Mohammed Merah

File:BellefontaineLeParc2.JPG

Merah was born on 10 October 1988 to French parents of Algerian origin. His parents divorced when he was five. He was raised, along with his two brothers and sisters, by their single mother in a "tough part of Toulouse".{{cite news|title=Mohammed Merah: petty criminal, part-time jihadist, polite but a loner|author=Oliver Moore|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/mohammed-merah-petty-criminal-part-time-jihadist-polite-but-a-loner/article2376324/|date=22 March 2012|work=Globe and Mail |location=Canada }} As a minor, he was described as having "a violent profile from childhood and behavioural troubles".

Merah was described as a polite and loner youth. He was arrested numerous times as a youth, mostly for petty crimes such as purse-snatching. He was first arrested in 2005 and served two short prison terms; the first was 18 months in 2007-08 for aggravated robbery, and the second was in 2009. His convictions reportedly included thefts and driving offences.[https://www.cbsnews.com/news/france-gunman-goes-down-shooting/ France gunman goes down shooting]. CBS News (22 March 2012). Retrieved on 30 March 2012. According to his friends, Merah never went to the mosque, although his family had been traditionally Muslim. He was known to French authorities because of his travels to Afghanistan and Pakistan, which were on various watch lists.{{cite web |url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2012/03/20123214219458757.html |title=French police in talks with besieged suspect |work=Al Jazeera |accessdate=21 March 2012 |date=21 March 2012}}

After the shootings, French TV station M6 published a 2006 French intelligence document. It said that Merah was a member of the Islamist jihadist movement Forsane Alliza, a French organisation with a cluster of followers in Toulouse who are suspected of inciting violence and terrorism.{{cite news|title=19 arrested in French police raids, Sarkozy says|url=https://edition.cnn.com/2012/03/30/world/europe/france-arrests/|publisher=CNN | date=30 March 2012}} The French government outlawed the Forsane Alizza organization because it was encouraging citizens to travel to Afghanistan to fight jihad.{{cite news|title=Lawyer: French Islamist group had no link with Toulouse gunman|url=https://edition.cnn.com/2012/03/31/world/europe/france-arrests/?hpt=ieu_c1|publisher=CNN|date=31 March 2012}} The lawyer for the group, speaking after the shootings, denied claims that the leader of the group had any connections with Merah. French intelligence described Merah as having the "ability to travel and furnish logistic assistance to other militants." The document revealed that Merah was under surveillance since 2006.{{cite web | url=http://www.jpost.com/International/Article.aspx?id=264265 | title=French police crack down on radical Islamists | publisher=JPost | date= 2012-04-01 | accessdate=3 April 2012}} Police have been investigating whether Merah acted alone in planning his attacks.

On 25 December 2008, Merah tried to commit suicide by hanging.{{cite news|title=The making of a jihadi killer|url=https://ottawacitizen.com/news/making+jihadi+killer/6355783/story.html|date=25 March 2012}} A subsequent psychiatric report described Merah as polar narcissistic, noting his slicked-back hair and high interest in personal grooming and designer clothes. Merah was described as a polar introvert. The psychiatrist stated Merah's "mood is stable" but that he "recently had dark thoughts" and spoke of "suicidal intentions." He found Merah to be "anxious" and "introverted" but not "psychologically disturbed".{{cite news | url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-france-shootings-neighbourhood-idUSBRE82T14X20120330 | title=In Toulouse suburb, "scooter killer" is "one of us" | publisher=Reuters | date=30 March 2012 | accessdate=4 April 2012 | author=Nicholas Vinocur}} He said Merah exhibited "neurotic fragility owing to the departure of his father and lack of supervision on his mother's part."{{cite news|title=Psychiatric report: Merah was narcissistic, suicidal|url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4206821,00.html|date=23 March 2012}} Merah had a history of psychological problems.{{cite news|title=French police swoop nets Islamist militant suspects|url=http://www.smh.com.au/world/french-police-swoop-nets-islamist-militant-suspects-20120330-1w3pj.html|work=Sydney Morning Herald|date=31 March 2012}}

