French President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday that the attack on the history teacher, which took place earlier in the day, was a murder of history.
Macron called the perpetrator a terrorist who wanted to attack the Republic. He added that terrorists will not divide France and obscurantism will not win in the country.
"They shall not pass", the French president posted on Twitter later.
Ils ne passeront pas.
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) October 16, 2020
Earlier in the day, police shot dead the suspect who beheaded the middle school teacher in the commune of Eragny. According to media reports, the man also had a shotgun and a vest stuffed with explosives. The anti-terrorist department of the prosecutor's office joined the investigation of the murder.
French Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer has also characterised the murder as an attack against France. "Our unity and solidarity are the only answers to the cruelty of Islamic terrorism. We will fight back", he tweeted.
Ce soir, c’est la République qui est attaquée avec l’assassinat ignoble de l’un de ses serviteurs, un professeur.
— Jean-Michel Blanquer (@jmblanquer) October 16, 2020
Je pense ce soir à lui, à sa famille.
Notre unité et notre fermeté sont les seules réponses face à la monstruosité du terrorisme islamiste.
Nous ferons face .
The perpetrator was the parent of one of the students of the victim, who taught freedom of speech and showed cartoons with the Islamic Prophet Muhammad to his students, according to French media.
