Anti-police sentiment? Terrorism? Investigators are trying to determine the motives of the 20-year-old man who fired a gun at two police officers and stabbed a third before being neutralized on Wednesday in New York. The clash took place a little before midnight and a few hours after the establishment of a curfew in the city following the sometimes violent demonstrations that have appeared since the death of George Floyd.
During an anti-looting patrol, officer Yayonfrant Jean Pierre was stabbed in the neck by surprise. Two of his colleagues were injured in the hands in the ensuing firefight. The three policemen are off the hook. The assailant, on the other hand, was hospitalized in critical condition after multiple injuries.
If Dzenan Camovic has not been formally charged, his case should end up in the hands of federal investigators. On Twitter, the FBI sent a strong message to the New York police, the NYPD: “The FBI New York is fully engaged. We respond as if one of our own has been attacked, and we will use any available federal law to hold the perpetrator accountable. “
Call for calm
On Thursday, NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea called for calm at a press conference while lambasting “hate speech” against the police, according to comments cited by the Associated Press. He said it was too early in the investigation to say what prompted Wednesday night’s attack, but Patrick Lynch, head of a police union, said he saw a link to the protests.
“Because of the rhetoric we hear, the anti-police rhetoric that takes over our streets, are we surprised? »Declared the president of the Police Benevolent Association. “I am not. We said it was going to happen. “
While social networks speculated on a possible terrorist motivation, a person close to the author denied this possibility in front of investigators. He is a “practicing Muslim” whose family is from Bosnia “, but he is” absolutely not a terrorist “, said this member of Dzenan Camovic’s entourage, quoted by The New York Post. However, investigators, who discovered anti-police messages left by Camovic on social networks, would not neglect this lead.
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