PARIS — Two people were wounded by a knife-wielding assailant in eastern Paris on Friday near the site of the former Charlie Hebdo office — the scene of a 2015 terrorist attack targeting the satirical newspaper that is the focus of an ongoing trial. A primary suspect was arrested a short time later, the authorities said. Jean-François Ricard, France’s top antiterrorism prosecutor, told reporters at the site of the attack that the police had taken a second person into custody to verify “their connections to the main perpetrator.”Mr. Ricard said prosecutors were opening a terrorism investigation because of the location of the attack — in front of the building where Charlie Hebdo had its offices at the time of the terrorist attack in January 2015 that left 12 people dead — and because of its timing. A trial is ongoing for several people accused of aiding the assailants in the 2015 attack. Prime Minister Jean Castex, who cut short a scheduled speech when the attack took place, told reporters that the attack had occurred “in a symbolic location,” not far from a mural that pays tribute to the victims of the 2015 attack.

Source: New York Times September 25, 2020 10:57 UTC