French intelligence officials have suggested he had a double life or even a split personality, which allowed him to party in nightclubs and drink alcohol with acquaintances who were unaware of his arsenal of weapons, visits to Afghanistan and Pakistan, and attack plans. He had been married but separated from his wife.{{cite news|title=French gunman had split with wife|url=http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaking-news/french-gunman-had-split-with-wife/story-e6frf7jx-1226313046271|date=29 March 2012|work=Herald Sun |location=Australia}}

In January 2008, Merah tried to join the French Army, but was rejected because of his criminal past. In July 2010, he went to the recruitment centre of the Foreign Legion and stayed overnight, but left before he could be evaluated.[http://www.liberation.fr/societe/01012397395-mohammed-merah-a-tente-deux-fois-de-s-engager-dans-l-armee "Mohamed Merah a tenté deux fois de s'engager dans l'armée"] at Liberation.fr

According to declassified documents from the DCRI (French domestic intelligence), Merah and his older brother Abdelkader had been placed under surveillance in late 2009 after they traveled to Egypt, where Merah went to learn Arabic. In 2010, he was identified as a "new recruit" in radical Islamist circles. The DCRI questioned him after he returned from a visit to Pakistan.{{cite news|url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4266832,00.html|title=French intelligence watched Merah for years|newspaper=Ynetnews |date=9 August 2012 }}

French media reported that in 2010 Merah had forced a neighbour's boy to watch graphic war videos from Afghanistan and beat up the boy's sister after the mother intervened.{{cite news | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-17456541 | title=Obituary: Toulouse gunman Mohammed Merah |publisher=BBC News | accessdate=23 March 2012 | date=22 March 2012}} Bernard Squarcini said that Merah "appeared on radars" when arrested in Kandahar, Afghanistan in December 2010, while visiting as a "tourist." He was followed officially by French intelligence after his return from Pakistan in 2011.

The French newspaper JDD reported Merah's friends described him as a "nice guy" who "got on well with everyone". His friends found him sometimes devout, but Merah would also go clubbing. One friend commented that Merah identified "more with Islam than with France."{{cite news|title=Toulouse Killer's Path to Radicalism a Bitter Puzzle|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/30/world/europe/toulouse-killers-path-a-bitter-puzzle.html|work=New York Times|date=29 March 2012}} Another friend said that Merah had been seen in a Toulouse night club three weeks before the attacks. Merah had also traveled to Geneva, Switzerland on a skiing trip with two friends a month before the attacks. He allegedly bought a GoPro video camera there which he used to film his attacks.{{cite news |url=http://www.lematin.ch/monde/europe/Merah-aurait-fait-du-shopping-a-Geneve/story/13251284 |title=Merah aurait fait du shopping à Genève | newspaper= Le Matin|accessdate=27 March 2012 |date=26 March 2012|last1=Meier |first1=Jean-Claude }}

According to Merah's lawyer, he was sentenced to a month in prison on 24 February 2012 after driving without a driving licence, and was due before the judge again in April.{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/9159022/Toulouse-shooting-no-change-in-Mohammed-Merahs-behaviour-before-attacks.html |title=Toulouse shooting: 'no change' in Mohammed Merah's behaviour before attacks |work=The Daily Telegraph |accessdate=21 March 2012 |date=21 March 2012 |first=Henry |last=Samuel}} Merah had reportedly split from his wife days before the shootings. He was unemployed at the time of the shootings after having worked as a coachbuilder.[http://www.lemonde.fr/depeches/2012/03/21/mohamed-merah-n-aurait-pas-ete-detenu-en-afghanistan_1584481.html "Mohamed Merah n'aurait pas été détenu en Afghanistan"]. Le Monde {{in lang|fr}} (21 March 2012). Retrieved on 30 March 2012.

{{Main|Toulouse and Montauban shootings}}

File:Map of March 2012 attacks in Toulouse and Montauban, and scarlet Vigipirate area, in France.svg, and scarlet Vigipirate area, in France]]

