Armand R. is a French-born man of Iranian Shiite Muslim parents who converted to Sunni Islam in 2015 and became radicalized. He had intentions of going to Syria and was sentenced to prison in 2016 for a violent action project at La Défense.
Upon his release from prison in 2020, he was placed under surveillance considered “encouraging” by the competent authorities. According to a source close to the investigation, he condemned Islamist acts. The future attacker even mentioned at the time a “hatred of radical Islam,” according to L’Obs journalist Matthieu Delahousse, who was a guest on BFMTV this Sunday.
On October 19, 2020, three days after the death of Samuel Paty, he even went to the police to report that he had exchanged messages on social media with the terrorist Abdoullakh Anzorov two weeks before the events, according to a source close to the investigation as reported by BFMTV.
