So Marat was a leading proponent of the September massacres (2-7 Sep 1792). While some argue the killing of priests, boys between 12-14 and girls as young as 10 took place out of a fear that foreign and royalist armies would attack Paris, Loomis cites a contemporary reporter showing that most of Paris was unaffected by the apparent military threats. Indeed much of the killing was unknown to most Parisians. Loomis quotes Mercier: "With the Prussians in Champagne you might have supposed that great alarm would have existed in many minds. Not at all. The theaters and restaurants, all of them full, displayed only peaceful newsmongers. All the boastful threats of our enemies, all their murderous hopes, were not listened to. The Parisians believed their city to be unassailable and defense plans were laughed at. It was impossible to make them feel terror of the enemy."