Brahim Aouissaoui, the 25-year-old Tunisian national responsible for the brutal stabbing attack that killed three people in a cathedral in Nice, France, on October 29, 2020, has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Aouissaoui was convicted on Wednesday for the horrific attack, which targeted worshippers at the Basilica of Notre-Dame of the Assumption in the heart of Nice.

Aouissaoui had entered Europe just weeks before the killings, arriving illegally via Italy after traveling from Tunisia. Just one day before the attack, he sent a selfie to friends back home in Tunisia, proudly displaying the new clothes he had purchased with money earned working illegally in Europe. The chilling image was taken at a store in France.

On the morning of the attack, Aouissaoui entered the cathedral armed with two knives, a copy of the Koran, and two mobile phones. His victims were Nadine Devillers, a 60-year-old woman who was nearly decapitated; Simone Barreto Silva, a 44-year-old Franco-Brazilian mother of three; and 55-year-old Vincent Loques, a father of two.

Prosecutors described the murders as brutal, with all victims being repeatedly stabbed by Aouissaoui. Silva, though gravely injured, managed to escape the church but died shortly after at a nearby burger bar, her final words to paramedics being, “Tell my children that I love them.”

During the trial, Aouissaoui claimed that he attacked the victims in retaliation for “the West killing innocent Muslims,” although he could not remember the details of the attack. His actions were driven by a “Jihadi ideology,” according to prosecutors, who presented evidence of his radicalization.

Aouissaoui was apprehended after being shot by police at the scene, and he has been in custody since. His conviction carries the harshest penalty possible under French law—life in prison with no possibility of parole, which typically means a minimum of 30 years in solitary confinement.

This attack follows a disturbing pattern of terrorist violence in France in recent years, including the 2015 Paris attacks, the Charlie Hebdo massacre, and the killing of an 86-year-old priest in Normandy in 2016.

The Nice attack, occurring just weeks before, was part of a wider series of terrorist incidents involving both homegrown extremists and immigrants radicalized by groups like ISIS. It also followed the fatal beheading of teacher Samuel Paty in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine earlier in 2020.

Aouissaoui’s case echoes that of Salah Abdeslam, the last person convicted for similar terrorist acts, including the 2015 Paris attacks. His life sentence represents France’s continued efforts to hold individuals accountable for such acts of violence driven by extremism.

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