It has been revealed that the history teacher murdered in France by a Chechen refugee was the target of a social media campaign against him. 47-year-old Samuel Paty was beheaded by an 18-year-old outside of the school on October 16th after the attacker asked school students to identify him. He had been targeted because he had displayed a cartoon of the prophet Mohammed as part of a discussion regarding freedom of speech. He had allowed Islamic students to leave the class before showing the cartoon.
While at first it was suggested that the attack was a random act carried out by a lone individual, French prosecutors have now arrested two others, one the father of a pupil at the school, and another, known to the French intelligence services. It is believed both had run an online hate campaign against the teacher for teaching classes that were not to their liking. In Islam, it is forbidden to show an image of the prophet Mohammed.
Apparently, a parent of a school girl attending his class posted an angry video on Facebook enraged that an image of Mohammed had been shown on October 7th, a week before the murder. The following day, a parent complained to the school demanding the teacher be removed. A further video then emerged a day later filmed by the two now arrested, including the individual known to security services. In the video, they claim that French President Emmanuel Macron is intentionally inciting hatred of Muslims.
France has been the target of multiple terrorist attacks over the last decade that have killed hundreds. Many individuals have been attacked simply for exercising their right to free speech in the country of their birth. This is also not the first time that a cartoon of Mohammed has sparked death and destruction. The left-wing magazine Charlie Hebdo has been attacked by terrorist on 3 separate occasions, 2011, 2015 and 2020, in revenge for showing a cartoon of Mohammed in 2010. In the second of these attacks, 12 people were murdered.
The killing of Charlie Hebdo employees sparked massive protests across France with 3.7 million people taking to the streets. Similar protests are now taking place in commemoration of Samuel Paty and to defend freedom of speech. While the slogan 'Je Suis Charlie' was used in protest after the Charlie Hebdo attacks, the slogan 'Je Suis Prof' is now being used to show solidarity with the educator.
Demonstrators in France took part in gatherings in support of freedom of speech and in tribute to a teacher who was beheaded at a school near Paris after discussing caricatures of Islam's Prophet Muhammad. pic.twitter.com/guJS3pRJKQ
— DW News (@dwnews) October 18, 2020
Je suis Samuel Paty! Samuel Paty, 47 years old, was a teacher that was beheaded by Islamist terrorist for showing his...
Posted by Thinking Humanity on Saturday, 17 October 2020
Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer told France 2 television that everyone should protest against those that aim to take away their freedom of expression:
"It is absolutely important to show our mobilization and our solidarity, our national cohesion"
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