(Arras) Several hundred people gathered Sunday in Arras, northern France, in memory of Dominique Bernard, the French teacher stabbed to death Friday by a radicalized former student, an Islamist attack that led the country to strengthen the security of the country.
The attack, committed by a 20-year-old former student, known for his radicalism and of Russian nationality, and which also left three people injured, was described by President Macron as “Islamist terrorism”.
It caused a shock wave, particularly among teachers, already affected three years ago by the assassination of one of their own, Samuel Paty, beheaded on October 16, 2020 for showing caricatures of Mohammed in class.
A minute of silence will be observed Monday at 2 p.m. (8 a.m. Eastern time) in schools in France in tribute to the victims of attacks against schools, the Minister of Education, Gabriel Attal, announced on Saturday.
PHOTO PASCAL ROSSIGNOL, REUTERS
Gathering on the central square of Arras, Sunday
“We will be there to ensure your safety,” Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne promised teachers on Saturday.
The meeting took place on Sunday in the city’s central square, not far from the Gambetta school complex, scene of the attack, which occurred in a context marked by fears of the conflict in the Middle East being imported into France.
PHOTO DENIS CHARLET, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Gathering on the central square of Arras, Sunday
The city siren sounded several times in the square, packed with people, in a pitch-black silence.
“Atmosphere of jihadism”
France has been on “emergency attack” alert since Friday, the highest level of the Vigipirate system and plans to deploy 7,000 soldiers by Monday on the territory.
“An atmosphere of jihadism, of taking action, has been evident since last Saturday”, the date of the attack on Israel by Hamas, Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said on Saturday, presenting his “line of firmness” : the “systematic expulsion of any foreigner […] considered dangerous by the intelligence services.
Fear of an attack led to the evacuation of the Louvre Museum on Saturday, then the Palace of Versailles, following false alarms.
Since his arrest, the attacker, Mohammed Mogouchkov, who allegedly shouted “Allah Akbar” according to witnesses, “has not explained himself,” a police source told AFP.
He had recently been followed by the General Directorate of Internal Security (DGSI), due, according to Gérald Darmanin, to links with his father, also listed for radicalization and expelled in 2018, and his brother, imprisoned for his participation in a planned attack targeting the Élysée.
Arriving in France in 2008 according to a police source, he was born according to the French administration in the predominantly Muslim Russian republic of Ingushetia, but could not legally be deported, having entered the territory before the age of 13 years, underlined Gérald Darmanin.
Furthermore, a 24-year-old man registered for radicalization, and arrested on Friday in possession of a knife in the Paris region, will be tried on Monday in Versailles, near Paris.
Many religious books related to Islam were discovered at his home during a search. “He declared that he was homeless and still had [ce couteau] on him to defend himself in the event of attack”, according to a judicial source.
Since the attack on the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo in January 2015 (12 dead) a series of jihadist attacks left more than 260 dead in France.