France: Manhunt for Escaped Prisoner Enters Third Day

• The manhunt for a French fugitive inmate — a suspected drug boss known as "La Mouche" (The Fly) — has entered its third day, after Interpol issued a "Red Notice" international request warrant for him on Wednesday at the request of French authorities. Independent (LR: 2 CP: 3)
• Hundreds of law enforcement officers have been deployed in Normandy as part of an “unprecedented” effort to catch him and the accomplices who carried out a prison-break ambush that killed two officers and injured three others. BBC News
• As searches for the armed gang continue across the Eure region, Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin claimed that "a lot of progress" has been made. Meanwhile, thousands of prison guards honored their fallen colleagues with a symbolic 24-hour shutdown of jails. Reuters
• The 30-year-old prisoner named Mohamed Amra was being transported from a court in Rouen to a prison in Evreux on Tuesday morning, when a Peugeot 5008 reportedly rammed a police van near a toll booth in Incarville. Al Jazeera (LR: 2 CP: 1)
• The Fly has at least 13 criminal convictions, including one handed down last week for robbery. He had been jailed in Evreux since January 2022 and faces two fresh charges, one for attempted murder and another for participation in a gangland killing. CBS (LR: 2 CP: 5)
• This incident has further ignited debate about France’s approach to crime and immigration, as the victims were the first prison officers to be killed in the line of duty in decades. Yahoo News

Right narrative:

• Whenever there is a deadly attack in France, or any other European nation, the culprit is almost always a non-European descendent or migrant. France has become the poster for a once-great country that opened its doors to crime and gang violence, yet its leaders will condemn anyone who states the obvious. The endless cycle of terror attacks and rampant crime doesn’t need to continue, but stopping it starts with calling out the problem — even if it's politically incorrect.
  EUROPEANCONSERVATIVE

Left narrative:

• This prison van attack is a tragedy that should be approached as a unique case; however, some on the far-right are trying to use the story to make broader statements about crime and immigration. There’s no doubt that Amra was a violent criminal, and law enforcement is committed to finding him and his accomplices. Right now, focus should remain on mourning the officers who died and finding the fugitives. Any other comments are inappropriate and irrelevant.
  LE MONDE.FR

Nerd narrative:

• There is a 33% chance that a terrorist act will occur in metropolitan France during the 2024 Summer Olympics, according to the Metaculus prediction community.
  METACULUS.COM