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Several thousand people gathered yesterday for a solidarity demonstration in France following the murder of a teacher in an Islamist-motivated terrorist attack, the majority in Paris. In the capital, people clapped for a few minutes on the Place de la Republique at 3pm (CEST). Many held signs that read “Je suis Prof” or “Je suis enseignant” (German: “I am a teacher”). Despite the corona pandemic, the square was packed with people.
The Place de la République in the east of Paris is a symbolic place. After the horror series in January 2015, which included the attack on “Charlie Hebdo” magazine, the people of France remembered the victims there. Since then, the square has become a central place of sympathy after the terrorist attacks.
An 18-year-old had beheaded history teacher Samuel Paty on the street with a knife on Friday night in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, a suburb of Paris. Shortly after, the police shot the killer. Paty, 47, had shown her students in the state citizens’ class on freedom of expression cartoons of Mohammed.
Boasted of writing on the net
The 18-year-old bragged about his crime online, posted a photo of the victim and sent a message to President Emmanuel Macron, whom he described as the “leader of the infidel.” “I executed one of your hellhounds who dared to look down on Mohammed,” he wrote, according to a prosecutor.
Shortly after the crime, four close relatives of the 18-year-old, who has Chechen roots, were arrested. Other suspects who raised their spirits against the Master were arrested a little later. Eleven suspects are now in custody.
President Macron said in a first reaction: “They will not pass. They will not divide us.” The teacher was killed because he had taught his students “freedom of expression and the freedom to believe and not believe.” Macron assured that the nation will unite against “enlightenment” and the violence that accompanies it to “protect and defend” all teachers. The republic has been struck to the heart by Islamist terrorism, Prime Minister Jean Castex said.
“First of all, my first feeling is fear, but I think that’s exactly what these terrorists are looking for,” Deputy Minister of the Interior Ministry in Paris, Marlene Schiappa, told Franceinfo. “The school educates the free spirit, the enlightened citizens, and that is exactly what the Islamists, who live on stupidity, ignorance, indoctrination and hatred, do not tolerate.”
