Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
France’s fury at beheading
Crowds ignore virus for teacher killed by terrorist
THOUSANDS ignored Covid fears to protest in France at the beheading of a teacher by a suspected Islamic extremist.
In scenes reminiscent of the reaction to the 2015 Charlie Hebdo attack, crowds gathered yesterday to vent their fury at the murder on Friday of Samuel Paty, 47.
The popular high school teacher was murdered in the street as he walked home from work.
Mr Paty had shown cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad during a lesson about freedom of expression.
Many p eople carried signs bearing the slogan “Je suis prof ” – meaning “I am a teacher”.
Anti-terrorism prosecutor JeanFrancois Ricard said the suspect, named as Abdoulakh A, lived in the
Normandy town of Evreux, about 60 miles from the murder scene, and had travelled to Mr Paty’s school in Conf lans-sainteHonorine to find him.
He said the suspect asked pupils to point out Mr Paty.
Abdoulakh A is an 18-year-old born
KILLED in Moscow of Chechen origin. He had no apparent connection to the teacher or the school in the northern Ile-de-france region.
The suspect used a knife to wound the teacher in the head.
It is reported he then beheaded his victim, all the while shouting the phrase “Allahu Akbar”.
As police approached him, he fired at them with an airgun.
Officers returned fire, hitting him nine times and killing him.
A 12in blade was found nearby. Police have arrested 11 people in connection with the attack, including four close re l a t iv e s of the suspect and the father of a pupil at the school.