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The Paris Police Murders: What We Now Know

Oct 7, 2019 10:00 am By Hugh Fitzgerald

Here is what we know now:

Mikael Harpon, a 45-year-old French citizen originally from Martinique, deaf since birth, married a Muslim Arab, also deaf since birth, in 2014. He was first described as having been a convert for 18 months, but it turns out he has been a Muslim for much longer. He was a long-time employee, as an I.T. specialist, at the Paris Police headquarters.

He was awake in the middle of the night on October 2. Neighbors reported hearing him say “Allah akbar” twice — undoubtedly they misheard, and what Harpon was saying was “Allahu akbar,” which is a Jihadist war cry meaning “Our God is greater than your god.” His wife reported that he had been behaving in a “deranged” manner — even “hearing voices” — that night. How did she know? Being deaf herself, did he signal or write out “I’m hearing voices”? Most implausible.

The next morning, October 3, Mikael Harpon got up early, donned a djellaba, and went off to his local mosque with two unidentified men. He attended his mosque twice a day, for the first and last prayers of the day. The imam of his mosque was almost expelled for his “radical” — standard Muslim — views.

Later that morning, he bought a ceramic knife with a very sharp 33 cm. blade. He texted his wife about his purchase. She texted him back a message which apparently said, in essence, “Only Allah can judge you.” In fact, in the period leading up to his attack, she exchanged 33 text messages with her husband about religion. It was after examining Harpon’s telephone that the case was taken over by the anti-terrorism police.

After his visit to the mosque on the morning of October 3, where he cursed the kuffar in saying his prayers, and after buying the ceramic knife, and texting his wife about it, he went to the Paris Police Headquarters, where he had worked since 2003 as an I.T. specialist, with security clearance. In 2008, he was arrested for domestic violence — he apparently beat someone (his wife? first wife? his partner? it’s unclear), as 4:34 permits. In 2015, after the Charlie Hebdo killings, he defended those killings and other Islamic attacks. This was reported to higher-ups, and he was investigated, but nothing came of it. He posted on Facebook a disturbing video in which a line of men mimic slitting the throat of the person standing next to them.

His security work included matters connected to Islamic terrorism. That he also posted videos about the sufferings in Syria and among the Palestinians. On October 3, at the police headquarters, he was not subject to a thorough search because he was an employee, not a visitor. After first going to his office on that morning, he then left and went to buy two knives, then between 11:21 and 11:50 he apparently exchanged email messages with his wife, that is, at the rate of one a minute, all on religious themes, and including the war-cry “Allahu akbar.” Then, a little after noon, he returned to the office, where he began his killing spree, slitting the throat — “smite at the neck” — of one of his victims. He went to the office of his supervisor, a woman, whom he stabbed to death. He then frenziedly attacked the other French police in his presence, killing three of them by repeatedly stabbing them, and seriously wounding others. The entire attack lasted all of seven minutes, which testifies to its extraordinarily violence, an attack which ended only when Harpon was shot dead by a policeman who had been on the force for little more than a week.

The French police had at first put out a version of events which stressed the fact that his supervisor was a woman, and she and Harpon had not been getting on. He had received a reprimand from her for his being unwilling to interact with female colleagues. His attack was presented by the police as a settling of scores, “going postal” because of a personal  grudge against a workplace superior, ending in murder.

Harpon may well have resented his supervisor, as both an Infidel and a woman who had dared to order him, a Muslim and thus a member of the “best of peoples,” to behave in a certain way with his female colleagues that, as a Muslim man, he no longer felt comfortable doing. But he was clearly ready to kill, in his frenzy of hate, any Infidel he came across, once he had dealt with the supervisor.

The French authorities now must realize that when Harpon’s wife first testified that he had been acting “deranged” and “hearing voices” during the night of October 2,” she was lying, in order to suggest that he had gone temporarily berserk, when we now know he had been contemplating with care such an attack. He had bought the ceramic knife, and text-messaged his wife about his purchase. He had been prompted not by an episode of insanity in the night, as his wife wanted us to think, but by Islamic commands to Believers to “fight,” to “kill,” to “smite at the necks” of, to “strike terror in the hearts” of, Infidels. She was well aware of his plans. After he had text-messaged her about having bought the knife, her response was telling: it was not to try to talk him out of what she knew he planned to do, nor to immediately phone the French police to warn them that Harpon had to be stopped from entering the Police Headquarters, and needed to be taken promptly into custody, for he was armed and extremely dangerous. She did neither. Instead, she responded with a message that, in substance, said that “Only Allah can judge you,” which hardly sounds like an attempt to discourage him. Knowing his murderous intent, and not reporting him at once, made her an accessory before the fact.

