a colorful pageant with troops, armored vehicles and aircraft roaring overhead, continued uninterrupted. The parade is a highlight of celebrations marking Bastille Day, France's national holiday.

The man was arrested at the top of the Champs-Elysees where it empties into Place Charles de Gaulle, site of the famous Arc of Triumph. He managed to reach the flag-bedecked Champs-Elysees despite heavy security. Police lined the avenue and mingled with crowds along the route.

In a traditional televised Bastille Day interview after the parade, Chirac was not asked about the assassination attempt and did not mention it.

He called for a radical tightening of France's asylum laws and stronger efforts against the smugglers of illegal immigrants. Chirac also said the French military needs strengthening and expressed support for the building of a second aircraft carrier.

The electoral triumph in May won Chirac a second presidential term. His victory was followed in June by legislative elections won by Chirac's conservative allies, ending five years of Socialist government that had restricted Chirac's power to act.

"I want to act now with determination and, I would say, with enthusiasm," Chirac said in the interview from his presidential Elysee Palace. He said he hoped "to give fresh impetus to France."

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