Paris Olympics 2024: Unprecedented Security Measures for Opening Ceremony

Snipers, divers and AI: securing the Paris Olympics opening ceremony

Paris (AFP) - On the water, perched on rooftops and operating AI-augmented cameras, French security forces will lock down central Paris during the opening ceremony of the Olympics on Friday aiming to prevent an incident that would ruin the biggest show on earth. The figures tell only part of the story of the colossal effort made to protect the river parade along the Seine, the first time a Summer Olympics has started outside a stadium. About 45,000 police and paramilitary officers will be on duty, along with 10,000 soldiers and 20,000 private security guards. The total area that needs securing measures more than six kilometres (four miles) along the Seine and will contain around 300,000 ticketed spectators, as well as hundreds of thousands of other residents and tourists in overlooking buildings. A no-fly zone 150 kilometres wide around Paris will be enforced an hour before the ceremony starts at 7:30 pm (1730 GMT), grounding or diverting all aviation at one of Europe's busiest airport hubs. "This opening ceremony is the most extraordinary thing a country can do," Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin told BFM television on Wednesday, adding: "As you know, in the current context of geopolitics and terrorism, it's an enormous challenge." The amount of specialised equipment and personnel illustrates the difficulty of securing such a risky environment -- an open-air site with fast-flowing water, overlooked by hundreds of buildings. All at a time when France is on its maximum alert for terror attacks. "Security of 100 percent does not exist," Frederic Pechenard, a former head of the French police force, told AFP. "The bigger and more difficult and complex a site is, the higher the risks are." - Fortress - Police snipers are set to be positioned on every high point along the route, scanning for potential shooters. An assassination attempt on US presidential candidate Donald Trump on July 14 helped focus minds. Navy boats with divers and sonar have been scanning the depths of the water for explosives or infiltration attempts, while all of the 85 boats in the parade and others moored along the route have been screened by sniffer dogs and bomb disposal experts. River traffic will be stopped in both directions, with barriers installed and nets that can be dropped to the bottom of the waterway if necessary. The Seine concept for the opening ceremony was at first resisted by some senior security officials and described by renowned French criminologist Alain Bauer as "criminal madness" in 2022. The initial plans -- of having up to a million spectators by the river -- have though since been scaled back. "The risks have not changed and have become worse because of the war in Ukraine, the situation in Israel and Gaza as well as social, environmental and political tensions in France," Bauer told AFP. "It's a beautiful idea but it has a cost and considerable consequences." Since last week, central Paris has been turned into a fortress, with metal barriers sealing off both banks of the Seine. Only residents and people with hotel bookings are allowed into the high-security area. The French army is set to be in charge of anti-drone operations, using the country's most sophisticated electronic warfare technology. "Drones are now a real risk and that's why measures have been taken," said Jean-Michel Fauvergue, former head of the police commando unit RAID. Drones operated by security forces will also be a key tool to monitor suspicious activity, while AI-augmented cameras -- new technology being deployed controversially in France for the first time -- will scan the crowds. - Tensions - France has been a frequent target of Islamist terror groups over the last decade, with attacks on the Charlie Hebdo magazine, the Bataclan concert hall and the national stadium, which will used for athletics during the Games. An offshoot of the Islamic State group in Afghanistan was said by President Emmanuel Macron to be planning attacks against France in March and IS-affiliated social media accounts have issued regular threats. Four suspects believed to be plotting attacks against the Games have been arrested, Darmanin said on Wednesday. The international context, particularly the war in Gaza, have heightened fears. "If you look at the history of Islamist terror attacks, you see that every time there is tension, a foreign war, then there are consequences in our country," Pechenard, the former head of police, said. Fauvergue said French forces could be counted on and recalled being head of the police commando unit during the Euro 2016 football tournament, hosted by France, as the continent faced a series of suicide bombings. "The threat was high but the Euros were maintained and we didn't have an attack," he said.

