The terrorist attacks in Nice, France, in which 85 people were killed when a man plowed a large truck through crowds celebrating Bastille Day, will lead the European Union to mandate that all vehicles be fixed with a remote control kill switch, the group WikiLeaks is predicting.
Our analysis: The response to the truck-attack in #Nice will be to mandate the fitting of remote control vehicle kill-switches.
— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) July 15, 2016
WikiLeaks, which is led by Julian Assange, pointed to documents leaked in 2014 which showed that the European Union had signed off on plans that would allow police sitting at a remote computer terminal to disable vehicles during high-speed chases.
The secret documents, which were drawn up by the European Network of Law Enforcement Technologies, or Entels, laid out plans for “a technological solution that can be a ‘build in a standard’ for all cars that enter the European market,” The Daily Telegraph reported at the time.
“Cars on the run can be dangerous for citizens,” said one of the secret documents, which were obtained by the civil rights group Statewatch. “Criminal offenders will take risks to escape after a crime. In most cases the police are unable to chase the criminal due to a lack of efficient means to stop the vehicle safely.”
Police have identified 31-year-old Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel as the assailant in Thursday’s attack. A resident of Nice, Bouhel was reportedly born in Tunis. French president Francois Hollande said that in addition to 85 dead, including many children, another 50 people are in critical condition.
Bouhlel was shot and killed by police while still inside his truck.
According to The Daily Telegraph, the kill switch plan was signed off on by EU’s Standing Committee on Operational Cooperation on Internal Security. That group, which was formed in 2010 by the EU Lisbon Treaty, meets in secret. It is also not monitored by parliaments in EU member nations.
Nigel Farage, who was the leader of the UK Independence Party when the secret documents were leaked, called the kill-switch plan a “draconian imposition.”
“It is appalling they are even thinking of it,” he told The Telegraph. “People must protest against this attack on their liberty and vote against an EU big Brother state during the Euro election in May.”
Farage got his wish last month when voters in the U.K. voted to leave the EU.