PARIS--Thousands of people gathered across France on Sunday to support teachers and defend freedom of expression after the killing of Samuel Paty, a history teacher beheaded by a suspected Islamist on Friday.
From Paris to Lyon, Marseille and Lille large crowds gathered quietly, pausing regularly to applaud, hold minutes of silence or sing the national anthem. Prime Minister Jean Castex attended the gathering on Place de La Republique in Paris along with Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer and politicians from across the spectrum, showing solidarity after a killing that has shocked the country.
"You don't scare us. We are not afraid. You will not divide us. We are France!" Castex tweeted later.
Paty, 47, was killed outside his school in a Paris suburb by an 18-year-old attacker. Earlier this month, the teacher had shown his pupils cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad in a class on freedom of expression, angering a number of Muslim parents. Muslims believe that any depiction of the Prophet is blasphemous.
The assailant, who was born in Russia of Chechen origin, was shot dead by police soon after the attack. Police have detained 11 people in connection with the killing.
People at the events on Sunday wore masks against COVID-19 and carried signs such as "Teaching yes, bleeding no" or "I am Charlie" in a reference to satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, whose offices were attacked in a mass killing five years ago.
"We're here to defend the Republic, the values of the Republic: liberty, equality, fraternity and secularism. We can feel that the nation is threatened," Pierre Fourniou, 83, said in Paris.
Paty had been the target of an angry campaign on social media before he was killed. Castex said in an interview in Journal du Dimanche newspaper that the government is working on a strategy to better protect teachers from threats.
France is preparing to expel 231 foreigners on a government watch list for suspected extremist religious beliefs, a police union source said on Sunday. France's interior ministry, responsible for expelling foreigners, was not available to confirm the information, which had been initially reported by Europe 1.
France defines extremists as "people who, engaged in a process of radicalisation, are likely to want to go abroad to join terrorist groups or take part in terrorist activities."
President Emmanuel Macron's centrist government has been under pressure from conservative and far-right parties to take a tougher stance on non-nationals deemed to pose a security threat. Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin asked local prefects to order the expulsions at a meeting on Sunday afternoon, according to the source and Europe 1. Of the total number of suspects, 180 people are currently in prison and 51 were due to be arrested in the next hours, the police union source said.
Darmanin also asked his ministry's services to examine more closely the requests of people wishing to obtain the status of refugee in France, the source said. The 18-year-old suspected Islamist who beheaded a history teacher outside his school on Friday was born in Russia of Chechen origin and had refugee status.
Macron held a Defence Council meeting with senior cabinet ministers on Sunday.
The teenager who beheaded a teacher outside the school in a Paris suburb where he taught had approached pupils in the street and asked them to point out his victim, anti-terrorism prosecutor Jean-Francois Ricard said on Saturday. Police shot dead the 18-year-old attacker after he murdered 47-year-old Paty in broad daylight in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine on Friday.
A photograph of the teacher's body, accompanied by a message claiming responsibility posted on Twitter, was discovered on the assailant's phone, found near his body. Ricard said the Twitter account belonged to the attacker.
The post was removed swiftly by Twitter, which said it had suspended the account because it violated the company's policy. Ricard quoted the message as saying: "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."
The attacker had been living in the town of Evreux northwest of Paris, and was not previously known to the intelligence services, Ricard told a news conference.
A national tribute will be organised for Wednesday, Macron's office said.
Four close relatives of the attacker were detained soon after the attack. Five more were detained overnight, including the father of a pupil at Paty's school, College du Bois d'Aulne, and an acquaintance of the pupil's father known to the intelligence services, the anti-terrorism prosecutor said. A tenth person was placed in custody in connection with the attack later on Saturday, BFM TV said, citing judicial sources.
In the days after the lesson on freedom of expression, the pupil's father recorded several videos in which he branded the teacher a thug and called for him to be fired. In one, he urged others to "join forces and say 'stop, don't touch our kids'." The videos where shared on social media.
