A man was shot dead by police in Avignon (Vaucluse) while brandishing a weapon.

-

Christophe SIMON / AFP

  • A 33-year-old man was shot dead by police on Thursday while brandishing a gun in a street in the Montfavet district of Avignon.

  • First presented wrongly as an Islamist activist who shouted "Allahou Akbar", this man would, in reality, belong to the identity movement.

  • But, according to the Avignon prosecutor, it is above all his psychiatric history that would explain his action.

"Obviously, it was mostly someone very psychologically disturbed ..." Philippe Guémas, the prosecutor of Avignon is still trying, this Friday morning, to disentangle the true from the false while an armed man was shot on Thursday , in the Montfavet district.

First presented wrongly as an Islamist terrorist, the man was finally identified as an activist of the identity movement.

A few hours after the Nice attack, it did not take more to ignite social networks.

20 Minutes looks

back on this runaway ...

What exactly happened?

Thursday, around 10 a.m., the police received a phone call informing them of the presence of an armed man on the public highway.

According to the report, he was a man carrying a pistol-type weapon and threatening motorists in the Montfavet district, 2 km from downtown Avignon.

On the spot, the police discovered a very agitated man who, quickly, rushed at them, brandishing his weapon.

He is immediately shot.

He was 33 years old.

Why was the terrorist trail first mentioned?

Very quickly, Europe 1 published the information exclusively on its website.

The radio assures that the individual in question would have shouted "Allahu Akbar" while attacking the police.

A few hours after the Nice attack (Alpes-Maritimes), information spread like wildfire on social networks.

Except that the individual never said his words.

Europe 1 therefore corrects its information.

But the rumor of an attack persists, especially on Twitter.

When did we learn that the individual was part of the identity movement?

Thursday afternoon,

Le Monde

provides information in its “live” dedicated to the Nice attack.

The evening daily assures that the individual in question would have threatened a Maghrebian trader by claiming to be part of the far-right movement "Generation Identity".

In the evening, the Avignon public prosecutor's office is unable to confirm this information.

He specifies, however, that "the terrorist trail has been removed".

Moreover, the anti-terrorist prosecution decides not to take up the case.

Screenshot of - V. VANTIGHEM

What do the initial results of the survey indicate?

Joined this Friday morning by

20 Minutes

, Philippe Guémas, the prosecutor of Avignon, finally confirms that the man shot by the police was indeed part of the identity movement.

"He was notably wearing a blue down jacket in the colors of the Generation Identity movement".

It is a garment flocked with a "Defend Europe" logo named after an operation carried out by this group in the Alps in 2018.

"Above all, this man had a psychiatric history," continues the prosecutor.

He spoke without tail or head but there was no religious connotation… I don't think he threatened anyone [orally].

Obviously, it was mostly someone very psychologically disturbed.

"

Why does the controversy continue to swell?

On social networks, the controversy continues, this Friday morning.

Several Internet users are indignant at the fact that the media do not assimilate this news item to a terrorist attack while the author of the facts held a political speech against the Maghreb people.

What the investigation did not reveal, let us remember.

For their part, the identities dissociated themselves from this man, indicating that he had never campaigned with them and that he was not known in their ranks.

An activist who responds to the pseudonym Thaïs d'Escufon posted a video about it.

🔴 “This individual has never campaigned with us and no one knows him” #generationidentitaire #Avignon pic.twitter.com/k9H0k1pqIg

- PNJ Memes (@memesdepnj) October 29, 2020

What will happen now?

The Avignon prosecutor indicates that the investigation will continue to try to find out if this man had "an ideological motivation" in his passage to the act or if he acted because of his psychiatric history.

“Work is underway on this,” he says.

The only way to put an end to the controversy, no doubt.

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  • Nice

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  • Video

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  • Avignon

  • Knife

  • Identity generation