SACRAMENTO, CA—Three California men have been granted French citizenship for their role in thwarting a terror attack on a French train in 2015.
Spencer Stone, Alek Skarlatos and Anthony Sadler were naturalized Jan. 31 at a ceremony in Sacramento. They were honored by Emmanuel Lebrun-Damiens, consul general of France in San Francisco, and Guy Michelier, honorary consul of France in Sacramento.
Two military veterans and their friend who helped prevent a 2015 terrorist attack on a train in France were honored Thursday with a naturalization ceremony, celebrating the French citizenship they received a few months ago. https://t.co/oCIMYfrtVg
— Stars and Stripes (@starsandstripes) February 1, 2019
The three men were traveling from Amsterdam to Paris during a trip in Europe when they helped subdue a man who opened fire inside the train. Authorities say attacker, Ayoub El-Khazzani, had ties to radical Islam.
#AmericanNews #GoodNews: #AmericanHeroes who #tackled a #jihadist #gunman on a #ParisTrain have been #granted #FrenchCitizenship for thwarting #TerrorAttack https://t.co/APM97kvfP6
— Clone Bizarro ???????????? (@BizarroClone) February 2, 2019
Skarlatos is a former member of the Oregon National Guard, and Stone is a former Airman 1st Class in the United States Airforce.
— Ethan Wilson (@ethanbwilson) February 1, 2019
All three men are from the Sacramento area.
French Citizenship offered to Malian Immigrant Who Scaled Building to Save Child
France on May 28, 2018, offered citizenship to an illegal immigrant from Mali who scaled the facade of a Paris apartment block to save a boy who was about to fall from a fourth-floor balcony, President Emmanuel Macron said.
Mamoudou Gassama, 22, risked his life on May 27, 2018, as he climbed up the balconies to rescue the four-year-old who is clinging to a railing and glancing at the ground below, while horrified onlookers watched.
Mamoudou Gassama became a national hero in France last year after scaling an apartment block to save a child. Here’s what the ‘Spider-Man’ of Paris did next: https://t.co/cnsd7hVqrk pic.twitter.com/PETWoKYr0v
— Financial Times (@FinancialTimes) January 25, 2019
“I did it because it was a child,” French newspaper Le Parisien quoted Gassama as saying. “I climbed …. Thank God I saved him.”
Macron congratulated Gassama for “an exceptional act” and said France would give him a job in the emergency services.
“We’ll obviously be setting all your papers straight and if you wish it, we will start the process of naturalization so that you can become French,” he added.
Ministers said the citizenship process would be sped up, although Gassama can’t legally be granted it right away.
Gassama told Macron he tried to cross the Mediterranean in March 2014 to reach Italy, but was caught by police.
This week’s lunch with the FT is a special one. It’s not with a business leader, millionaire or politician. It’s the story of what happened next to Mamoudou Gassama, an immigrant who became a hero in France after scaling a Paris building to save a child https://t.co/oFpkwSx9Uv
— Life & Arts (@FTLifeArts) January 27, 2019
Adam Thiam, a Malian analyst and former presidential advisor told Reuters that Gassama’s act had been praised in his home country.
“There is great pride here in Mali,” Thiam said.
Gassama told Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo by phone on Sunday he arrived from Mali a few months ago and wished to stay in France.
“I replied that his heroic gesture was an example for all citizens and that the City of Paris will obviously be keen to support him in his efforts to settle in France,” Hidalgo said.
The boy’s father was arrested and told police he had left his son alone to go shopping and returned home later than planned because he was playing Pokemon Go, an enhanced reality game, on his smartphone.
Gassama is being offered a spell of community service work at the Paris emergency services. An official website says the work pays about 480 euros ($558) a month for a fixed 11-month period.
Reuters contributed to this report.