Seven defendants – including former intelligence agents, soldiers and businessmen – face possible life sentences. Prosecutors allege the group carried out murder, attempted murder, aggravated assault and criminal conspiracy on behalf of a mafia network inside the Athanor lodge in the Paris suburb of Puteaux.

At least four Freemasons from the lodge’s roughly 20 members are among those in the dock. Other defendants include four officers from France’s DGSE foreign intelligence service, three police officers, six executives, a security guard, a doctor and an engineer. Most of the accused, whose ages range from 30 to 73, have no previous criminal record.

Statistically it appears that Freemasons are just as involved as French foreign intelligence and nearly as involved as the police. So this isn’t a story about revealing a crime by Freemasons but a dragnet that found people who work for the French government are about half of a nationwide conspiracy.

Nevermind the government employees who are okay with murder. Look at Freemasons! Whoever cooked up this cover is trying to use Edwardian levels of thinking and history to hide the infiltration of government by terrible people.