Last year, the annual event drew a crowd of more than one million people. The celebration has taken place for roughly six decades but will not be held in person this year. Fireworks are still scheduled to launch from the Arc de Triomphe at midnight, though officials have urged residents to watch the display on television rather than attend in person.
The avenue has been subject to violence as of late as migrants, mostly young Muslim men, have been roaming the streets of Paris to loot stores and get into fights with residents and police. Paris police officials reportedly pressed the city’s mayor to cancel the concert, warning of “unpredictable crowd movements,” though critics have pointed to France’s immigration policies as a contributing factor.
“It’s obvious that this is the result of massive unvetted Muslim immigration into Europe,” said Daniel Di Martino, an immigration fellow at the Manhattan Institute, according to the New York Post. “Western Europe has had a terrorism problem for many years now, and that has been exacerbated because of unvetted Islamic immigration as a result of the refugee crisis of over a decade ago.”
France’s interior minister, Laurent Nuñez, recently sent a letter to state officials warning of a “very high terror threat” surrounding open-air Christmas markets and other public gatherings. He ordered increased police presence and tighter restrictions on vehicle access in sensitive areas.
Nuñez cited the 2018 Strasbourg Christmas market attack, in which a French Moroccan attacker opened fire while shouting “Allah Akbar,” killing five people and wounding 11 others.
“Christmas markets are popular and symbolic gathering places that are likely to be targeted by violent or politically motivated attacks,” said Nuñez.
He also said authorities have stopped six terrorist plots in France this year, all involving young suspects between the ages of 17 and 22.
“When you read the propaganda of terrorist groups, Christmas markets are targets as are law enforcement officers, as are places of worship of the Jewish community, as are a number of public institutions,” Nunez said during a television appearance.
