The trial of four radicalized men opens Friday afternoon in Paris.
They are suspected of having planned a robbery during Act I of the "yellow vests" on November 17, 2018. They intended to take advantage of the mobilization of the police on the demonstration to act.
But the judges suspect that this project was only a step towards financing the jihadist cause.
"It's going to bleed on the 17th."
It is with this SMS sent shortly before Act I of the "yellow vests", that four radicalized men, who had planned a robbery on November 17, 2018, were arrested before they could carry out their project.
At the time, the Minister of the Interior Christophe Castaner had spoken of a foiled attack.
Their trial opens Friday afternoon before the Paris Criminal Court for terrorist conspiracy to commit a crime.
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Radicalized profiles
Wiretapped by the police, the four suspects had indeed marked this day with a black stone.
This is where it is necessary to act, explains a suspect, when all the cops are on the roads.
What worries the intelligence services is their very radicalized profile.
One is in prison for an abortive departure for Syria: at only 27 years old, he shares from his cell religious song and jihadist propaganda with two brothers outside.
The elder is nicknamed "Blackbeard", the younger tried to get hold of a replica assault rifle.
As for the fourth suspect, he is a converted fifty-year-old ex-soldier who does not hide his hatred of France.
A robbery to finance the jihadist cause?
But over the course of the investigation, the reality of an attack project withers in favor of a robbery project with still vague outlines.
Thus, we do not know if their target was a van or an ATM in Saint-Étienne.
For their part, the antiterrorist judges suspect that this robbery project was only a step towards financing the jihadist cause.