(AP) The defendants on trial for the 2016 Bastille Day truck attack in Nice that killed 86 people denied any links to terrorism and told the court Tuesday that they had been trapped or fooled by the driver at fault for the massacre.
The driver, Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, was killed by police after the attack on the Mediterranean city’s storied beachfront, where 25,000 people had gathered to celebrate France’s national holiday.
The eight people who went on trial in Paris this week are accused of helping him, though investigators didn’t find evidence that they were directly involved in the carnage.
While the Islamic State group claimed responsibility and Bouhlel had been inspired by its propaganda, investigators found no evidence that IS orchestrated the attack.