Also of interest as possible accessories before the fact are the two unidentified men who accompanied Harpon to the mosque on the morning of October 3. Were these men encouraging Harpon not just to take revenge on his female supervisor, who presumed to tell him what to do, but to kill as many Infidels as he could? Did they remind him — did he really need to be reminded? — that all of the Infidels, the “most vile of created beings,” deserved to be killed, as the Qur’an commands in so many of its verses?

Here are a few:

“Kill them wherever you find them.” (Quran 2:191)

“Kill them wherever you find them.” (Qur’an 4:89)

“Kill the polytheists wherever you find them.” (Qur’an 9:5)

“When you meet the unbelievers, strike the necks.” (Qur’an 47:4)

Did these two men know of his plans? If so, were they trying to discourage or to encourage him? Might they have been the very ones who suggested to Harpon that he buy the extra-sharp ceramic knife, that would not be picked up by a metal detector should he be subject to such a search? Did they encourage him not just to murder his supervisor, but to kill as many Infidels as possible in order to “strike terror” among other Infidels, just as 8:12 and 8:60 command? How did he know these men, why did they accompany him to the mosque that day, what did they talk about with him, going to and coming from the mosque? And where are they now?

When Harpon went to the Paris Police headquarters on October 3, where he had worked without incident as an I.T. specialist since 2003 – and before that, had worked for four years in another location, also without incident – the police did not attempt to stop and thoroughly frisk him. No one wanted to treat him as a possible danger, because he was a Muslim convert. Even though we have a long list of Muslim converts in the West who turned into Jihadis, the police were undoubtedly afraid of searching him, for fear of appearing to be “islamophobic.” He was, of course, according to his neighbors (it is not known if they were also Muslims) living in low-rises in the northeastern Paris suburb of Gonesse, “nice,” “simple” and “someone who liked people.” Yes, of course. We should all keep that in mind.

The Paris prosecutor’s office now has given up the “personal grudge” explanation, and says it believes that Harpon was in touch with a Salafi group – that is, Muslims who want to return the practice of the faith to what it was in the earliest period of Islam. The anti-terror police have surely uncovered evidence — from his cell phone and computer, and possibly from interrogating people who attended the same mosque — of his Salafi sympathies.

This whole ghastly and avoidable tragedy should have one salutary result: no more hesitancy, on the part of the French authorities, or of private employers, to closely monitor Muslim employees, especially converts to Islam, no more fear about being called “islamophobes” or, just as ludicrous, “racists,” no more diffidence about discharging Muslims from positions requiring security clearances, no more reticence about investigating the family members and friends of Muslims under suspicion, no more worries about monitoring the mosques. The people of France have been put on notice, yet again, by these killings at the Paris Police headquarters, that they must take another tack in dealing with the enemy within.  Let the sober, the implacable, the unintimidated, institute their severe regime. Muslims will whine, but at this point, in the undeclared, low-level civil war that has been imposed on France by its new would-be colonizers – see the recent appearances of Marion Marechal and Eric Zemmour, whose warnings about the Muslim presence in France seem more prescient than ever — no one should pay attention to “what Muslims demand.” The French will be safer, and at this point, after so many unnecessary victims of a misplaced tolerance for Islam and Muslims, that is all that matters.

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Filed Under: Featured, France, Hugh Fitzgerald Tagged With: Mikael Harpon, Paris


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Comments

  1. mortimer says

    Oct 7, 2019 at 10:22 am

    The French and all Western people need to understand that JIHAD is normative part of Islam, rather than an aberration. As long as Muslims are in the West, Muslims will continue to conduct JIHAD against them.

    Jihad is a CENTRAL and TRANSFORMATIVE RELIGIOUS SACRAMENT in Islam similar to baptism or confirmation in the Christian church. A great PREPARATION goes into jihad. When a Muslim is prepared mentally and emotionally for jihad, the suicidal jihadic attacker is ready to enter Islamic paradise directly after he has been shot and killed by police. Seemingly, that is what most of them want by attacking police.

