The beheading of a 47-year-old high school teacher named Samuel Paty on Friday in the Paris suburb of Conflans-Sainte-Honorine has sent shockwaves across the world. The terror attack was executed by an 18-year-old radical Islamist named Abdoullakh Abouyezidovitch A.
He stabbed Paty in the throat and severed his head for showcasing cartoons of Prophet Mohammed to his students in College du Bois d’Aulne during a civics class on freedom of speech. The young terrorist had also uploaded the gory pictures on Twitter, before being shot dead by the French police.
Online campaign was on to get Samuel Paty fired
Now, intriguing details have surfaced as to how online doxxing facilitated the barbarian act. On October 7, a man Brahim Chnina had uploaded a Facebook post wherein he claimed that his daughter and other Muslim students were asked to raise their hands by their history teacher. His daughter studies in the 4th grade and is 13-year-old.
The man further claimed that the said teacher then asked the Muslims to get out of class as he was about to show something that would ‘shock everyone’. While a few Muslim students complied with the request, the man’s daughter refused to do so. He alleged that the history teacher then showcased the image of a naked man and claimed that it was that of Prophet Mohammed. An agitated Brahim Chnina called the act a ‘disgrace’ and informed that he would take up the matter with the administration. He also urged others to send emails to the school principal, demanding the termination of the said teacher.
Although he had not named Samuel Paty in the post, the online campaign to sack the 4th-grade history teacher was enough to help agitated Muslims to identify him. It is important to note that Brahim Chnina later gave away the name of the teacher in another Facebook post. However, even before he did so, personal information of Samuel Paty began doing the rounds on the internet. This is evident from the screenshots that began circulating on social media.
Voilà le genre de #tweets indignés qui circulaient depuis le cours du professeur d’histoire sur la liberté d’expression et la laïcité. C’est l’enseignant qui a été décapité vers 17h devant son lycée de #Conflans. pic.twitter.com/uHG0ZYHqpr
— de Cabarrus Thierry (@tcabarrus) October 16, 2020
In another Youtube video on October 12, the man came on air along with his daughter. A man off-camera, now known to French security agencies, had claimed that President Emmanuel Macron was inciting hatred against Muslims and called for ‘mass mobilisation’ in case teacher Samuel Paty was not removed. It is now being speculated whether the 18-year-old terrorist was motivated by the online campaign to avenge the insults against the Prophet.
Local mosque urged Muslims to contact Brahim Chnina; later deleted post
As per reports, the local mosque (La Grande Mosquée de Pantin) had also joined the online campaign to get Samuel Paty fired. While sharing the video address on Facebook, it had urged fellow Muslims to contact Brahim Chnina, the father of the 13-year-old student. Although the mosque did not give away personal details of the deceased teacher, it was allegedly a part of the mobilisation campaign that eventually lead to the gruesome crime.
However, after the beheading case came to light, the mosque authorities quickly took down the Facebook post and condemned the incident. It stated, “We strongly condemn this savagery, Islam and its teachings strongly oppose such acts.”
Terrorist asked students to identify the teacher, prior to beheading
Abdoullakh Abouyezidovitch, born in Moscow, had come to France as a refugee and was out of the radar of the anti-terrorism police. He had earlier been to courts for minor offences. Reportedly, he wanted to ‘punish’ the teacher for his ‘blasphemous act’. The 18-year-old Islamic terrorist, who lived in the Normandy town of Évreux, had no connections with the school or the teacher. On Friday, he waited outside the school premises and asked pupils to point out Samuel Paty.
As per reports, Abdoullakh then followed the victim, who was en route to his house on foot. Abdoullakh, then, attacked Paty, inflicted wounds to his head and then beheaded him. The young terrorist then uploaded the gory picture of the severed head on Twitter and wrote, “In the name of Allah the most gracious, the most merciful, … to (President Emmanuel) Macron, leader of the infidels, I have executed one of your hell-hounds who dared to belittle (Prophet) Mohammad.”
10 people detained over beheading case
As per reports, France police have initiated a probe into the beheading of the 47-year-old high school teacher. Since Friday, the police have arrested a total of 10 people in connection to the case. On Saturday, France 24 reported that 9 people were arrested on Friday including the parents of a child at the school where the teacher was working. While condemning the incident, Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer said, “Our unity and our resolve are the only responses faced with the monstrosity of Islamist terrorism.”
