A few days ago a culture-enriching celebrity criminal named Rédoine Faïd made a daring escape by helicopter from a high-security prison in France. Mr. Faïd’s CV includes armed robbery, murder, and other traditional criminal activities; it’s not clear at this point whether there have been any instances of deliberate jihad among his escapades.

The following clip is the first part of an interview with Marine Le Pen from the French radio service RTL. In this excerpt Ms. Le Pen, the leader of Rassemblement National (formerly the Front National), discusses the fact that the Justice Ministry had been warned in advance that Rédoine Faïd was up to no good, and needed to be moved from the prison.

Many thanks to Ava Lon for the translation, and to Vlad Tepes for the subtitling:

Below are excerpts from two Breitbart articles about Rédoine Faïd’s escape.

Breitbart #1:

Manhunt After Notorious Inmate Escapes From French Prison By Helicopter | Breitbart PARIS (AP) — France’s justice minister says investigators believe that drones seen months ago buzzing above a prison may be linked to the brazen escape of a notorious French criminal. Justice Minister Nicole Belloubet said authorities are urgently looking for gaps in the security system that would have allowed heavily armed men to land a helicopter in the prison yard and fly away with Redoine Faid, whose brother was visiting him. The helicopter was found torched in a field. French media reported that the three men took the pilot hostage and later freed him. Faid’s brother has been detained.

Breitbart #2:

Helicopter Escape French Criminal Had Team of Loyal Accomplices NANTERRE, France (AP) — French investigators believe a team of four or five loyal accomplices carried out the brazen prison helicopter escape of one of France’s most notorious criminals. The armed, masked men took a helicopter pilot hostage, forced him to land Sunday in Reau Prison’s yard, used power tools to break through the prison yard’s doors and hustled Redoine Faid to freedom. Faid, a serial robber and murder convict, hasn’t been seen since leaving the prison near Paris. French police have launched a massive manhunt for him. Philippe Veroni, deputy director of France’s organized crime police unit, said Tuesday that Faid had clearly planned the prison break carefully and had a band of accomplices willing to risk everything. “This kind of person thinks about nothing except how to escape,” Veroni said. “He thinks about it, he reflects on it. It’s his entire life under incarceration.”… Investigators are also looking into whether Faid had help from inside the prison. “If we didn’t ask, we wouldn’t be doing our jobs,” he said… Nicole Belloubet, France’s justice minister, has come under increasing criticism for the flawed security around Faid. Speaking to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday, she promised a report within two weeks detailing security shortcomings and said she would “accept all the consequences.” A prison guard union member had said the helicopter landed in the only area of Reau Prison that did not have anti-helicopter protections. Months ago, a drone was spotted over the prison, which authorities now think may have been used to scope out an escape route. The 46-year-old Faid was serving 25 years for the 2010 death of a young police officer killed during a botched robbery. In the 1990s, he led a gang involved in robbing banks and armored vans.

Video transcript: