Arnaud Beltrame, lorsqu’il était porte-drapeau de 1999 à 2001 à l’École militaire InterArmes dans le Morbihan / © ESCC/Dircom https://france3-regions.francetvinfo.fr/bretagne/morbihan/ecole-militaire-interarmes-coetquidan-rend-hommage-arnaud-beltrame-1446581.html

 

My mother often reminded me that “bravery resides in every heart and some day it will be summoned.” Lt. Col. Arnaud Beltrame answered the call last Friday in France. Taking the place of a hostage and paying the ultimate price. His heroism and self-sacrifice must not be forgotten.

 

LE COLONEL ARNAUD BELTRAME, MORT POUR LA FRANCE. 

HÉROS DES TEMPS MODERNES.

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Une idée fixe aboutit à la folie ou à l’héroïsme.

Victor Hugo

We must build dikes of courage to hold back the flood of fear.

Martin Luther King Jr.

En ce jour de deuil national, unis dans la douleur d’avoir perdu le Colonel Arnaud BELTRAME, à jamais inspirés par son noble courage, ses valeurs et son sens du devoir, le Mouvement des Français de l’Étranger (MDFDE) présentes ses sincères condoléances à l’épouse et à la mère du Colonel Arnaud Beltrame et sa famille, ainsi qu’aux familles de Messieurs Hervé Sosna, Jean Mazières et Christian Medves, quatre nouvelles victimes du terrorisme en France. Elisabeth Jenssen

#GRATITUDE

#RESISTANCE

#MDFDEJeSuisLadyLiberty132

France honors hero officer who swapped places with hostage

By Sheena McKenzie and Nicole Chavez, CNN Updated 1207 GMT (2007 HKT) March 28, 2018

Source: CNN

Police officer wounded in France attack dies 02:07

 

(CNN) Mourners clutching umbrellas lined the streets of Paris on Wednesday to honor the police officer who died after swapping places with a hostage during a terror attack in southern France on Friday.

Under gray skies, a cavalcade of officers on motorbikes and horseback led the funeral procession through the capital toward the Hotel des Invalides, a historic building dedicated to France’s servicemen and women.

There French President Emmanuel Macron led the tributes to Lt. Col. Arnaud Beltrame, 45, who offered to take the place of a female hostage during an attack by an ISIS supporter on a supermarket in Trèbes.

Beltrame was shot in the neck during the attack, dying from his wounds later that day.

French President Emmanuel Macron (center) with wife Brigitte (left) and former presidents  Nicloas Sarkozy and François Hollande attend the ceremony for Beltrame.
French President Emmanuel Macron (center) with wife Brigitte (left) and former presidents Nicloas Sarkozy and François Hollande attend the ceremony for Beltrame.

 

“To accept to die so the innocent can live, that is what is in the heart of the soldier’s commitment,” said Macron at the ceremony honoring Beltrame.

He added that Beltrame’s willingness to give his life was “greatness that so transfixed the whole of France.”

Republican Guards escort the hearse transporting the coffin of  Lt. Col.  Arnaud Beltrame.
Republican Guards escort the hearse transporting the coffin of Lt. Col. Arnaud Beltrame.
A minute of silence is held for  Beltrame at the Interior Ministry in Paris.
A minute of silence is held for Beltrame at the Interior Ministry in Paris.

 

The officer will be posthumously awarded the prestigious “Commander of the Legion d’Honneur” medal.

His attacker, Radouane Lakdim, 26, a Moroccan-born French national, was a petty criminal already on the radar of French police for his links to radical Salafist networks, authorities said.

When he burst into the supermarket Friday, he shouted he was a soldier from ISIS, witnesses said, and then opened fire and killed a worker and a customer. He was shot dead by police on the scene.

People applaud while Beltrame's coffin passes in central Paris.
People applaud while Beltrame’s coffin passes in central Paris.
A convoy of French Republican Guards escort the hearse carrying Beltrame's coffin.
A convoy of French Republican Guards escort the hearse carrying Beltrame’s coffin.

 

The attacker killed four people in total. Along with Beltrame, two other people died and more than a dozen were wounded in the supermarket raid. He also killed another person earlier Friday while stealing a car.

Police found two unexploded homemade bombs, a 7.65 mm pistol and a hunting knife when they searched the market after the attack, a French judicial source told CNN.

Illustrious career as officer

Married with no children, Beltrame had served in the French military police and received a number of awards for bravery.

The attacker killed four people in total. Along with Beltrame, two other people died and more than a dozen were wounded in the supermarket raid. He also killed another person earlier Friday while stealing a car.

Police found two unexploded homemade bombs, a 7.65 mm pistol and a hunting knife when they searched the market after the attack, a French judicial source told CNN.

A portrait of Beltrame is pictured during  a minute of silence at the Interior Ministry in Paris.
A portrait of Beltrame is pictured during a minute of silence at the Interior Ministry in Paris.

 

He served in Iraq in 2005, and was given an award for bravery in 2007, Macron said. For four years, he was a commander in the Republican Guard, which provides security at the Élysée Palace, home of the French President.

Last year Beltrame was appointed deputy commander of the antiterror police in the Aude region.

According to the newspaper La Dépêche du Midi, Beltrame led a simulated terror attack in December on a supermarket for training purposes, similar to the one Friday in which he lost his life.

How the rampage unfolded

Before arriving at the supermarket, the gunman stole a car, killing one person in the vehicle and wounding another, the interior minister said.

The gunman then shot at four National Police officers who were jogging in Carcassonne. The driver tried to run the officers down. One of them was wounded, but he was not in serious condition.

Police respond to the supermarket siege Friday in Trèbes.

Police respond to the supermarket siege Friday in Trèbes.

 

As Friday’s supermarket attack was underway, Beltrame offered to exchange himself for one of the female hostages held inside. He was shot while entering the market.

Beltrame had left his phone on so police could hear his interactions with the gunman, according to Interior Minister Gérard Collomb.

As soon as they heard gunfire, police went in and killed the gunman.

Terror attacks in France in recent years

More than 230 people have died in a series of Islamist-inspired terror attacks in France over the past three years.

In January 2015, a total of 17 people were killed in attacks on the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, a kosher grocery store and the Paris suburb of Montrouge. In November 2015, at least 130 were killed in attacks at several locations across the French capital.

In 2016, 86 people died in Nice when a truck rammed into crowds during Bastille Day celebrations. There have also been a string of “lone wolf” ISIS-inspired attacks, including the killings of a priest and rabbi.

France remained under a state of emergency for about two years after the Paris attacks. It was lifted late last year.

CNN’s Stephanie Halasz contributed to this report

Links: https://edition.cnn.com/2018/03/28/europe/france-funeral-officer-arnaud-beltrame-intl/index.html

http://www.lemonde.fr/police-justice/article/2018/03/28/attentats-dans-l-aude-la-france-rend-un-hommage-national-au-gendarme-arnaud-beltrame_5277389_1653578.html

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