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France 2 via AP
A photo taken from video and provided by TV station France 2 shows Mohamed Merah.
The father of Toulouse gunman Mohamed Merah told FRANCE 24 that he wants to sue the French state for failing to capture his son alive.
Benanel Merah told the French television on Tuesday that police besieging his son’s Toulouse flat were "hasty" and they “could have used sleep-inducing gas and taken him like a baby.”
Merah hired Algiers-based lawyer Zahia Mokhtari, according to the BBC. Mokhtari told French media that Merah considered his son murdered by security services.
Mohamed Merah, a 23-year-old Frenchman of Algerian origin, killed three Jewish children and a rabbi and three Muslim soldiers in southwestern France before he was shot by police commandos from the elite RAID unit after a 32-hour standoff in a suburban Toulouse apartment.
Merah's plan to take the French state to court has drawn criticism from French politicians, BBC reported.
"If I were the father of such a monster, I would shut my mouth in shame," French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said Tuesday, according to the BBC.
FRANCE 24 reported that President Nicolas Sarkozy’s chief adviser, Henri Guaino, told France Culture radio that while the man was “perfectly within his rights” to start legal proceedings, it would be “indecent."
“A little bit of decency right now would do everyone a lot of good," Guaino added. "To try to blame the state is the height of indecency. This monster killed in cold blood. French society owes him absolutely nothing.”
According to FRANCE 24, Merah left his family when Mohamed was 6 years old. His other son, Abdelkader, was placed under investigation for suspected complicity in the killing spree.
Mohamed's half-brother in Algeria, Rachid Merah, said his brother did not have any ties to al-Qaida, the BBC reported.
"I deny that formally, and I have doubts that he had any link with al-Qaida or Taliban or any terrorist organization in the world. And the fact that proves it is that France killed him before he could speak in a trial, while they could get him alive," Rachid Merah said.
Algerian authorities have not formally granted the Merah family's request to bury Mohamed in Algeria.
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Leave a Comment:
Deport the Muslim back to his country. Maybe he will garner some sympathy there.
If the Fench allow this lawsuit, I will have to change my opinion that the American judicial system is the goofiest in the world.
What?!!! I want to sue this turd for raising a piece of crap. The gall of some people...May he have boils the size of grapefruits on his eyes forever.
Another ignorant muslim scum...throw this imbecile out of the country, along with all of the rest of the low life cowardly, ignorant muslims. Give French back to the French!
TobyLil,
No, even worse. The father abandoned his family when the shooter was 6, that's 17 years ago.
Why would we want to put to sleep a child killer hmm you suck as a father.
Typically Islamic mindset... In the face of shame, just play the victim.
He should also sue the families of the shooting victims, as their death was the proximate cause of his beautiful son's murder.
Obviously the shooter was evil and got what he deserved. Obviously the father is either crazy and/or evil, and he probably angling to take advantage a tragedy caused by his son. But it is bothersome to hear some people lump all Muslims together. This is not the typical Islamic mindset in France or in other Western countries certainly. Also, ignorant scum come in all religions and nationalities. We've got plenty of all sorts here in the U.S. also.
Total BS.
How do you say 'frivolous' in French?
At least this guy has the right idea" "This monster killed in cold blood. French society owes him absolutely nothing.” That pretty much sums up how I (and I would hope everyone) feel.
he should be arrested before he goes out to avenge his sons death.... could just be a cycle of murder from the same family. arrest the brother and the mother as well.
oh well, he's with Allah now. ("inch" Allah)
Seriously the son got a good deal for murdering 3 soldiers, 3 kids and a priest. look at the bright side, he won't have to spend the rest of his life in a French prison with angry people. I can understand the grief of a father, but anything else is BS. If my son was to exert that toll, I'd expect the same outcome.
The French government should have called in the Star-ship Enterprise, an have the gunman beamed to the nearest jail or they could have flooded the house with laughing gas and the gunman would have passed out from laughing; or the easiest thing , the gunman could have surrendered as he was asked to do; or finally the police could have stormed the building and killed him ( which they did), end of story !
They could have also asked Pinkie Pie to make him laugh, and Twilight Sparkle could have used the power of friendship to capture him alive.
I'm just amazed that the French didn't surrender to him!
"I'm just amazed that the French didn't surrender to him!"
In fact, you have a common point with that thug : both are idiots.
Deport this ungrateful father.
According to FRANCE 24, Merah left his family when Mohamed was 6 years old. His other son, Abdelkader, was placed under investigation for suspected complicity in the killing spree.
So this guy walked out from Mohamed's life, but now he suddenly cares about him? Give me a break. This is a frivolous lawsuit for the father to make some money.
I hope the Jews sue this worthless tool of a father for multiple counts of wrongful death.
Wow, sure sounds "western" to me. Just shut it. Your freaky kid didnt deserve any breaks. He murdered kids. F him
And yet again, a ridiculous lawsuit. This son got EXACTLY what he deserved and honestly if that father sues France then the families of the victims should sue the father for not raising the son correctly and walking out on him. It sounds just as stupid as the father suing because the French officials didn't save a murderer, only I would stand behind the families of those slain.
