France honors offifficer killed in Champs-Elysees attack

PARIS — France’s top officials and presidential candidates attended a national ceremony Tuesday to honor the police offifficer killed by an Islamic extremist on the Champs- Elysees.

Far-right candidate Marine Le Pen and centrist Emmanuel Macron, who are facing offff in the May 7 presidential runoffffffffffff, were present at the ceremony at Paris police headquarters. Others present were Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo and former president Nicolas Sarkozy.

President Francois Hol- lande paid tribute to 37-yearold Xavier Jugele, who was killed last week when an assailant opened fifire with an assault riflfle on a police van parked on the most famous avenue in the French capital. Two other offifficers were wounded.

The attacker was shot and killed by offifficers. The Islamic State group quickly claimed responsibility for the attack.

Hollande said the French people must “support the police. They deserve our esteem, our solidarity, our admiration.”

In a message to the presidential candidates, Hollande also asked France’s future government to “provide the necessary budget resources to recruit the indispensable people to protect our citizens and give them means to act even more effifficiently.”

Jugele was one of the offifficers who raced to the Bataclan concert hall the night three armed men with suicide bombs stormed a show and slaughtered 90 people on Nov. 13, 2015.

He returned to the concert venue a year later as a spectator when it reopened with a concert by Sting. Jugele told People magazine at the time how happy he was to be here “to celebrate life. To say no to terrorists.”