(AP Photo, File)PARIS – A French court on Thursday convicted an Islamic State operative over a train attack five years ago that was foiled with the dramatic intervention of three American passengers. The special terrorism court sentenced Morocco-born Ayoub El Khazzani to life in prison, with 22 years guaranteed behind bars. The train attack was allegedly organized by Abdelhamid Abaaoud, portrayed as the coordinator of the November 2015 attacks in Paris. He told the court that Abaaoud concocted the plan for the train attack and he followed it to the letter — until he changed his mind. The court convicted Bilal Chatra and Mohamed Bakkali of complicity and sentenced them to prison terms of 27 years and 25 years, respectively.

Passengers who wrestled and disarmed an Islamic State gunman aboard a high-speed Amsterdam to Paris train are recounting how their split-second decisions helped prevent what could have become a mass slaughter. The attack suspect, Ayoub El Khazzani, faces a maximum sentence of life in prison if he is convicted of attempted terrorist murder. With the attacker under control, the train rerouted to Arras, in northern France, where El Khazzani was arrested. Authorities say El Khazzani boarded the train in Brussels armed with the Kalashnikov, nine clips with 30 rounds each, an automatic pistol and a cutter. Once aboard the train, El Khazzani lingered in a restroom between cars, where two other passengers confronted him, and then emerged bare-chested with his weapons.

Islamic State operative Ayoub El Khazzani goes on trial Monday Nov. 16, 2020, in France on terror charges for appearing on a train with an arsenal of weapons and shooting one passenger in 2015. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)PARIS – The lawyer for an American who was scheduled to testify about his role in the dramatic capture of an Islamic State operative aboard a high-speed train, averting a possible mass slaughter, said Thursday that his witness has been hospitalized, casting doubt on his appearance at the alleged attacker's trial in Paris. The attorney, Thibault de Montbrial, wouldn't give details about what is ailing Spencer Stone, citing medical privacy. He confirmed that Stone was hospitalized after he flew into the French capital to testify. Stone, then a 23-year-old U.S. airman, was among passengers who helped subdue gunman Ayoub El Khazzani aboard the Amsterdam to Paris train in 2015.

The heavily-armed and bare-chested El Khazzani wounded a French-American who managed to briefly yank a Kalashnikov from his hands before the three vacationing Americans took him down. Their probe showed that Abaaoud and El Khazzani traveled together from Syria to Belgium and holed up with Chatra in a Brussels apartment. The alleged train attack plot went awry when passengers moved in on El Khazzani. Once aboard the train, El Khazzani lingered in a restroom between cars and emerged bare-chested with the Kalashnikov. He jumped in after a French banker, who has asked to remain anonymous, wrestled unsuccessfully with El Khazzani.

This summer, the worst wildfires on record burned in Oregon, with climate change and overgrown forests worsening fire conditions. A possible factor in Skarlatos' favor: Thousands of students at the University of Oregon and Oregon State University, who would normally vote in those towns, are learning remotely amid the coronavirus pandemic. His name recognition went only so far, said Christopher McKnight Nichols, associate professor of history at Oregon State University. Of his campaign war chest, over 60% comes from out of state, DeFazio said during their debate. Several GOP state lawmakers display the group's regalia in their Capitol offices.