18/10/2020
An 18-year-old man who was born in Moscow of Chechen origin. is responsible for a horrific attack on a teacher in the suburbs of the French capital. The 18 year old suspect, recently named as Abdoullakh Abouyezidovitch, was apparently not seen as a potential threat by France's anti-terrorism police. He was subsequently shot and killed after having shot at police with an air gun.
The victim was a 47 year old school teacher, Samuel Paty, who taught history and geography at College du Bois d'Aulne. Paty had apparently shown cartoon pictures of the Prophet Muhammad during a class about freedom of speech, which was specifically linked to the Charlie Hebdo incident.
It is too early to know whether the attacker had a specific plan, but it doesn't appear that this was part of a coordinated attack orchestrated by a terror organisation. That is not to say that others weren't complicit in this horrific murder, nor that his religion wasn't the driving force behind the attack. Clearly Abouyezidovitch was an extremist; most Muslims would not dream of enacting any form of physical assault as a result of their their prophet had been insulted, let alone such a vicious and barbaric attack as was the case here.
What we don't know as yet, is whether he already had extremist tendencies, or if he was radicalised over this one individual issue. If it was the latter, then who was involved in his radicalisation? Is it the people the authorities have already arrested?
Did those people coax him into not only carrying out the horrific attack on Samuel Paty, but also into effectively committing 'suicide by cop', by getting him to use an airgun to fire upon police? His use of an airgun doesn't exactly suggest he was trying to kill or seriously injure the officers. Whilst I recognise that airguns have the potential to injure, and do have the capability to kill, it was incredibly unlikely that Abouyezidovitch would manage to inflict serious injury or death using such a weapon.
I'm not in any way suggesting that the police officers acted rashly or unduly in shooting him dead. I'm just suspicious as to why someone who had clearly shown the ability to savagely take the life of another, and who appeared to show no remorse for the brutality of his attack, would then seek to defend himself with an airgun.
I offer my sympathies and condolences to Mr Paty's family and friends, to his colleagues and pupils, and to all those who knew him. His life should never have been in jeopardy. I hope that the pupils and staff of the school are all being offered counselling and support.
I would urge people to recognise that this attack doesn't make Islam a violent religion. Nor does it mean that Muslims are people who lack tolerance. This isn't typical behaviour of people of Islamic faith; certainly the Muslims I know all appear to be tolerant and kind people. I know Christians too, including some who seem unable to hide their homophobia. And there have been plenty of acts of violence committed by Christian people, linked to their homophobia, their racial intolerance or - as seen a few times in the UK - their religious bigotry. But, we don't blame Christianity when this happens. We blame the individual.
Whilst I do not disagree with people's right to freedom of speech, or their right to express their views on different matters (how could I object, given that this blog is all about me sharing my personal opinions), I don't actually support the idea of sharing views or other content that is purely created to offend and generate an aggressive response.
I'm not (quite) saying that I object to Charlie Hebdo's cartoons, or to this teacher's actions in sharing them. However, I do wish that they didn't feel the need to do so.
I am an atheist and don't agree with the ideology behind any religion, but I defend the rights of others to hold their faith, and their rights to practice that faith without fear of attack.
Nothing can bring back the lives of Samuel Paty or Abdoullakh Abouyezidovitch. It is sad that they have both met such violent ends.
I really hope that the part others played in radicalising Abouyezidovitch and causing him to take this teacher's life is fully understood and that they face prosecution and punishment for their role.
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