    The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia published the most authentic official definition of jihad:

    “Jihad is holy fighting in Allah’s Cause with full force of numbers and weaponry. It is given the utmost importance in Islam and is one of its pillars. By Jihad Islam is established, Allah’s Word is made superior (which means only Allah has the right to be worshiped), and Islam is propagated. By abandoning Jihad Islam is destroyed and Muslims fall into an inferior position; their honor is lost, their lands are stolen, their rule and authority vanish. Jihad is an OBLIGATORY DUTY IN ISLAM ON EVERY MUSLIM. He who tries to escape from this duty, or does not fulfill this duty, dies as a hypocrite.” – footnotes on p.39, ‘The Noble Koran’, published by King Fahd Complex for Publication of the Quran, Madinah, KSA

    The death penalty should be restored in the case of Islamic jihadic terrorists who actively hope for death, but their death should be a shameful, ignominious one after being condemned for murder and terrorism.

    • SemiDave says

      Oct 7, 2019 at 10:55 am

      Mortimer, of course you are telling the truth.

      Unfortunately you or I or almost all people who follow Jihad Watch are a minority and largely ineffective AT THIS POINT, in convincing the general public that this ‘version’ of the Truth of Islam is in fact THE truth.

      We must find a way to convince our leaders that their very existence is threatened before the truth will be allowed to exist and be widely held by our populace in the west.

      Our people are being attacked on all sides by the left who are confusing the public with partial truths and outright lies and who would use the practice of Jihad to destroy democracy, capitalism, and most important of all, the main religion of the west, Christianity.

      The pope is a leftist! Most of our politicians whether leftist or not, overwhelmingly bend to leftist social policies. Our educators are largely…leftists. Many of our children have unwittingly become leftists. We…seem to be shouting into the dark.

      But shout we must! I have never been more passionate about any issue in my life.

    • elee says

      Oct 7, 2019 at 11:20 am

      +1 for mortimer……though I doubt you can find anything that a jihadist would consider a shameful and ignominious way to die.

  2. Trick_or_Treat says

    Oct 7, 2019 at 10:40 am

    This is not quite on the topic here, but I just learnt there was another deadly shooting in Kansas, USA, earlier today, that has left 4 people dead and 5 wounded. But I only just found out about this via a Christian blog thread. Yet I have not (as yet) seen one peep mentioned about it on the mainstream media news . Maybe that might have something to do with the (as of the present moment) apparent fact that all those involved were of Hispanic extraction. Not too much opportunity there to rant and rail about any latest white supremacist gunman rampage?

    • gravenimage says

      Oct 7, 2019 at 9:32 pm

      At this point, this seems to be Hispanic-on-Hispanic violence.

    • somehistory says

      Oct 7, 2019 at 9:38 pm

      Here’s one that the police said all were of one “race.’

      “Minnesota: 19 Muslim Students Charged With Riot, Assault & Making Terrorist Threats At St. Cloud High School”

      https://thewashingtonstandard.com/minnesota-19-muslim-students-charged-with-riot-assault-making-terrorist-threats-at-st-cloud-high-school/

      • gravenimage says

        Oct 7, 2019 at 9:44 pm

        Thanks for that disturbing link, Somehistory.

  3. Tom says

    Oct 7, 2019 at 10:45 am

    So many red flags but so much willful blindness.

    We in the west must start seeing the signs and acting on them to proactively prevent such atrocities, instead of reactively wringing our hands and trying to ignore the facts after the event.

    Mosques are the fertile breeding ground of Islamic jihad and must be very closely monitored, no matter the inevitable screaming and wailing from Muslims and the left of Islmophobia.

    The time for courtesy has passed. The west must start proactive investigation and surveillance of Islamic mosques and organizations to weed out the instigators of Islamic terror before they are able to incite action in their followers.

    Deport or imprison all who promote Islamic jihad against the west. Then, and only then, will we begin to get safety and security back into our country.

    By ignoring the red flags we achieve nothing but more death and destruction and the erosion of our way of life.

    • SemiDave says

      Oct 7, 2019 at 10:57 am

      Indeed you are right Tom!

    • James Lincoln says

      Oct 7, 2019 at 8:46 pm

      Agree, Tom.