Paris Olympics Games Security Will Be 'Biggest Challenge' Ever

"Games Wide Open," billboards, posters and officials across Paris proudly declare, as the city gears up to host this month's Olympics. The Games' website promises a sporting celebration "more responsible, more inclusive, more equal and more spectacular than ever before." But the warmth of this installment of the quadrennial carnival will be ringed with steel. France's security services are embarking on an enormous operation to try and prevent disaster, while their U.S. counterparts have reportedly spent years preparing to protect American athletes competing in Paris. To guard the Games, some 30,000 police officers -- most armed with at least handguns -- will be deployed every day, with 45,000 to guard the opening ceremony on the Seine River. Another 25,000 private security guards will also be working daily. Behind them, some 18,000 soldiers -- well used to operating in French cities given the country's recent struggles with Islamist terrorism -- will support the operation. Among them will be members of the famed Foreign Legion. "Since the end of the Second World War, there has never been such a massive mobilization of military forces on French soil," General Christophe Abad -- who leads military operations in Paris -- declared. France's Interior Ministry has undertaken a huge vetting program of around one million people slated for involvement, from the army of volunteers to the Olympic flame bearers and private security officers. More than 1,000 have already been excluded over security concerns. Meanwhile, French lawmakers have been pushing a massive expansion of its surveillance powers to handle the millions of people expected to flood into Paris for the Games. Among the plans are an increase in the use of AI-powered facial recognition CCTV, proposals that have prompted concerns among privacy campaigners. "The French police, the gendarmes, the prefects, the intelligence services, will be ready," Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said in March. "We have an extremely effective intelligence system. We prevent attacks from taking place almost every month." Guillaume Farde, a professor at the Institute of Political Studies and a specialist in security issues, told Newsweek the Summer Games pose an unprecedented challenge for the Interior Ministry. "It is particularly complex because of its scale -- 10 million visitors expected over the period­; its media coverage -- 1.5 billion television viewers for the opening ceremony alone; and the number of people attending, especially on the day of the opening ceremony with over 130 heads of state and government. "Add to that a very high terrorist threat and an equally high social risk, and you can see why this is the biggest challenge in the history of the ministry." A State Department Diplomatic Security Service official said the coming Games pose an "immense challenge" to U.S. efforts as well, adding: "This is the first Olympics to be held in a country with open borders, and one of the biggest concerns is the large number of people that are going to be coming into the country, so law enforcement and security officials are going to be looking at everything." A Security Mélange French authorities are already on edge following fractious national elections that have left the country facing a hung parliament and the risk of demonstrations as far-right and far-left actors fight for power. Meanwhile, a myriad of state, non-state, criminal, direct, hybrid and cyber threats loom large over the Parisian showcase. "We are concerned about the threat of terrorism, especially Islamic terrorism, but also the low-intensity threat from radicalized environmentalists, left-wing extremists and the pro-Palestinian movement," city police chief Laurent Nunez said at a news conference in late June. Palestinian militancy has left an indelible mark on the Olympics' collective history, the horrors of the 1972 Munich massacre of Israeli athletes seared into memories worldwide. The ongoing resurgence of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has enraged many Europeans -- especially Muslims -- and prompted fierce anti-Israel protests in major cities, including Paris, as well as efforts to have Israel barred from the 2024 Olympics. France has embarked on a broad crackdown on Palestinian solidarity movements, and polls suggest most citizens still support Israel in its war on Hamas. But activist groups can be expected to use the event as a platform to again demand more stringent international action against an Israeli government they accuse of conducting a genocide in Gaza. French Muslims -- who make up around 10 percent of the population, a relatively high share compared with just over 1 percent in the U.S., and around 6 percent in both the U.K. and Germany -- overwhelmingly support Palestinian sovereignty, with a significant minority even expressing sympathy for Hamas. An Olympic report by the cybersecurity firm Recorded Future's Insikt Group warned that attacks on Israelis or Americans related to the war on Gaza are "very unlikely but within the realm of possibility." Organizations linked to Iran -- including the Lebanese Hezbollah group, Palestinian militant factions or others with ties to the Tehran-led "Axis of Resistance" -- will "likely view the Paris Olympics as an attractive venue," the report added. Newsweek has contacted the Olympic Committee of Israel by email to request comment. State actors -- primarily Russia -- may also pose a threat. "It will be a risk," French President Emmanuel Macron said of malicious activities directed by Moscow. "That's why we have to stand firm." The danger appears real. In June, a Russian-Ukrainian man was arrested after injuring himself while making explosives in a hotel room close to Charles de Gaulle Airport, just outside the capital. It is now believed the man intended to attack a hardware store north of Paris as part