“I act for France”: the author of the racist attack in Yvelines says he acted out of patriotism

The author of the racist attack which occurred in Yvelines on October 23 claimed during his police custody to have acted "for France" and said he hoped to become an "example for the French", AFP learned on Wednesday from sources close to the case. During his four days in police custody in the premises of the Anti-Terrorism Sub-Directorate (Sdat) after the attack which left one dead and seven injured in Trappes and La Verrière, the 39-year-old man told investigators that he “chose the people at whom (he) shot based on their ethnicity or religion”.

When an investigator asked him the reasons for this choice, the attacker replied: “Well, because France is colonized by Islamists and Africans of all kinds.” In police custody, Kévin Tessier believes that security policy in France is currently “a total fiasco” and assures that he has “always been right-wing”. Asked about the photographs discovered on the France-Palestine site dated February 21, 2018 or about the “Stop Pub” meetings where he appeared, he indicates having “infiltrated the leftists at a certain point (...), they made me laugh,” he adds.

An individual marked by the looting of October 17

When an investigator asks him if his actions were motivated by recent news, Kévin Tessier mentions the violence and looting of October 17, according to him “clearly (led) by foreigners who are destroying France”. He also says he is marked by the jihadist attacks of November 13, 2015 in France and those of September 11, 2001 in the United States, with “always these bastard Islamists”. He cannot be considered a terrorist, he believes. “For me, it’s to liberate my country, that has nothing to do with it. I'm on the good side (...). I act for France,” he told investigators.

On October 23, while sitting in an unmarked police vehicle while waiting for the end of the mine-clearing operations in his apartment, Kévin Tessier launched into a monologue. Asked by AFP, his two lawyers, Mes Baptiste Bellet and Eliott Amzallag, refused to comment. The funeral of Pengo Bossio Wangi, a young French mixed martial arts hopeful killed in the attack, took place on Saturday in Guyancourt (Yvelines) in the presence of hundreds of people. The Élysée plans to pay a national tribute to the victims of this racist attack, including a seriously injured 11-year-old girl.