Police used an electric stun gun on a man who brandished a knife and yelled “Allahu Akbar” in the middle of the street.
At around 1 am on Monday in the commune of Saint-Brieuc in Brittany, a 24-year-old man armed with a knife yelled “Allahu Akbar” on the Rue Baratoux.
Locals alerted the police, and the Anti-Crime Brigade (BAC) arrived soon afterwards and spotted the man, who attempted to hide his weapon when he noticed the officers, according to a report from the news website Actu 17.
Police ordered the man to give them the knife, but when he refused, they opted to use an electronic stun gun to subdue him. Officers took him into custody and later stated that the 24-year-old was drunk at the time of his arrest.
After examining his criminal history, investigators found that due to a prior conviction, the man was banned from carrying and possessing a knife.
Knife attacks involving a suspect shouting “Allahu Akbar”, Arabic for “God is greater”, have been seen in several European countries in recent weeks and months.
Last year in April, a Sudanese migrant man stabbed two people to death in the French commune of Romans-sur-Isère while yelling the phrase. It was later revealed that the migrant had committed the attack after being angry “that he lives in a country of non-believers”.
In December, another “Allahu Akbar” knife attack took place in Vaucluse and saw a 20-year-old named Youssouf H. attack two police officers while armed with two knives and yelled “Death to the cops! Allahu Akbar!” just prior to the attack.
Both police were protected from the knife attack due to their bulletproof vests and used a taser to subdue the 20-year-old and take him into custody.
In May, German police shot dead a 36-year-old Lebanese man who had yelled “Allahu Akbar” and attacked several people with a knife in Hamburg. It was later revealed that the migrant man was also a sex offender.