Macron condemns beheading of teacher
PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron denounced what he called an “Islamist terrorist attack” against a history teacher decapitated in a suburb of this city Friday, urging the nation to stand united against extremism.
The teacher had discussed caricatures of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad with his class, authorities said. The attacker was shot to death by police after Friday’s beheading.
The office of France’s anti-terrorism prosecutor said it opened an investigation concerning murder with a suspected terrorist motive
Macron visited the school where the teacher worked in the town of Conflans-Saint-Honorine and met with staff after the slaying. A reporter saw three ambulances arrive at the scene, heavily armed police surrounding the area and police vans lining leafy nearby streets.
“One of our compatriots was murdered today because he taught … the freedom of expression, the freedom to believe or not believe,” Macron said.
He said the attack shouldn’t divide France because that’s what the extremists want. “We must stand all together as citizens,” he said.
The slaying occurred in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, and police killed the suspect in adjoining Eragny.
A police official said the suspect, armed with a knife and a pellet gun, was shot dead about 600 yards from where the male teacher was killed after he failed to respond to orders to put down his
arms and acted in a threatening manner.
The teacher had received threats after opening a discussion
“for a debate” about the caricatures about 10 days ago, the official said. The parent of a student had filed a complaint against the teacher, another police official said, adding that the killer did not have a child at the school. The suspect’s identity was not made public.
French media reported that the suspect was an 18-year-old Chechen, born in Moscow. That information could not be immediately confirmed.
The two officials could not be named because they were not authorized to discuss ongoing investigations.
The attack came as Macron is pushing for a new law against what he calls domestic “separatism,” notably by Islamic radicals accused of indoctrinating vulnerable people through home schools, extremist preaching and other activities.
“We didn’t see this coming,” Conflans resident Remi Tell said on CNews TV station. He described the town as peaceful.