An 11-year old pupil shouted “allahu akbar” during a tribute to a French teacher who was beheaded by an Isamist jihadi, and the boy’s father was later arrested for threatening to burn down the school.
The incident took place last week at the Jean-Zay secondary school in the southeast of France during a commemoration of teacher Samuel Paty, who was beheaded by an Islamist terrorist in Paris in mid-October of 2020.
Paty was killed by the Muslim Chechen refugee for showing his class cartoons of the founder of Islam, Muhammad, during a discussion of freedom of speech.
A French history teacher was beheaded by an extremist in a suburb in Paris. It is believed that the teacher discussed images of the Prophet Muhammad with his pupils. The suspect had been seen at the school asking students about the teacher.https://t.co/i6ClY5Stqc
— Brenda Stoter Boscolo بريندا 💙 (@BrendaStoter) October 17, 2020
During the ceremony, the student cried “allahu akbar”, which means “Allah is greatest” in Arabic. While it is a Muslim prayer, it is also a phrase often used by Islamists before or during Islamic terrorist attacks.
A woman has been beheaded and two other people have been killed in a suspected terrorist attack in the French city of Nice. A man, who's understood to have shouted "Allahu Akbar", has been arrested after it happened at a church.pic.twitter.com/ByRTLCYacE
— Talk (@TalkTV) October 29, 2020
The pupil was given a warning by teachers, who then informed the boy’s father about the incident.
However, according to France Bleu, the boy’s father responded by saying that he fully supported his son’s conduct and he proceeded to threaten teachers over the phone.
The following Monday, the father arrived at the school and threatened to burn down the school.
The 43-year-old man, who works as a security guard, was reported to police, who took him into custody on Tuesday. After his house was raided, a local prosecutor said that police found multiple weapons, including a sword, and radical Islamist Salafist documents.
Additionally, in the city of Marseille in the French south, two teachers received letters threatening death at their homes referencing Paty’s murder.
A teacher in southern France has received a death threat letter containing an image of murdered history teacher Samuel Paty, prosecutors have said. https://t.co/qK3tZ7on6p
— euronews (@euronews) October 20, 2021
Renaud Muselier, president of the region, responded to the situation online, saying that:
“On behalf of the entire Southern Region, I send clear support to these two teachers, who are threatened with death by barbarians. In the Republic, everything must be done to protect our teachers and fight potential terrorists!”
J’adresse, au nom de toute @MaRegionSud, un soutien clair à ces deux enseignants, menacés de mort par les barbares.
En République, tout doit être fait pour protéger nos enseignants et combattre les terroristes en puissance ! #SamuelPaty https://t.co/jbP4oKrpaO— Renaud Muselier (@RenaudMuselier) October 18, 2021