Merah filmed all of the killings using a GoPro camera strapped to his body. He made a video of them set to music and verses of the Koran.{{cite news |url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/video-montage-set-to-music-of-french-killings/story-fn3dxix6-1226310971477 | title=Video montage set to music of French killings |work=The Australian |agency=AFP | date=27 March 2012 | accessdate=29 March 2012}} He sent the video to news agency Al Jazeera.{{cite news |url=https://www.france24.com/en/20120326-al-jazeera-videos-usb-filmed-toulouse-gunman-france-jewish-school-soldiers |title=Al Jazeera receives video footage of Toulouse attacks |date=26 March 2012 |access-date=28 May 2019 |work=France24}} After a request from French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Al Jazeera decided against airing the video.{{cite news|title=Al-Jazeera opts not to air Merah shootings video|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-17526424|publisher=BBC News|date=27 March 2012}} One video shows Merah shooting two French Muslim{{cite news|title=En tuant des militaires musulmans français, Merah a tué son double|url=http://www.lemonde.fr/idees/article/2012/03/26/en-tuant-des-militaires-musulmans-francais-merah-a-tue-son-double_1675738_3232.html}} soldiers in Montauban, and shouting Allahu Akbar.

Prior to the identification of Merah as the attacker, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said that the anti-semitic nature of the Jewish school attack appeared obvious.{{cite news|url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4205107,00.html| title=Sarkozy on Toulouse attack: Anti-Semitic motivation appears obvious| newspaper=Ynetnews| publisher=Ynet|accessdate=16 May 2012| date=2012-03-20}} After Merah was identified, Sarkozy stated that "the Islamic faith has nothing to do with the insane motivations of this man,"[http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/03/22/toulouse-shooting-mohammed-merah-sarkozy-islam_n_1372156.html Mohammed Merah Toulouse Killings 'Had Nothing To Do With Islam' Sarkozy Says], The Huffington Post UK. Accessed: 1 June 2012. and others have repeated this view.{{cite news|author=Tariq Ramadan|title=THE LESSON OF MOHAMED MERAH|url=http://www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2012/03/23/3462587.htm|author-link=Tariq Ramadan}} Merah admitted anti-Semitic motivations for his attack during the siege with police.{{cite web|url=http://www.jpost.com/International/Article.aspx?id=272546|title=3 hurt in apparent anti-Semitic attack in France|publisher=Jerusalem Post|accessdate=4 June 2012}}

Some media have described Merah as an "Islamic terrorist".{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/mohammed-merah-face-of-the-new-terrorism/2012/03/22/gIQA2kL4TS_story.html|title=Mohammed Merah, face of the new terrorism|newspaper=The Washington Post| accessdate=28 March 2012|author=Edward Cody|date=23 March 2012}}{{cite news|url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/terrorist-mohamed-merah-found-his-inner-jihadi-in-prison/story-fnb64oi6-1226309644280|title=Terrorist Mohamed Merah found his inner jihadi in prison |work=The Australian|date=26 March 2012|accessdate=28 March 2012|first=Matthew|last=Campbell}}{{cite web| url=http://www.jpost.com/Defense/Article.aspx?ID=263485&R=R1|title=Toulouse gunman visited Israel in 2010|publisher=The Jerusalem Post|accessdate=28 March 2012|author=YAAKOV LAPPIN}} Merah said that he resented France's ban on women wearing the burqa, and that "the Jews have killed our brothers and sisters in Palestine."{{cite web|url=http://www.eitb.com/fr/infos/societe/detail/854031/fusillades-operation-policiere-toulouse/|title=Fusillades: opération policière à Toulouse|publisher=INFOSSOCIÉTÉ|accessdate=22 March 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120323201250/http://www.eitb.com/fr/infos/societe/detail/854031/fusillades-operation-policiere-toulouse/|archive-date=23 March 2012|url-status=dead}}

