This is a terrible incident in France.
It is illustrative of what happens when there is intolerance of different points of view. Extremist dogmatism infects religious and political institutions. It is not limited to France. It is happening all over the world.
America is no exception. In this country intolerance is directed most often in the form of racism and attacks on people of color.
Excerpted from Deutsche Welle 10.16.2020
A suspect has been shot dead after a knife attack on the outskirts of Paris. The victim was a teacher who had reportedly recently shown caricatures of Muhammad in class.
French police shot a man dead on Friday after he allegedly decapitated a teacher near Paris.
The suspect allegedly beheaded a man at about 5 p.m. in Conflans Sainte-Honorine, northwest of Paris.
Officers were called to the area after reports of a suspicious man loitering near the victim’s school. They found the dead victim and saw the alleged perpetrator nearby. He was then shot dead after allegedly threatening officers.
Four people, including a minor, have been detained over the incident, according to judicial sources cited by Agence France-Presse.
French President Emmanuel Macron described the incident as an “Islamist terror attack” and urged the nation to unite.
He said the victim was murdered because he was a teacher and taught freedom of expression.
“The whole country stands behind its teachers. Terrorists will not divide France, obscurantism will not win,” Macron said after visiting the scene.
Police earlier told reporters that the victim was a middle school teacher who had recently held a class on freedom of speech in which he showed caricatures of the Muslim Prophet Muhammad.
Police officials told the Associated Press that the victim had received threats after opening a discussion “for a debate” about the caricatures about 10 days ago. An official told the news agency that the parent of a student had filed a complaint against the teacher.
French anti-terror prosecutors said they were treating the incident as “a murder linked to a terrorist organization” and related to a “criminal association with terrorists.”
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