Since the shooting of December 23, 2022 which plunged the Kurdish community of Paris into mourning, the question has been on everyone’s lips: why did William Malet come especially to rue d’Enghien, then did he climb the few steps that separate the sidewalk from the Kurdish cultural center Ahmet-Kaya located at number 16, before ending its murderous journey in a hairdressing salon, also Kurdish?
If the 60-year-old, armed with a Colt 45, four magazines and a box of 25 rounds, was eager, as he admitted, to kill as many strangers as possible, other, more obvious targets, were not lacking in this multicultural district, located in the heart of the capital.
While his profile remains as mysterious as ever, his statements, of which L’OBS has become aware, sometimes seem to open up leads, sometimes to confuse them even more.
No coincidence
During his police custody, the first responses of William Malet, a 69-year-old former railway worker, were not always consistent. Between two sentences on his uninhibited “racism” and after having openly admitted his hatred of “foreigners”, the man did declare that he had got up in the morning with the desire to go to rue d’Enghien, and that he was aiming for the Kurdish cultural center, which houses the Kurdish Democratic Council in France (CDKF).
His motives? As the Paris prosecutor’s office had indicated after the shooting, the man declared that he was angry with the Kurds, engaged in the fight in Syria against the Islamic State (IS) organization, for having “made up of prisoners during their fight against Daesh [acronyme arabe de l’EI] instead of killing them. »
“It is the Kurdish community that was targeted, that’s what we know and say since day one”confirms Agit Polat, spokesperson for the CDKF, which has filed a civil action in this case.
“Anxiogenic resentment”, illegal arsenal, attack on migrants: the violent drift of the killer in the rue d’Enghien
On his trip to Saint-Denis, the very morning of the shooting, William Malet did not provide any coherent explanations. Already, the man had not confessed to himself. A metro ticket found on him revealed that he had gone to Seine-Saint-Denis. He then explained that he hadn’t found enough foreigners… and then had “collapsed”. conflicting explanations. He stayed barely 10 minutes on the spot according to the first observations.
6000 euros in cash
During the searches carried out in the small room he occupied next to his parents’ apartment in the Montorgueil district, the investigators found 6,000 euros in cash of unknown origin at the moment. The man had also taken steps to redo his identity card. He did not, however, use a telephone.
Since December 23, 2022, the Kurdish community in Paris has been revolted because the terrorist nature of the shooting which left three dead and three injured was not retained. The anti-terrorist prosecutor’s office did not take up the investigation, opened for assassinations and attempted assassinations because of race, ethnicity, nation or religion.
Crimes of the rue d’Enghien: “When the victims are not French, the attacks are often not perceived as racist”
“It is indeed a terrorist attack”supports Agit Polat, who recalls that the first victim of William Malet was a leader of the Kurdish Women’s Movement in France who fought the jihadists of the EI.
“There is no doubt for us that Turkey is behind this gesture”, he concludes. At this stage of the investigation, no element has come to corroborate this thesis.
After his first statements in police custody, Wiliam Malet refused to answer questions during his first interrogation before the investigating judges, then a second time when the latter had called him back.