of an apparent Europe-wide sabotage campaign directed from Moscow. The long-standing menace of Islamist terrorism remains. In late April, French counterterrorism authorities arrested a 16-year-old from the Alpine town of Marignier after he declared on social media that he intended to build an explosive belt and conduct a suicide bomb attack at an Olympic venue. The following month, an 18-year-old Islamic State sympathizer was arrested and accused of planning an attack at the Geoffroy-Guichard Stadium in the city of Saint-Etienne. A social media account linked to the organization posted an appeal to its supporters to target the Games. One also cannot discount a surge in domestic unrest. Some unions have already announced their intention to stage strikes, while Macron's time in power has seen the Élysée Palace face down several mass street protest movements like the populist yellow vest protests and the demonstrations against the proposed raising of the retirement age. In both instances, police arrested several hundred protesters. Demonstrations saw major cities including Paris grind to a halt, barricades and burning tires precipitating furious, head-on clashes between activists and security services. "The protest threat is posed by environmental and anti-capitalist activists," Farde explained. "They are more of a nuisance than a real threat, but we have to take them into account. Crime in Paris will be amplified by the massive influx of tourists in terms of theft, fraud and procuring." "Terrorism is by far the worst-case scenario," Farde added. "Firstly, because people are [at] an inherently exposed event, and secondly because France has been a threatened country since 2012. Organizing a threatened event in a threatened country piles on the risks." Still, Farde expressed confidence. "There is no threat for which the [Interior Ministry] is not prepared," he said. "They have been preparing for seven years. Even in the case of drones or cyberattacks -- which are more modus operandi than threats as such -- the ministry knows all about them." "If we had to look more for unpredictability than unpreparedness, I would say that the extent of Russian sabotage, beyond cyberattacks, is difficult to quantify. I would also say that the risk of public order disturbances after the legislative elections in France is difficult to quantify. In any case, the ministry is preparing." ISIS Relaunch The stakes are enormous. The devastating attack on a Russian music venue near Moscow claimed by Islamic State Khorasan Province -- an offshoot of Islamic State active in Afghanistan and Pakistan, with a growing international footprint -- in March showed the damage that a small number of well-organized attackers can still do. The operation evoked Parisian memories of the ISIS November 2015 citywide rampage that killed 130 people in the French capital, including at Bataclan concert hall. "We see the ISIS network sort of resettling after a period of disquiet," National Counterterrorism Center Director Christine Abizaid said during a security forum in May in Qatar. French authorities are urging calm while preparing for the worst. "There is still no clear-cut threat to the Games or to our country," police chief Nunez said. The return to prominence of ISIS and its affiliates is "a general concern across Europe," Antonio Giustozzi -- the Royal United Services Institute think tank's senior research fellow for terrorism and conflict -- told Newsweek. Familiar Islamist-inspired efforts appear more likely to target the Games than pro-Palestinian actions or Russian sabotage, he suggested. Destabilizing Western societies and governments is a prime goal for the Kremlin, but President Vladimir Putin and his allies generally prefer to do so using disinformation, local political allies and targeted assassinations. Indeed, Americans have already been targeted by a faked video purporting to be a CIA warning to U.S. visitors not to travel on Paris' metro system due to the "high risk" of an attack there. And in June, Microsoft uncovered a disinformation network that used AI to create a fake Netflix feature-length film with Tom Cruise, part of what the corporation called an effort "to sow disinformation and make it appear as though there is a likelihood of violence during the Games." ISIS, similar groups and their sympathizers, then, appear the most likely perpetrators of such violence. "The evidence is that the Islamic State in particular is trying to relaunch its brand and has been trying to start a large terrorist campaign for some time," Giustozzi said. Though the group "has not been terribly successful," the Crocus City Hall attack was a reminder of what can be achieved. "The evidence is overwhelming that they are trying to send people to Europe," he added. The group's European infrastructure, however, has been much diminished over the past decade. "I don't think they have the capabilities to organize a professional terrorist attack" in Paris, Giustozzi said. Still, the potential for less sophisticated operations remains, and so-called lone wolf attackers -- sympathizers without any direct operational link to the groups they claim to represent -- are a persistent threat. For such individuals, accessible weapons like knives, hammers, cars and trucks have previously proven sufficient, including in France. The devastating truck attack in Nice in 2016, for example, killed 86 people. But for ISIS to reinvigorate its diminished brand and revitalize its fundraising efforts, "they need something more than a few stabbings, or one guy in a van running over a few people," Giustozzi said. "They need something like Crocus Hall; something big that resonates and stays in the media for several days." "It's not going to be easy," he added. "It's more likely that there could be some lone-wolf episodes." Even a small attack could be devastating to the event's political narrative and commercial success. The cost of the entire