What the Paris shooting could mean for the French presidential election

Will the violence on the Champs-Elysées push French voters to the far right?

Masked gunman guard the Champs Elysees Avenue after a gunman opened fire.
(Image credit: REUTERS/Christian Hartmann)

Yesterday, on the Champs-Elysées in Paris, a man opened fire on police with an automatic weapon, killing one officer and injuring two others. ISIS claimed responsibility. Because the attack occurred in one of the most iconic tourist destinations in the world, the news reverberated quickly. And because it happened during the week before the first round of the French presidential election — the events unfolded as the candidates were attending a TV debate — it means that terrorism has suddenly become an issue in the home stretch of the campaign, like a summer storm breaking in a clear blue sky.

Since November 2015, France has suffered a string of terror attacks: the Paris attacks at the Bataclan; the Nice truck attack; the murder of the Catholic priest Jacques Hamel in Normandy.

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Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry

Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry is a writer and fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. His writing has appeared at Forbes, The Atlantic, First Things, Commentary Magazine, The Daily Beast, The Federalist, Quartz, and other places. He lives in Paris with his beloved wife and daughter.