SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Three California men have been granted French citizenship for their role in thwarting a terror attack on a French train in 2015.
Alek Skarlatos, Spencer Stone and Anthony Sadler were naturalized Thursday at a ceremony in Sacramento. They were honored by Emmanuel Lebrun-Damiens, consul general of France in San Francisco, and Guy Michelier, honorary consul of France in Sacramento.
The three men were traveling from Amsterdam to Paris during a trip in Europe when they helped subdue a man who opened fire inside the train. Authorities say attacker, Ayoub El-Khazzani, had ties to radical Islam.
Skarlatos is a former member of the Oregon National Guard, and Stone is a former Airman 1st Class in the United States Airforce.
All three men are from the Sacramento area.
French Consul General Emmanuel Lebrun-Damiens, left, honors Spencer Stone, Anthony Sadler, and Alek Skarlatos during a French Naturalization Ceremony in Sacramento, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 31, 2019. The three men were heralded as heroes when they subdued an armed terrorist on a train in France in 2015. Today they were granted French citizenship. (AP Photo/Randall Benton)Spencer Stone, left, shows off his French Legion of Honor medal to his grandmother Dorothy Eskel following a French Naturalization Ceremony for Stone and his two friends Anthony Sadler and Alek Skarlatos in Sacramento, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 31, 2019. The three men were heralded as heroes when they subdued an armed terrorist on a train in France in 2015. Today they were granted French citizenship. (AP Photo/Randall Benton)Spencer Stone, left holding the camera, photographs himself and French Conseillere Consulaire Sophie Lartilleux-Suberville, Anthony Sadler, and Alek Skarlatos following a French Naturalization Ceremony in Sacramento, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 31, 2019. The three men were heralded as heroes when they subdued an armed terrorist on a train in France in 2015. Today they were granted French citizenship. (AP Photo/Randall Benton)French Consul General Emmanuel Lebrun-Damiens, left, congratulates Spencer Stone, Anthony Sadler, and Alek Skarlatos during a French Naturalization Ceremony in Sacramento, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 31, 2019. The three men were heralded as heroes when they subdued an armed terrorist on a train in France in 2015. Today they were granted French citizenship. (AP Photo/Randall Benton)
