Paris Olympics: France has a 'Plan B' for opening ceremony on the Seine if there's a security threat
NBCApr 27
French Soldier Stabbed in Paris Ahead of Olympics
Above: French army soldiers take part in Operation Sentinelle in which combat troops patrol streets and protect key sites on March 14, 2024 in Paris, France. Image copyright: Pascal Le Segretain/Staff/Getty Images Entertainment via Getty Images
The Facts
On Monday, a French soldier was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries after being stabbed outside a train station in Paris just 11 days before the kick-off of the 2024 Summer Olympics.
The suspect, 40-year-old Christian Ingondo, was transferred from custody to a psychiatric hospital on Tuesday. His background and motivations are currently being investigated, and was last in police custody in 2018 for murder charges.
The Spin
Narrative A
Terrorist groups, especially the Islamic State group, have made France a top target, with the memory of the 2015 attacks still fresh in the public's mind. Jihadist propaganda has since posed a threat at home, with teenagers as young as 16 being implicated in threats. It remains to be seen if the Olympics can pass without bloodshed in the face of such a large domestic threat to security posed by radical Islam and foreign interference.
Narrative B
France and their security partners abroad have been working around the clock to ensure the Games run smoothly. The French government has already foiled a terrorist plot and has beefed up security measures considerably. While the security challenges the country faces are real, there is no reason to expect there to be a cataclysm approaching that of 2015.