(AP) A Paris court on Wednesday jailed an Algerian man for 28 years after convicting him of attempted terrorist murder for attacking police guarding Notre Dame Cathedral with a hammer in 2017, crying: “This is for Syria!”
The assault by Farid Ikken, now 43, [outside] one of France’s most-visited monuments came after a string of Islamic extremist attacks around France in 2015-2016, and was among multiple violent acts targeting security forces.
In the Notre Dame incident, one police officer was lightly injured, and Ikken — a former doctoral student — was shot and wounded by officers. At least 600 people were trapped inside the 12th century cathedral while police secured the surrounding streets and combed the pews.
