Nice attacker was ‘a salsa-dancing bodybuilder,’ not a jihadi
Gacem said the two had recently had a “heated discussion” about Ramadan, the holiest month of the Muslim calendar. “He told me that he had tried to observe Ramadan but didn’t want to continue because he had recently fallen asleep while driving and caused a car accident,” Gacem said.
.. Taoufik Bouhlel, who heads the Muslim “Association culturelle de Nice,” a few steps away from the home of Lahouaiej Bouhlel’s wife on Boulevard Henri Sappia, said he had never met him nor seen him at Friday prayers. “He never came to the praying room,” Bouhlel said. “His act has nothing to do with religion.”
.. A second senior security source said that investigators found the attacker had posted a “Hezbollah flag” on his Facebook page days before the attacks.
.. Gacem described Lahouaiej Bouhlel as a tall and robust man, who wore flowery shorts and tank tops “because he liked to show off his muscles.”
“I never saw him wearing a jellabah,” Gacem added. He went regularly to “Fitlane,” a nearby fitness club, and to salsa dance clubs.