He also wanted to avenge the French Army's involvement in the war in Afghanistan.{{cite web | url=http://news.sky.com/home/world-news/article/16192930 | title=Siege of French Gunman Into Second Day | publisher=Sky News | date=22 March 2012 | accessdate=31 March 2012}} An editor at France 24 reported that Merah told him that these acts were not only necessary, but that they were to "uphold the honour of Islam".{{cite web |url=http://www.newsy.com/videos/french-terrorist-suspect-merah-who-was-he/ |title=World News: French terrorist suspect Merah: Who was he? |publisher=NEWSY |work=EuroNews |accessdate=4 April 2012}} During the murders, Merah said, "you killed my brothers, I kill you."{{cite news|url=http://articles.cnn.com/2012-03-22/world/world_europe_france-shooting_1_french-soldier-police-officers-killings?_s=PM:EUROPE|title=French killings suspect dies shooting at police, authorities say|publisher=CNN|accessdate=31 March 2012|date=15 March 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120330161255/http://articles.cnn.com/2012-03-22/world/world_europe_france-shooting_1_french-soldier-police-officers-killings?_s=PM:EUROPE|archive-date=30 March 2012|url-status=dead}} Journalist Ed West described this as an expression of tribalism, not religion.{{cite news |title=How Islam became a scapegoat for the problems of immigration |url=http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/edwest/100147680/how-islam-became-a-scapegoat-for-the-problems-of-immigration/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120328193126/http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/edwest/100147680/how-islam-became-a-scapegoat-for-the-problems-of-immigration/|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 28, 2012|work=The Daily Telegraph|date=28 March 2012}}{{cite news|author=Mustafa Akyol|title=Yet Another Not-So-Pious Al Qaeda Terrorist|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mustafa-akyol/yet-another-notsopious-al_b_1374480.html|work=Huffington Post}}

File:Abdelghani Merah.jpg

Mohammed Merah's older brother, Abdelghani, said that Mohammed was raised in an "atmosphere of racism and hatred." He blamed his family for Mohammed's attraction to extremist Islamism and antisemitism. Merah's sister Souad said, "I am proud of my brother. He fought until the end{{nbs}}[...] Jews, and all those who massacre Muslims, I detest them."{{cite web |url= https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/how-my-hatefilled-family-spawned-merah-the-monster-8307341.html |title= How my hate-filled family spawned Merah the monster |work=Independent |accessdate= 13 November 2012|date= 2012-11-12 }}

Abdelghani stated that, during their childhood, their mother frequently stated that Arabs were born to hate Jews, and that there may be more "Mohammed Merahs" if families were allowed to teach such hatred.{{cite news | url=http://www.lemonde.fr/societe/article/2012/11/12/abdelghani-merah-a-piege-sa-s-ur-pour-denoncer-l-antisemitisme-de-sa-famille_1789463_3224.html | title=Abdelghani Merah a "piégé" sa sœur pour dénoncer l'antisémitisme de sa famille | publisher=Le Monde | accessdate=13 November 2012| newspaper=Le Monde.fr | date=2012-11-12 }} In 2003, Mohammed stabbed Abdelghani seven times as the latter refused to give up his Jewish girlfriend.

File:17 rue du Sergent Vigne, Toulouse.jpg

Dan Bilefsky linked Merah's anger to the high unemployment and alienation of young immigrants in France, and said this affected his development as a self-styled jihadist. Canadian journalist Rosie DiManno argued that Merah was motivated neither by religion nor the treatment of immigrants in France. She noted that while Merah had familial links with militant Islam (his mother was married to the father of Sabri Essid, who was arrested in 2007 at an al-Qaeda safe house in Syria for militants en route to Iraq), there was no evidence that Merah was involved with militant groups or even any religious congregation. DiManno characterized Merah as a sociopath who "sought posthumous grandeur" and adopted a terror agenda as a cover for his pre-existing rage.{{cite news|url=https://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/1151722--toulouse-killings-merah-no-poster-boy-for-scary-jihadists-dimanno-says|first=Rosie|last=DiManno|title=Toulouse killings: Merah no poster boy for scary jihadists, DiManno says|work=Toronto Star|date=25 March 2012}}

Journalist Paul Sheehan attacked what he called progressives going into overdrive to "dissociate the violence from Islam" when it was revealed the killer was a Muslim who supported al-Qaeda. He observed that Merah had dubbed his film of the shootings with verses from the Koran invoking jihad and the greatness of Islam before he mailed it to Al-Jazeera. Merah had studied the Koran while in prison. Sheehan argues that Merah specifically targeted Muslim soldiers and Jews in a premeditated attack.{{cite news| url=http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/politics/its-wrong-to-make-victim-of-child-killer-20120328-1vyqq.html|title=It's wrong to make victim of child killer|work=The Age|location=Australia|date=29 March 2012|accessdate=2 April 2012| author=Paul Sheehan}} President Sarkozy's intelligence adviser stated that Merah did not originally target the Jewish school, but attacked it only after arriving too late to ambush a soldier nearby.{{cite news|author=Jamey Keaten|title=No sign French shooting suspect had al-Qaeda ties: official|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/no-sign-french-shooting-suspect-had-al-qaeda-ties-official/article2379311/|date=23 March 2012|work=Globe and Mail |location=Canada }}

