“Lt. Col. Arnaud Beltrame died in the service of the nation to which he had already contributed so much. By giving his life to end the murderous escapade of a jihadist terrorist, he died a hero,” French President Emmanuel Macron eulogized for a fallen police hero. President Macron referred to the unquestionable bravery and courage of a 45-year-old French Gendarmerie who stepped-up and traded his life for that of a hostage held by a radicalized ISIS lunatic who overtook a Super U market on March 23, 2018 in Trébes, France.
The gunman seized upon the Super U market screaming “Allahu Akbar! I’ll kill you all!” According to firstorderhistorian.com, the lone 26-year-old radicalized gunman from Morroco “shot three people to death and injured sixteen before he himself was shot dead by French security forces. He was known to the police due to smaller crimes. He was not seen as an Islamic threat.” Apparently the sleeper-cell came alive.
In a rather contrary view, Global News reported that the gunman was under surveillance by security forces in 2016-2017. French authorities suspected the Moroccan was linked to a radical Islamic movement.
But we are here to neither comprehend the gunman’s wickedness nor lend light to his depravity. We are here to recognize the life-saving measures of the police, namely Lt. Col Beltrame whose ultimate sacrifice assured the salvation of a female hostage.
In the exchange, the gunman opened fire on Lt. Col. Beltrame, striking him four times—one in the neck—after which he stabbed him while down. How’s that for utter cowardice exacted on justice by a maniacal barbaric?
Lt. Col. Beltrame had served among allied military forces in the Iraq war in 2005. As a French policeman, he joined the Gendarmerie’s elite special forces in 2003. Given those dates, Lt. Col. Beltrame was a policeman with disciplined training who changed his police uniform for a French military one and served abroad…before returning to France to maintain law and order.
As Global News succinctly reported, Lt. Col. Beltrame was noted for intense and ritualistic training, having once said to police trainees under his tutelage, “We want to be as close to real conditions as possible.” French media publicized that Lt. Col. Beltrame waged his life for the final hostage while unarmed. He entered the Super U. Shots rang out after which security forces stormed the Super U and promptly extinguished the threat.
Lt. Col. Beltrame lay mortally wounded and perished at a local hospital.
French police reports indicate Lt. Col. Beltrame unhesitatingly offered himself up for an exchange of the final shopper among those taken hostage in the supermarket seige. In a rather bittersweet evolution, one brave policeman restored the sanctity of life for others while relinquishing his own.
He died a military and law enforcement hero for his lifelong public service and oath-filled duty.
Europol pays tribute to the late @Gendarmerie Colonel Arnaud Beltrame who gave his life to save the lives of others. Europol s’associe à l’ #HommageNational rendu au Colonel de @Gendarmerie Arnaud Beltrame qui a sauvé des vies au péril de la sienne #tousGendarmes pic.twitter.com/dckgv0lzSP
— Europol (@Europol) March 28, 2018
Indeed, hindsight comes to mind. Did Lt. Col. Beltrame see something which gave him cause to believe an amicable solution and peaceful ending was tangible? Was the gunman seemingly “negotiable” and giving signs of non-violent measures? Had special forces snipers not been given a green light earlier? If not, why not? Was the gunman was feigning cooperation and duping police authorities? After all, despite mixed reports, police acknowledged having surveillance measures for this particular gunman who aligned with known terror cells.
No judgments; it is indeed a complex fine line often fraught with what-ifs. I’ve seen it. I’ve felt that knot. I’ve embraced a squad-mate who, as a military-trained sniper with our department, had the shot and was never greenlighted. Patience is an undeniable virtue often challenged by seemingly untenable circumstances.
It appears patience was benefiting French police authorities as hostage negotiators got all but one remaining hostage out of the Super U. Thus, a one-for-one exchange was the final chess piece to ponder. Offering to replace the last hostage, Lt. Col. Beltrame may have been positioned as check-mate maneuvering. The basis for the hostage-taker’s angst and seizure of a supermarket and everyone in it stemmed from his sole demand that an incarcerated ISIS-affiliated comrade be freed from French custody.
Perhaps that gunman reconsidered giving-up all his bartering material (hostages). Maybe he had an episode of paranoia and reacted poorly with sheer violence against an ostensibly amicable policeman.
I suspect in days or weeks to come, more information will shed some light on what exactly derailed at the Super U seige. I wouldn’t be surprised if it has to do with the cop-killers pedigree and pathology setting into motion an instance of anti-government angst culminating in a heroic deed awarded posthumously to a French law enforcer.
As EuroCOP wrote on their Twitter account, “Be grateful that we have such courageous public servants prepared to put themselves in harm’s way so that others don’t have to.”
Varying national reports out of France imply a vast police funeral the likes of which the country has not seen in decades. Internationally, media outlets recognize and sympathize with the loss of a noble Frenchman with a police badge who unequivocally gave all. I suspect that final female hostage will always have that notion near and dear to her heart.
In an interview with RTL radio Saturday, Cedric Beltrame, Lt. Col. Beltrame’s brother, echoed that his brother “died a hero.” He expounded that his sibling “was well aware he had almost no chance. He was very aware of what he was doing.” We can surmise he uttered those notions based on sibling experiences, familial relations, and intuition born of the same gene pool.
Brothers and sisters in blue are interconnected by one absolute icon: a badge representing justice.
In that light, the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial (NLEOM) in Washington, DC has as its credo a rather definitive statement which applies to Lt. Col Beltrame. It reads: “It is not how these officers died that made them heroes; it is how they lived.”
Exceptionally and respectfully, I believe Lt. Colonel Beltrame’s ultra-selfless final police action offering his life so that a hostage may live qualifies for both sides of that cop credo. In life and in death he exuded valor.
Addressing the slaying of Lt. Col. Beltrame on his blog Ariseletusbegoing.com, Catholic priest Father George David Byers wrote the following thought-provoking message: “There are lots of words being thrown about, like ‘hero,’ and I agree entirely, and with that I would also point to similar selfless accomplishments of Arnoud Beltrame in the military. Really, very impressive. I rejoice in all that for him. What a great guy.
“But in saying those things we had better not be ‘building the tombs of the prophets’ in all hypocrisy, running away from doing the necessary when it is our turn. I dread my weakness and ask my guardian angel to help me in such a situation. Exclaiming ‘He’s a hero’ is not about us basking in the limelight simply because we are the one’s voicing words like ‘hero.’ As one operator of operators told me (“The Guy”), having a hero is not about lifting someone up; it’s about striving to follow their example.”
Leading by example raises another poignant point in all that Lt. Col Beltrame stood for: As a high-ranking police executive on-scene, he didn’t send in a subordinate…he walked in of his own volition. Leading by example? Unquestionably.
We honor a policeman whose on-the-spot unambivalent selfless actions freed hostages by giving his life, epitomizing oath-filled service to others.
