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Thousands of protesters gathered across France today to pay tribute to a teacher who was beheaded by a terrorist for showing students cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad of Islam.
Samuel Paty, 47, was beheaded on Friday evening after he is said to have shown a class at the College du Bois d’Aulne in Conflans-Saint-Honorine near Paris, controversial cartoons of the Prophet from the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.
An 18-year-old man, a refugee from the Russian republic of Chechnya, who assaulted the history and geography teacher, was shot dead by police after shooting them with a compressed air pistol.
Counterterrorism officials said the man waited outside the school and asked the students which teacher had shown the Prophet, before repeatedly stabbing Mr. Paty. He then beheaded the teacher while shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’, or ‘God is great’, according to witnesses.
He then posted pictures of the victim on a Twitter account, under the name Abdoulakh A, saying: “I have executed one of the hellhounds who dared to humiliate Muhammad.”
On Sunday, thousands took to the streets to honor Mr. Paty in Paris, Lyon, Toulouse, Strasbourg, Nantes, Marseille, Lille, Bordeaux and other major cities, many of which are under a government-imposed curfew. at 21:00.
The French Prime Minister, Jean Castex, accompanied citizens, associations and unions who were demonstrating in the Republic Square of the capital, in support of freedom of expression and in memory of the teacher.
Some carried “I am Samuel” banners echoing the “I am Charlie” rallying cry after the 2015 attack on Charlie Hebdo.
A moment of silence was observed throughout the square, interrupted by applause and a performance of La Marseillaise, the French national anthem.
Many parents also left flowers on the doors of the school and said their children were devastated and “terrified by the violence of such an act” on their teacher.
Police have been investigating whether the killer acted alone or with accomplices and have arrested 11 people in connection with the attack, including at least four of his relatives and one minor.
The parents of two of Mr. Paty’s students were also detained overnight, including a parent who had filed a formal complaint about the teacher’s actions and called for protests.
Counter-terrorism minister Jean-Francois Ricard said a murder investigation was launched on an alleged terrorist motive.
He said that although the counter-terrorism police did not know the killer, his half sister had joined the Islamic State group in Syria in 2014. Ricard said he did not know his name or where he is currently.
Muslim leaders have condemned the horrific massacre, which many have perceived as an attack on French statehood and its values of secularism, freedom of expression and religion.
The imam of a Bordeaux mosque told France Inter radio: “Every day that passes without incident we give thanks. We are between the hammer and the anvil.
“It attacks the Republic, society, peace and the very essence of religion, which is about union.”
A group of imams from the Lyon region held a special meeting on Sunday to discuss what the group called “the gruesome murder of our compatriot by a terrorist who in the name of uncertain faith committed the irreparable.”
US President Donald Trump was one of many world leaders who condemned the attack, referring to the murder Saturday night during a political rally in Janesville, Wisconsin.
He told the crowd: ‘On behalf of the United States, I would like to extend my sincere condolences to a friend of mine, President (Emmanuel) Macron of France, where they had a vicious and ruthless Islamic terror attack yesterday. ‘
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