According to Christian Etelin, Merah's lawyer since he was 16, Merah was suffering from "psychological difficulties". Etelin stated that Merah was abandoned by his father as a child, and there were reports that he split with his wife days before the attacks.{{cite news |title=French killer Merah 'a lone wolf' |url=http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2012/0329/breaking1.html |date=29 March 2012 |newspaper=The Irish Times |access-date=6 June 2019 |archive-date=3 September 2012 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120903171801/http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2012/0329/breaking1.html |url-status=dead }}{{cite news|title=French shooter was 'abandoned child,' attorney says |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/world/2012/03/28/french-shooter-had-split-with-wife-lawyer-says/OMiLfzINHIKwZB7wromjEM/story.html|date=29 March 2012|work=Boston Globe}} Etelin denied that Merah was an Islamist. He said that Merah could have committed the shootings in an episode of "paranoid schizophrenia during which he completely disconnected from reality." Bernard Squarcini, the head of DRCI (France's domestic intelligence agency), stated, "you have to go back to his broken childhood and psychiatric troubles. To carry out what he did smacks more of a medical problem and fantasy than a simple jihadist trajectory."{{cite news|author=Paul Cruickshank and Tim Lister|title=How did Mohammed Merah become a jihadist?|url=https://edition.cnn.com/2012/03/26/world/europe/france-shooting-suspect/|publisher=CNN|date=26 March 2012}} And yet intelligence documents later revealed that Merah had made more than 1,800 calls to over 180 contacts in 20 different countries, in addition to having made several trips to the Middle East and Afghanistan. Haaretz reported that these facts cast doubt on Squarcini's view of Merah as a solitary figure who was not part of a terrorist network.{{cite news | url=http://www.lemonde.fr/societe/article/2012/08/23/mohamed-merah-un-loup-pas-si-solitaire_1748746_3224.html | title=Mohamed Merah, un loup pas si solitaire |work=Le Monde | accessdate=24 December 2012| date=2012-08-23 }}{{cite news | url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/world/report-toulouse-gunman-mohamed-merah-was-not-a-lone-wolf-1.460381 | title=haaretz.com/news/world/report-toulouse-gunman-mohamed-merah-was-not-a-lone-wolf-1.460381 | newspaper=Haaretz | accessdate=24 December 2012| date=2012-08-23 }}

According to older brother Abdelghani, when Merah's body was brought home, members of the local terrorist community visited the family to praise his actions and they cried tears of joy. Their only regret was that Merah had not killed more Jews.{{Cite news|url=http://www.newsweek.com/muslim-anti-semitism-threatens-frances-democracy-716055|title=Persistent Muslim anti-Semitism is threatening France's democracy|date=2017-11-19|work=Newsweek|access-date=2017-11-25|language=en|quote=Abdelghani also revealed, at the time, that "when the medical examiner brought [his] brother's corpse home, people came over. They cried tears of joy. They said that he had brought France to its knees. That he did well. Their only regret was that he had not killed more Jewish children."}} Merah was buried on 29 March 2012 in the Muslim section of the Cornebarrieu cemetery, near Toulouse.{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-17556266 |title=French gunman Mohamed Merah buried in cemetery near Toulouse |date=29 March 2012 |access-date=28 May 2019 |work=BBC News |publisher=BBC}} About 50 people attended, including the imam.{{cite news|last1=de Mallevoüe|first1=Delphine|title=Merah a été inhumé sans que sa mère ne le revoie|url=http://www.lefigaro.fr/actualite-france/2012/03/30/01016-20120330ARTFIG00487-merah-sa-mere-ne-l-avait-pas-revu-depuis-l-assaut.php|accessdate=9 August 2016|work=Le Figaro|date=30 March 2012}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Merah, Mohammed}}

Category:1988 births

Category:2012 deaths

Category:21st-century French criminals

Category:Antisemitism in France

Category:Criminals from Toulouse

Category:Filmed killings

Category:French Islamists

Category:French mass murderers

Category:French murderers of children

Category:French people of Algerian descent

Category:Islamic terrorism in France

Category:People convicted of robbery

Category:People shot dead by law enforcement officers in France