A French citizen of Tunisian descent plowed an 18 wheeler down a heavily populated street in Nice, France. The beach town was celebrating Bastille Day, which is similar to Independence Day in the United States. Crowds were gathered in celebration, enjoying festivities when a 20 ton truck went barreling into the crowd, mowing down everyone in its path. The driver also reportedly fired into crowds as he was driving. In total, 85 people were killed–including 10 children.
The suspect was killed when police fired into the truck. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack, but authorities couldn’t find any connections between ISIS and the suspect. Nevertheless, it was revealed that the man had previously been charged with violent offenses. There was never a security file opened on the suspect because he wasn’t ever investigated as being radicalized. Police believed the suspect plotted the terror attack in another country with accomplices.
In perhaps the most barbaric act of terrorism one could imagine, two 19-year-old men entered a church during mass in Normandy and took 6 hostages. One attacker slit the throat of the 86-year-old priest while the other recorded the barbaric act. An elderly parishioner was also attacked with a knife, but survived. A nun managed to escape and alert the authorities. Both terrorists were shot dead by police trying to exit the church.
One of the attackers was known to authorities for trying to enter Syria twice. He was under house arrest for his ties to terrorist organizations at the time and was wearing a tracking device. However, he was permitted to leave his residence daily for a few hours. It was revealed that the men had pledged allegiance to ISIS, which was confirmed when the terrorist network released a video featuring the men. ISIS took responsibility for the heinous act. The Muslim community in Normandy refused to prepare and bury one of the suspects in accordance with Islamic tradition. One imam said, “We’re not going to taint Islam with this person.”
Christmas markets are huge in Germany, drawing mass amounts of people celebrating the holiday cheer. Sadly, one terrorist used this information to carry out a horrendous attack on a Christmas market in Berlin. A large truck was driven into the crowd, tearing through shacks that sell things like Christmas ornaments and candy. One of the victims of the attack was the original driver of the truck, who had been killed by the terrorist who carried out the attack.
The suspect was able to flee the scene, prompting a large scale manhunt. The suspect turned out to be a failed asylum seeker from Tunisia and ISIS sympathizer. He was spotted on surveillance at a train station, where he held his middle finger up to the camera. A manhunt pursued upon his escape, and Germany was put on high alert, as was the rest of Europe. The suspect was located 4 days later in Italy, where he was killed during a shootout with police.
