Dax. "The bravery of a man in the face of barbarism": the city inaugurates a square named after Arnaud Beltrame

This Tuesday, July 29, 2025, the name of the gendarmerie officer killed in Trèbes in 2018 by a terrorist was given to the Place de la Chalosse

"Place Colonel Arnaud Beltrame - 1973-2018 - Devoted to others and to the Fatherland." In Dax, users of Place de la Chalosse (popular for its large free parking lot and Vitenville shuttle) between Avenue Georges Clemenceau and the designated gendarmerie brigade must now take this new identity into account to find their way around.

It honors the memory of this lieutenant colonel, deputy commanding officer of the Aude gendarmerie company, who gave his life by substituting himself for a hostage on March 23, 2018. He did not survive the injuries inflicted by his attacker during a hand-to-hand fight, while he was trying to subdue him. The murderous escape of Radouane Lakdim, a terrorist claiming to be from the Islamic State, which began in Carcassonne, ended with a new bloodbath in a supermarket in the small town of Trèbes, leaving a total of four dead and many injured, among those who had the misfortune to cross paths with the killer.

Voted unanimously by the Dax City Council on December 5, 2024, this name change took shape on July 29, 2025, during a ceremony attended by a large and collected audience. The Landes Prefect, Gilles Clavreul, the Dax Sub-Prefect, Eric Requet, elected officials, veterans, local residents and, naturally, a large delegation from the neighboring gendarmerie brigade, are present. A portrait at the entrance to the assembly point reminds participants of the face of Arnaud Beltrame.

Many still remember that spring day, as a seemingly uneventful pre-Easter weekend began. This is the case for the mayor of Dax, Julien Dubois, who is visibly affected by this dramatic memory.

"Arnaud Beltrame's decision to take the place of a hostage was outside protocol."

"Arnaud Beltrame committed himself out of ideals, not materialism. He agreed to give his life for his fellow man, also driven by his convictions as a Catholic and a believer," he emphasized in his speech, highlighting "the bravery of a man in the face of barbarity and, beyond that, the heroism of our gendarmes, our police forces, who pay a heavy price every year."

Before "La Marseillaise" and the unveiling of the plaque, the prefect detailed this spiral of violence perpetrated in the name of the Islamic State since 2012 and paid tribute to the victims. "Arnaud Beltrame's decision to take the place of a hostage was beyond protocol. He was a defender, a protector, a hero before whom the head of state would bow five days later at Les Invalides and who would be posthumously elevated to the rank of colonel." And whose sacrifice transcended borders.