The Wire - May 26, 2025

//The Wire//2300Z May 26, 2025//
//ROUTINE//
//BLUF: FRIDAY'S BLACKOUT IN FRANCE REVEALED TO BE INTENTIONAL ACT OF SABOTAGE. GANG WAR RESULTS IN MASS STABBING AT AUSTRALIAN SHOPPING CENTER. VEHICLE RAMMING ATTACK REPORTED IN LIVERPOOL.//

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-International Events-

France: The electrical blackout that took place near Cannes on Friday has been designated as an act of deliberate sabotage. Transmission lines were cut and an electrical substation was set on fire by activists targeting the Cannes Film Festival.

Australia: A gang dispute resulted in a mass stabbing at Northland Shopping Centre in Melbourne. Local authorities state that two rival gangs planned to meet up at the location to engage in mutual combat, and that the violence was not an instance of random targeting. Nevertheless, many people were wounded in the skirmish, and it remains unclear as to if any genuine bystanders were wounded in the attack.

United Kingdom: This afternoon a vehicle ramming attack was reported in Liverpool as an unidentified man drove his vehicle into a crowd of people on Water Street as they celebrated a sports victory around the city. Concerning the casualties, 47x people have been reported wounded so far, with 27x being hospitalized.

AC: As expected, authorities have not released many details pertaining to this incident. Authorities have stated that one individual, a 53-year-old male, was arrested at the scene. However, authorities notably did *not* state whether or not this individual was the driver of the vehicle. For context of why this distinction matters, immediately after the vehicle came to a stop, bedlam immediately broke out, with football fans attempting to cause violence to the driver (as one might expect). Consequently, police moved in to detain the driver, which in turn resulted in dozens of individuals physically assaulting the police officers attempting to protect the driver. Due to the carefully-worded statements by officials, some have speculated that the man who was arrested was actually one of the football fans engaging in this behavior, and not the driver. In any case, many people were detained at the scene of the incident, though it's unclear as to if any were arrested.

Regarding the motive for the attack, it's not entirely clear. This was not a planned street event, so even though there was a police presence, there was no traffic control and there were no barricades in place. However, video footage of the incident strongly indicates that the driver did aim his vehicle toward (and accelerated into) the densely-packed crowd.

What the truth actually is, only time will tell. There were no explosives or stabbings reported in conjunction with this incident, so it could equally have been a situation of deliberate opportunistic terrorism, a case of road-rage, or some other mental-health crisis.

Europe: The conflict between Russia and Ukraine intensified over the weekend, with both sides engaging in heavy fighting. Russia, having completely erased the effects of Ukraine's Kursk Offensive, has now begun their counteroffensive mostly in the form of missile and drone strikes. Earlier last week, Ukraine stepped-up drone attacks on soft-targets, conducting very large scale drone attacks deep inside Russia.

AC: Due to the challenges of determining who-started-what with this war, the timeline of what has occurred on the eastern front is hard to verify. What is certain is that Ukraine did conduct another large-scale drone offensive targeting Moscow, which resulted in President Putin's helicopter being caught in the fray during the attack. This does not mean that this was explicitly a direct assassination attempt as is being claimed by various Russian sources, but it does mean that the same effect was almost achieved. Either way the stakes keep going up, and the potential for peace continues to dwindle.

-HomeFront-

Louisiana: Over the weekend, an electrical brownout was reported throughout parts of New Orleans. The grid operator, Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) was unable to meet demand and ordered load shedding throughout the area.

AC: Though thankfully in this case the loss of electricity to a major American city during a major holiday weekend was not an act of sabotage, it still does not bode well for the status of the electrical grid at large as the temperatures over the weekend were only in the upper 80's, and reached a high of 90°F. If the grid is struggling now, this could present more challenges when the true heat of summer arrives.

South Carolina: A mass shooting was reported at a cultural event in Myrtle Beach. Following a domestic argument, a small arms skirmish broke out onboard a civilian vessel hosting participants of the Atlantic Beach Black Pearl Cultural Heritage and Bike Festival event, with 11x people being wounded.

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Analyst Comments: Details are sketchy at the moment, however the Myrtle Beach shooting was complicated by an entirely separate shooting that occurred at roughly the same time and place. A police officer at the Harbourgate Marina accidentally shot himself in the leg while attempting to respond to the shooting that was underway two miles up the waterway to the northeast. In the fray it was initially reported that the officer was involved in this skirmish, however this was an entirely separate incident.

More generally, it is surprising that more people weren't killed during this rather infamous event. Known colloquially as "Black Bike Week" or the "Atlantic Beach Bikefest" by event goers and locals alike, this yearly festival/motorcycle event is infamous for bringing violence and murder to Myrtle Beach every single Memorial Day weekend. Normally, participants engage in general debauchery and light vandalism, but there's also usually a sharp rise in small arms engagements whenever the large crowds of participants (which usually number around half a million in total) roll into town.

Analyst: S2A1
Research: https://publish.obsidian.md/s2underground
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