Let his father sue from the end of a rope where his murdering son should have been!
Remember the Karate Kid Movie? "No such thing bad student, only bad teacher: teacher say, student do." - Just WHO does this father think he is fooling? Nobody but himself. What an idiot! It's precisely because of irresponsible parents like this that their offspring commit atrocities. Perhaps the father should suffer the same fate as his son??
they should just ignore this bastard and move on, enough innocent blood was shed for no reason
This only demonstrates the insanity of these Muslims, and the depth of their insensitivity toward others.
Please crawl back under your rock- your statement shows your hatred of anyone else except people that look, think, and act like you. How dare you lump all Muslims together because of one man's insanity. "letusreason" is something YOU have never done- would you be up here spouting this garbage the next time some christian pulls something this? And before you even dare to say Christians do things like this, look at the Sunday worships roles in the prisons- you'll see alot of "good" Christians doing time, you moron!
Let us reason 4 votes Jeff zero votes. Jeff Crawl out from under your rock. Survival instinct is basic. You don't seem to have it. Islam wants the whole planet to have one master. Is that what you want too?
If the old man is prepared to sue, he should be prepared to get sued in return. I'm sure the victims won't take too kindly to the thought. Sure, the police could have used sleeping gas, but then the joe could have just given up and surrendered. The fact that he chose to die rather than be caught speaks volumes. The police had to make a choice between protecting the public and respecting a suspects rights. When that suspect is armed and dangerous, then the rules of engagement are quite clear.
And on a little side note...knockout gas can be lethal too. The Russians used it to flush out Chechnyan terrorists in a schoolhouse. Some innocents died from asphyxiation in the incident. Just saying that when there is a hostage crisis, there is always the risk innocents will die. In this case, it was only the suspect.
You are thinking of the infamous 2002 Moscow Theater hostage episode, but the point is quite valid; it is impossible to titrate the amount of anesthetic gas delivered in a building to achieve the desired effect.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moscow_theater_hostage_crisis
I wonder--did u think that the crazy, unstable, possibly delusional, 23 yr old could've been lying to cover someone else's tracks and gain stardom in radical ranks? Perhaps it would've been better to capture him alive to get to the real brains or group behind the shootings? Maybe that old, angry 'eye for an eye' thinking just serves to confirm the conviction of the Muslim terrorists of the righteousness and legality of their war against the Christan/Jewish West/Israel? Will people's lust for blood and violence ever be satisfied? Why aren't Western people as upset when Arab/Muslim children die in Palestine, Iraq, or Afghanistan at the hands of the West? Who cries for them?
I'm pretty sure they tried everything to get him to surrender. He came out shooting, it's a shame that he didn't surrender, he flatly refused. They were very patient with him trying to get him surrender so nobody else would get shot. His own mother refused to speak to him, saying only that he wouldn't listen to her.
F@ck him.
The foreign minister is right. The father of this monster should be offering a public apology for what his son did if he has anything to say at all. There was no reason to treat this terrorist any differently than any other armed and dangerous person.
Come on! It's not even April 1st yet.
Eh, @!$%# him if he can't take a joke...
This is nothing more than a money grab- this guy should be sued by his son's victims. Personal, If I was France, I'd send him the bill for the police/swat/etc to take his raving dog down. BUT- really- blame all Muslims, you racist REALLY need to get a grip! Sooo and every time some POS redneck good ole boy does some dumb @!$%#, I should blame all Born-again's? By the postings here it would seem to be....Tim McVeigh comes to mind, or have you all forgotten that POS.....white, home grown
You sound like you really hate white people and Christians. And you think people who don't like Islam are bad. Do you see the hypocrisy there?
Muslims think France is stuck on stupid like America. This is coming to your town America and this will be your children with a bullet hole in the head. The whole world can clearly see that Muslims come to rob, kill and destroy. Clearly, their worldly purpose is fertilizer. Take a long rope and hang both for all the world to see!
This father needs to sue the victim's families whose deaths put his son in all this trouble in the first place. Adding insult to injury is so wrong.
Article: "Mohamed Merah, a 23-year-old Frenchman of Algerian origin,"
Whatever this guy was, it wasn't a Frenchman. He may have been a citizen of France, but he wasn't a Frenchman.
That's chutzpah. The news generally reported that he charged out of the house with weapons. Anyone who expected him to walk out alive was probably wrong.
Though I wonder why they didn't just flashbang him and grab him...'cause flashbangs would have done the trick. The Russians tried sleeping gases but with lethal results because they didn't inform the hospitals just what was in the gas they used!
ROFL you're kidding me right??????
I'm sure the ACLU will find a way to support this law suit.
And I'm sure that this guy and his father are both Palestinian heros right now.
deport the family... they are ungrateful, and are trying to take advantage of the system.
he was a killer and armed, so deadly force is allowed. his son killed enough people and what about their rights? especially children... so who cares about this murderer or his family?
nobody