Man ‘beheads teacher’ in Paris after he showed kids Prophet Mohammed cartoon

A teacher who was beheaded after showing children images of the Prophet Mohammed has been remembered by devastated colleagues. Warning: Graphic.

A history teacher in France who was beheaded after showing cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed in class has been named by European media.

Police have confirmed the victim as 47-year-old Samuel Paty, who had taught a lesson on freedom of expression earlier in October.

According to the BBC, Mr Paty also showed cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in relation to the Charlie Hebdo case, and had “reportedly advised Muslim students to leave the room if they thought they might be offended”.

However, the lesson attracted complaints from some Muslim parents and Mr Paty “received a number of unspecified threats”.

Devastated colleagues and students paid tribute to the murdered teacher today,  clutching white roses and bearing signs reading "Je Suis Enseignant", which translates to "I am a teacher".

The Twitter hashtag "Je Suis Prof" has also emerged in response to the tragedy.

Witnesses watched the man decapitate Mr Paty in broad daylight close to the school in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine.

Police officers rushed to the scene after the alarm was raised at 5pm Friday local time and the killer fled towards the northwestern Paris commune of Eragny-sur-Oise.

Samuel Paty. Victime du terrorisme Islamiste. #WeFailedYou
May your soul rest in peace. pic.twitter.com/9YR0HArY9c

— keren ann (@KerenAnnMusic) October 17, 2020

The attacker was later shot by police near Paris as they tried to arrest him and he died of his injuries. He’s believed to be an 18-year-old Chechen man born in Moscow.

The attacker shouted “Allahu Akbar” as he was confronted by police officers, a police source said.

The Muslim phrase, meaning “God is Great”, has often been heard in jihadist attacks.

A source said the man was “waving a gun” when he was confronted by police. About 10 shots were fired by police.

French anti-terror prosecutors said they were treating the assault as “a murder linked to a terrorist organisation” and related to a “criminal association with terrorists”.

A picture of a body lying in the road was shared on Twitter after French anti-terror prosecutors confirmed a man had been decapitated.

ATTACKER’S POST

It is being reported that the attacker claimed responsibility on Twitter, posting a gory photo of the beheaded teacher.

The suspect also wrote the words: “In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. From Abdullah, the Servant of Allah, To Marcon, the leader of the infidels, I executed one of your hellhounds who dared to belittle Mohammed, calm his fellows before you are inflicted harsh punishment.”

The post was quickly deleted by Twitter.

A post allegedly made by the attacker, now deleted. Picture: Twitter.

Local TV footage shows French police officers at the scene.

BREAKING: Image of beheaded victim in #Paris suburb tweeted by what appears to be attacker shortly before he was killed: “To Macron, leader of the infidels, I executed one of your hell hounds who dared belittle Muhammad.”

The account, now removed, shows hyper-religious posting. pic.twitter.com/TyBaOZDUoI

— Rita Katz (@Rita_Katz) October 16, 2020

‘ABOMINABLE’

The scene was cordoned off and a bomb disposal unit dispatched because of the suspected presence of an explosive vest, the police source said.

French President Emmanuel Macron urged the country to “stand all together as citizens” as he visited the scene in the town of Conflans-Saint-Honorine.

“One of our compatriots was murdered today because he was teaching pupils about freedom of expression, the freedom to believe or not believe,” Mr Macron said.

“Our compatriot was flagrantly attacked, was the victim of an Islamist terrorist attack … They won’t win … We will act. Firmly, And quickly. You can count on my determination.”

Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, who was on a visit to Morocco at the time of the attack, was to return to Paris immediately after talking with President Macron, as well as Prime Minister Jean Castex, his office said.

French cops secure the area near the scene in Conflans St Honorine.

French parliament suspended Friday’s debate after news of the decapitation, with session president Hugue Renson, visibly moved, calling the attack “abominable”.

MPs stood as Renson said that “in the name of all of us, I want to honour the memory of the victim”.

The attack comes only days after a follower of the Islamic State militant group who attacked a police officer outside Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris with a hammer was sentenced to 28 years in jail.

RECENT ATTACKS

Last month, charges were brought against a 25-year old Pakistani man who wounded two people with a meat cleaver to avenge the publication of caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed by the satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo.

The attacker seriously injured two employees of a TV production agency, whose offices are on the same block that used to house Charlie Hebdo. Both survived.

That attack came three weeks into an ongoing trial of suspected accomplices of the authors of the January 2015 attacks on Charlie Hebdo and a Jewish supermarket, which also saw a policewoman gunned down in the street.

Seventeen people were killed in the three-day spree that heralded a wave of Islamist violence in France that has so far claimed more than 250 lives.

The trial has sparked protests across France, with thousands of demonstrators rallying against Charlie Hebdo and the French government.

Police on Friday arrived at the scene after receiving a call about a suspicious individual loitering near the school, a police source said.

There they found the dead man and nearby sighted the suspect armed with a knifelike weapon, who threatened them as they tried to arrest him.

They opened fire and injured him severely, the source said. The man later died of his injuries, a judicial source said.

With AFP