Maxime Brunerie
Encyclopedia
Maxime Brunerie is a man who attempted to assassinate French
President
Jacques Chirac
on July 14, 2002 in Paris
, during the Bastille Day
parade on the Champs-Élysées
.
Armed with a .22 rifle he had hidden in a guitar case, Maxime Brunerie fired two shots toward the passing presidential motorcade before being overpowered by bystanders and arrested by police. According to police both shots were very wide and the shooter's inexperience and lack of preparation made success for the assassination attempt unlikely.
Brunerie was found to have been linked to the far-right group Unité Radicale
(which was dissolved in the aftermath of the shooting), and had been a candidate for the far-right party Mouvement National Républicain at a local election, as well as being associated with the French and European Nationalist Party
.
Maxime Brunerie's trial, which began on December 6, 2004, revealed however that the shooting was more the act of a depressed and alienated young man than a political action: Brunerie's goal was to achieve fame by murdering a very famous person before being killed by police or committing suicide before television cameras. The court eventually found the defendant guilty of attempted murder, judging that his mental responsibility, though diminished, was not abolished. On December 10, Brunerie was sentenced to ten years of prison. He was freed after 7 years in jail, on August 3, 2009.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
President
President
A president is a leader of an organization, company, trade union, university, or country.Etymologically, a president is one who presides, who sits in leadership...
Jacques Chirac
Jacques Chirac
Jacques René Chirac is a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. He previously served as Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988 , and as Mayor of Paris from 1977 to 1995.After completing his studies of the DEA's degree at the...
on July 14, 2002 in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, during the Bastille Day
Bastille Day
Bastille Day is the name given in English-speaking countries to the French National Day, which is celebrated on 14 July of each year. In France, it is formally called La Fête Nationale and commonly le quatorze juillet...
parade on the Champs-Élysées
Champs-Élysées
The Avenue des Champs-Élysées is a prestigious avenue in Paris, France. With its cinemas, cafés, luxury specialty shops and clipped horse-chestnut trees, the Avenue des Champs-Élysées is one of the most famous streets and one of the most expensive strip of real estate in the world. The name is...
.
Armed with a .22 rifle he had hidden in a guitar case, Maxime Brunerie fired two shots toward the passing presidential motorcade before being overpowered by bystanders and arrested by police. According to police both shots were very wide and the shooter's inexperience and lack of preparation made success for the assassination attempt unlikely.
Brunerie was found to have been linked to the far-right group Unité Radicale
Unité Radicale
Unité Radicale was a French far-right political group close to the Third Position and National Bolshevism thesis. It was founded in June 1998 from the merger of Groupe Union Défense and Nouvelle Résistance/Jeune Résistance/Union des Cercles Résistance, issued from Nouvelle Résistance, and dissolved...
(which was dissolved in the aftermath of the shooting), and had been a candidate for the far-right party Mouvement National Républicain at a local election, as well as being associated with the French and European Nationalist Party
French and European Nationalist Party
The French and European Nationalist Party was a minor French far right political group founded in 1987. It was led by Claude Cornilleau and despite its name was not a political party in the conventional sense...
.
Maxime Brunerie's trial, which began on December 6, 2004, revealed however that the shooting was more the act of a depressed and alienated young man than a political action: Brunerie's goal was to achieve fame by murdering a very famous person before being killed by police or committing suicide before television cameras. The court eventually found the defendant guilty of attempted murder, judging that his mental responsibility, though diminished, was not abolished. On December 10, Brunerie was sentenced to ten years of prison. He was freed after 7 years in jail, on August 3, 2009.