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A massive crowd has gathered in central Paris to honor maestro Samuel Paty (47).
So far, there has been no official estimate of how many people are on the streets of the French capital on Sunday afternoon, but there are many thousands.
A minute’s silence was observed at the Place de la République, followed by the singing of the French national anthem “Marseillaisen”.
Large demonstrations had been announced in advance starting at 3 pm in Paris, Lyon, Strasbourg and Marseille.
– It is important for us to mobilize and show solidarity and national unity, says Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer to France 2 according to NTB.
Among those who have organized commemorations for Paty is the satire magazine Charlie Hebdo, whose newsrooms were hit by a terrorist attack that killed twelve people in 2015.
Background: Headless teacher showed Muhammad cartoon in school class
French Prime Minister Jean Castex attended the demonstration in Paris.
During the demonstration, the participants applauded in solidarity with the 47-year-old. Some carried signs with the message “I am a teacher” as a nod to the slogan “I am Charlie” used after the terrorist attack on Charlie Hebdo.
THREATS: Although he has shown Muhammad cartoons as part of his teaching for several years, Samuel Paty’s (47) school received threats after he did so this year. He was killed on Friday.
47-year-old teacher Samuel Paty was killed by an 18-year-old outside the school where he worked on Friday afternoon. The perpetrator, a Russian-born Chechen, was shot and killed by police shortly after the attack.
The AFP news agency and several other French outlets name the perpetrator as Abdullakh Anzorov.
Earlier this month, Paty reportedly showed students pictures of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, prompting threats against the school and complaints from parents.
Crowded – Large numbers of people gathered at the Place de la République in Paris on Sunday afternoon.
Doors ban and infection log
The demonstrations take place at the same time that the French authorities once again register a new infection record with 32,489 new cases of corona.
A total of 871,021 have been infected in the country since the start of the pandemic. On Saturday, 89 new deaths were recorded and 33,206 French have died so far, according to VG’s corona summary.
On Saturday night, there was a curfew from 9 pm and into the night. Under the plan, the measure will be in effect for a month, in an attempt to limit the growing infection.
Macron with safety meeting
The murder of Samuel Paty has shaken political France and the government calls the murder an attack on French society and values.
French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Sunday that he would propose to restore control of the cash flows of people with Islamist ties.
– There is a problem with the financing of various Islamist connections and I think we can and must do better, he tells the television channel France 3 according to Reuters.
According to the Reuters news agency, President Emmanuel Macron will hold a security meeting with his most central ministers on Sunday.
