UPDATED: "Allahu akbar!" en "la France profonde"

"La France profonde" is what the French call the deepest and most picturesque parts of their country. Éric Zemmour, an essayist and polemicist-turned candidate for the presidency, declared, "Just a few years ago, places like the Île d’Oléron, an island in the Bay of Biscay near Rochefort, were refuges for those who still wanted to live in a preserved France."

For that reason, Île d’Oléron is almost never in the news. Except for today. The second sentence in M Zemmour's statement is "The situation is such that we see jihadists emerging everywhere in France." 

Including Île d’Oléron, where at least 10 people, including pedestrians and a cyclist, were deliberately run down by a motorist said by police to have cried, "Allahu Akhbar!"

One of the worst injured is a political aide to a Rassemblement National (Marine Le Pen's National Rally) politician, who was run over while jogging at the beach, and has been airlifted to hospital in a state of "absolute emergency". 

Giving an update during a visit to the Île d’Oléron, a spokethingy for the French Minister of the Interior said the as yet unnamed [Try "Mohammed". Ed.] suspect is "not saying much." At least not in French.

The arrested suspect is a 35-year-old man, a resident of a nearby community, known to officers for small-time criminal activity and drug use. A criminal case of attempted murder has been opened, but despite the Islamist war cry uttered at the time of the man’s arrest, the local prosecutor told the meeja "At the time of his arrest, he shouted 'Allah Akbar!' However, the motive has not been confirmed and the investigation will have to determine it."

Counter-terrorism police are on scene but have not yet taken control of the investigation. The car used in the apparent attack was torched by the assailant as he attempted to flee on foot. It contained multiple gas cylinders, implying an attempt to cause an explosion, but Inspector Clouseau of the gendarmerie says they need to investigate further.

Conservative commentators and politicians spoke out to decry the perpetrator, the attack, and to note in particular how what they called "Islamist terror" has spread to even la France profonde. Jordan Bardella, the Parliamentary leader of the Rassemblement National, called for a strict punishment for the perpetrator of what he called "blind and deliberate violence."

His party colleague, MP Sébastien Chenu, reflected that nowhere is safe from "this phenomenon" any more and called on the state to fight the "Islamist hydra", saying, "The Islamist threat has never been stronger. This is a war that must be waged here and now. Our country has already paid a heavy price to Islamism."

UPDATE ADDED 6/11/25:  French prosecutors said today that the driver who deliberately ran over and injured several pedestrians and cyclists invoked Allah during police questioning. "He justified his actions by saying that he was following the commands of Allah, who had ordered him to make a sacrifice," said public prosecutor Arnaud Laraize told the meeja in La Rochelle."He said he wanted to die by self-immolation, but failed to blow up his vehicle."