    • gravenimage says

      Oct 7, 2019 at 9:49 pm

      +1

  4. Jedothek says

    Oct 7, 2019 at 11:10 am

    Some people keep asserting that “Allahu Akbar” , “God is greater,” means “ Our God is greater than your god”. This is an impossible interpretation , since the Muslims unanimously identify Allah with the God of Abraham , i.e., the god of the Bible; see e.g.,
    “And who is better in religion than he who submits himself wholly to Allah, and is a doer of good, and follows the faith of Abraham the Monotheist? Allah has chosen Abraham for a friend” (Quran 4:125).
    Therefore a Muslim would not say that Allah is greater than Jehovah , for he believes that they are the same.
    If you, the reader, think that Jehovah is not Allah, that is a separate issue which can also be argued.
    More plausibly, “Allahu Akbar” means “God is greater than anything else that might concern you, such as food, sex, living a long life on earth etc.”

    • Michael Copeland says

      Oct 7, 2019 at 11:24 am

      Unanimously?
      When Islamic State destroyed the grave and shrine of St Elian the explanation was:

      “It is dedicated to a god other than Allah”.

      • gravenimage says

        Oct 7, 2019 at 9:34 pm

        Agreed, Michael. Muslims do not believe that Jews and Christians worship “Allah”.

        • Jedothek says

          Oct 8, 2019 at 4:43 am

          I presented evidence for my assertion, gravenimage. Would you care to present evidence for yours?

      • Jedothek says

        Oct 8, 2019 at 4:41 am

        What the Islamic State probably meant was that the shrine treated Elian himself as a god, not that Jehovah is not Allah.

    • Jewcat says

      Oct 8, 2019 at 3:34 am

      But Jedothek, the Muslim Abraham is a Muslim. As are all the prophets. Cultural appropriation????

  5. scherado says

    Oct 7, 2019 at 11:29 am

    The entire attack lasted all of seven minutes, which testifies to its extraordinarily violence, an attack which ended only when Harpon was shot dead by a policeman who had been on the force for little more than a week.

    It testifies to something else for me: He should have been shot within the first 30 seconds of the attack.

    • somehistory says

      Oct 7, 2019 at 9:46 pm

      Yes, why did it take so long? I wondered that at the first reading on the news…how could he kill so many with a knife before someone acted to stop him? It took a new officer to put it to an end.

      • gravenimage says

        Oct 7, 2019 at 9:51 pm

        Yes–even if this was the clerical department, it was still *a police station*. Officers should have reacted immediately.

        Kudos to the policeman who finally shot this Jihadist.

  6. elee says

    Oct 7, 2019 at 11:48 am

    Do you suppose the French might make their police human resource officers (= hiring and firing bosses) read the Koran? Or would that be politically incorrect and Islamophobic? This is almost as smart as letting CAIR write the rules for counterjihad police work. +

  7. Winston says

    Oct 7, 2019 at 12:10 pm

    I haven’t read all of the Koran as I find it mind numbingly boring. I’ve read Submission though. The book was featured on the cover of Charlie Hebdo at the time of the massacre. That could turn out to be a prophetic work. It tells how influential French individuals, university professors for example, support the projects of wealthy Mohammedans and agree to toe the line in return for financial rewards and favours.

    • Jedothek says

      Oct 8, 2019 at 5:04 am

      Though I have no direct evidence, I tend to draw a dotted line between the increasing influence of Islam everywhere and oil money. Others with evidence might care to share it.

  8. somehistory says

    Oct 7, 2019 at 9:11 pm

    According to FBI data, more people were murdered in 2018 with knives than with rifles.

    moslims like knives. so much easier to slice the neck with a sharp knife than with the bare hand, a bat, or even a gun. This is what they live for…to slice and dice, rape and murder…all for a fake prophet and a false god…both evil to the core.

    People keep dying by the hands of moslim terrorists while the moslims, who end up murdering, are protected from even so much as a bit of criticism or questions about their evil belief.

    • somehistory says

      Oct 7, 2019 at 9:49 pm

      Knifes vs rifles…5 times as many with knives.

  9. gravenimage says

    Oct 7, 2019 at 9:27 pm

    The Paris Police Murders: What We Now Know
    ……………..

    So he defended the Charlie Hebdo Jihad slaughter–four years ago–and was still deemed fine to work with the police, including on anti-Jihad terror cases? Suicidal insanity.

    And yes–clearly his wife is complicit, including lying to police about him being delusional.

    In fact, he was very organized, including buying a ceramic knife so that he would not trip metal detectors.

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