French police stopped another potential terrorist attack at a church in a Paris suburb Thursday after the fatal stabbing of three people earlier in the day in Nice, according to reports.
A lone suspect was arrested near the Saint-Martin’s Church in Sartrouville, according to the New York Post. The suspect allegedly told his father that he wanted to “do as in Nice”, local reports say. The father reported the plot to French police.
The suspect was believed to be in possession of a knife when apprehended, per the Post. He was arrested in his vehicle and nobody was harmed. (RELATED: France Projects Giant Images Of Charlie Hebdo Cartoon Of Prophet Muhammed On Buildings Following Teacher’s Beheading)
Our hearts are with the people of France. America stands with our oldest Ally in this fight. These Radical Islamic terrorist attacks must stop immediately. No country, France or otherwise can long put up with it!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 29, 2020
The arrest comes as concerns over Islamic terrorism are rapidly increasing in the country, stemming from a terrorist attack where schoolteacher Samuel Paty was beheaded in a street, allegedly for showing his students Charlie Hebdo cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad.
French President Emmanuel Macron took strong action in the aftermath of the incident to crack down on potential Islamic extremism.
Those security measures have triggered major backlash in parts of the Muslim world. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan personally insulted the French leader, and a former Malaysian Prime Minister said that Muslims had the right to “kill millions of French.”