An attacker at France’s storied museum the Louvre was shot and seriously wounded Friday morning, and the incident elicited a predictable response (in tweet form no less) from our new Commander-in-Chief.
A new radical Islamic terrorist has just attacked in Louvre Museum in Paris. Tourists were locked down. France on edge again. GET SMART U.S.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 3, 2017
France’s answer to Trump, Front National leader and presidential candidate Marine Le Pen, also took time to give a slightly more diplomatic statement over the social media platform.
Soutien à nos militaires qui sont en première ligne face à la menace et à la barbarie islamistes. #Louvre MLP
— Marine Le Pen (@MLP_officiel) February 3, 2017
Le Pen praised the military for being the front line against the “menace of Islamist barbarity.” Le Pen has ran a presidential campaign largely calling on anti-Muslim sentiment and anti-immigration promises.
Other noted anti-Muslim activists were similarly quick to jump on the attack, including:
- Pamela Geller, an anti-Muslim activist
https://twitter.com/PamelaGeller/status/827484579632082944
- Allen West, a former lawmaker from Florida with anti-Muslim prejudices
https://twitter.com/AllenWest/status/827510549881700352
- Katie Hopkins, an English newspaper columnist regularly accused of racism
https://twitter.com/KTHopkins/status/827475342558363648
- Jim Hanson, from the anti-Muslim Center for Security Policy
https://twitter.com/Uncle_Jimbo/status/827513850291437569
The Louvre attacker allegedly tried to attack security forces outside the museum with a knife. Though details are unclear, some French media reported the attacker yelled “Allahu Akbar”— “God is great” in Arabic — while rushing a soldier. It’s important to note that the attack resulted in a whopping zero deaths.
Rewinding to Monday, a mosque in Quebec, Canada was attacked and six worshipers were killed and others wounded. Trump’s response? Silence.
I find it instructive to compare Trump’s tweet on the thwarted Louvre attack to his tweet on the Quebec terror attack that killed 6 people: pic.twitter.com/U2wzUS6UVr
— Nicole Hemmer (@pastpunditry) February 3, 2017
The attacker, 27-year-old Alexandre Bissonnette, “was known in the city’s activist circles as a right-wing troll who frequently took anti-foreigner and anti-feminist positions and stood up for U.S. President Donald Trump,” the Globe and Mail reported. “His online profile and school friendships revealed little interest in extremist politics until last March, when France’s far-right National Front Leader Marine Le Pen visited Quebec City, inspiring Mr. Bissonnette to vocal extreme online activism, according to people who clashed with him starting around this time.”
Also on Monday, White House Senior Counselor Kellyanne Conway made up an attack in Bowling Green, Kentucky to justify Trump’s recent Muslim ban.