The morning after the terrorist attack in Nice, France, which left 84 dead and 50 wounded, French Prime Minister Manuel Valls declared that the country is “going to have to live with terrorism.”
Valls delivered his speech by the Élysée Palace in Paris Friday morning, The New York Times reports.
“We would like to tell the French people that we will never give in,” he said. “We will not give in to the terrorist threat. The times have changed, and France is going to have to live with terrorism.”
He added that the attack took place July 14 on Bastille Day was no coincidence.
“France, once again, has been hit in its soul, on the 14th of July, our national day. They wanted to attack the unity of the French nation.”
Users on social media in France have absolutely exploded in response to his comments, with some calling him to resign.
Tunisian terrorist Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, who regularly ran afoul of the law, gunned people down in a crowd Thursday evening before driving his truck straight through a throng of people, killing dozens upon dozens. The death toll is likely to rise.
Police were successful in killing the driver, but not before he racked up a serious death count.
“We cannot deny that it was a terror attack,” French President Francois Hollande said.
The state of emergency, which was implemented following the Paris attacks in November and set to expire at the end of the month, will now continue at least for three more months.
The Department of State has confirmed two Americans died in the attack: Sean Copeland and his 11-year-old son from Texas.
Since the attacks, French police have raided Bouhlel’s home in Nice. Although Bouhlel was involved in petty crime, he was not under surveillance by any intelligence services in France.
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