games may yet top $10.7 billion. The Organising Committee for the Olympic Games and Olympic Delivery Authority are organizing the event with funding from private sources, sponsors, ticket sales and the International Olympic Committee. The French government has so far given some $2.6 billion of its own money, though the head of the government's Court of Accounts has warned that the final total could be as high as $5.5 billion. Pivoting to Plan B The Paris games will kick off with what organizers are calling a "revolutionary" opening ceremony, with athletes being ferried down the Seine River past some of Paris' most famous landmarks. But a scaling down of that plan speaks to the significant security concerns. The original ceremony envisaged 600,000 spectators, but in March authorities cut the number to 104,000 paying spectators along the waterfront with another 222,000 watching for free from bridges and streets, by invite only. "To manage crowd movement, we can't tell everyone to come," Interior Minister Darmanin said. "For security reasons that everyone understands, notably the terrorist threat of recent weeks, we are obliged to make it free but contained." Anti-drone systems, snipers, barricades, security boats and other secret measures will secure the route. Airspace in a 93-mile radius around Paris -- including all major Paris airports -- will be closed off by French authorities during the ceremony. "Plan B has become Plan A," Darmanin told French senators in May when explaining the amended ceremony. "It was either this or no opening ceremony," he said, noting particular concerns over the danger of drones loaded with explosives, which in recent years have become popular on battlefields worldwide. For the first time ever, France's three tactical police forces -- BRI, RAID and GIGN -- will coordinate during the ceremony. Military commander Abad promised "a bubble on the ground, in the air and in the water." The United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee has been working to bolster its own safety as it prepares to bid for top spot on the medals table. USOPC Chief Executive Sarah Hirshland said in December that authorities are "extraordinarily conscious" of the dangers posed by the global climate. "We are in very close contact with French officials," she added. "We have confidence...that the plans are in place that need to be in place." The USOPC's security will again be coordinated by the State Department's Diplomatic Security Service, with the department committing to a "safe and secure environment for our Team USA athletes." The State Department's Overseas Security Advisory Council and the U.S. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency have also been drafted. OSAC preparations include a dedicated WhatsApp group, in-person meetings, security assessments and daily reports, The Daily Beast reported in April, citing an internal bulletin and unnamed officials with knowledge of the plans. The effort will be supported by the National Counterterrorism Center, it said. Past Games have seen CIA and FBI agents drafted in to assist with security preparations. A State Department DSS official told Newsweek it has "full confidence in the French planning," describing its collaboration with French authorities as "robust" and noting that the service begins planning for such events "two or more years in advance." Two DSS special agents have been on the ground in Paris since 2022 to prepare for the Games, and the service chairs a group which brings together experts from more than 20 U.S. agencies. DSS special agents and analysts are also staffing a joint operations center at the U.S. Embassy in Paris, "a 24/7 operation that will assist with security efforts." The official added: "Under our consular system there is a duty to notify the U.S. public, so we would certainly put out messaging if there were identified, specific or credible threats against the Games." The Pentagon appears somewhat concerned. In early July, the Department of Defense increased protection measures at bases throughout Europe, raising the threat level to Charlie -- the second highest level -- due to a "variety of factors" that could influence "the safety of U.S. military community abroad." Charlie is activated "when an incident occurs or intelligence is received indicating that some form of terrorist action or targeting against personnel or facilities is likely." American assistance will be key to success, Farde said. "Intelligence is first and foremost an exchange between partner services. As a result, their support is absolutely essential in helping to detect potential threats." France's Fifth Republic stands at a fork in the road. The ubiquitous strides of globalization, economic strain and detached governance have undermined the national sense of "egalité," while 15 years of terrorist atrocities have sapped its "fraternité." A scarred nation is now seemingly split between the far-left and far-right. Increasingly extreme politics may mean more perceived "liberté" for some but will almost certainly mean less for many. The Olympic Games can prove a salve for a fraught nation, an explosion of positivity and inclusiveness softening even the most hardened cynics. But the Olympics can also prove a uniquely vulnerable moment, or -- as proved by London in 2012 -- a colorful flourish preceding hardship and political turbulence. Farde said it is "very difficult" to gauge the current French mood. "The country is more fractured than ever, xenophobic rhetoric is on the loose and the excesses of a left-wing that looks askance at Islamism in certain neighborhoods only exacerbates this vicious circle. "Against such a backdrop, could France once again overcome a wave of attacks? I'm not sure. "The fight against terrorism requires a great deal of humility. Generally speaking, those who shout loudly and promise you zero risk are the first to get carried away. No system is infallible. It never is."