A history teacher in Paris was beheaded on October 16 after he showed his class cartoon pictures of the Islamic prophet Muhammed.
The victim, who has not been publicly identified, had reportedly showed the cartoons during a class discussion on freedom of expression ten days ago; the parent of a student filed a complaint against the teacher over the matter.
The assailant, who was reportedly an 18-year-old Chechen, attacked the teacher just outside of the school. When police arrived at the scene, the assailant reportedly attempted to attack the police while shouting “Allahu Akbar,” prompting the police to shoot him dead. French prosecutors currently consider the killing to be “a murder linked to a terrorist organization.”
French President Emmanuel Macron condemned the killing as an “Islamist terror attack,” stating that the teacher was killed “because he taught… the freedom of expression, the freedom to believe or not believe.”
“The whole country stands behind its teachers,” Macron added. “Terrorists will not divide France, obscurantism will not win.”
Jewish groups also denounced the killing.
“We are thinking of his family and stand in solidarity with the people of France,” the American Jewish Committee tweeted. “Islamist extremism has been an issue for too long and must be addressed.”
Horrific: A teacher was decapitated in France after showing students cartoons of Muhammed.
We are thinking of his family and stand in solidarity with the people of France. Islamist extremism has been an issue for too long and must be addressed. https://t.co/XxETKB6Vdo
— American Jewish Committee (@AJCGlobal) October 16, 2020
The Simon Wiesenthal Center similarly tweeted, “Horrific crime but can anyone be shocked? Will #France wake up in time to save its nation and its values? Will its judiciary finally hold Islamists fully culpable for their crimes?”
Horrific crime but can anyone be shocked? Will #France wake up in time to save its nation and its values? Will its judiciary finally hold Islamists fully culpable for their crimes?https://t.co/n3wQFQ8584
— SimonWiesenthalCntr (@simonwiesenthal) October 16, 2020
The October 16 killing comes on the heels of a September 25 attack, in which a man with a meat cleaver injured two people outside the headquarters of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo; the suspected assailant, an 18-year-old Pakistani, was reportedly aiming to attack Charlie Hebdo for the magazine’s latest cartoon publications of Muhammed. In 2015, a two gunmen shot and killed 12 people at Charlie Hebdo’s offices in retaliation for the magazine’s publication of Muhammed cartoons. The alleged gunmen are currently on trial and facing charges for having an association with terrorists.
