Tears, a Marseillaise, flowers and a few words… The day after Samuel Paty's assassination in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, parents of students, their children and anonymous people paid tribute to the history and geography teacher , brutally murdered for having held a course on freedom of expression, during which he had shown his students caricatures of Muhammad, not without precautions.
Hundreds of people gathered in the afternoon in front of the establishment where the teacher worked.
Many residents of Conflans gathered on Saturday morning in front of the establishment where Samuel Paty / LP / Arnaud Dumontier worked.
Silence reigned in front of the college gates.
Escorted by CRS, students timidly entered the establishment.
Inside, teams from the Samu of the Versailles hospital center, the Yvelines prefecture and the Versailles rectorate have set up a psychological unit.
READ ALSO>
Follow the latest information on the attack on Conflans-Sainte-Honorine in our direct
"It's horrible, it's very complicated to discuss with my son what happened, this morning he doesn't even want to talk about it anymore", explained a mother preferring to testify under cover of anonymity, because his "son would not like to see my name in the press".
LP / Arnaud Dumontier
Former students of the professor also made the trip, to pay him a last tribute.
This is particularly the case with Marie *, now in second.
The young girl remembers taking the course on freedom of expression, which claimed the life of her former teacher.
"We had talked about Charlie, we had made drawings that are still hanging in the college," she explains, moved.
Newsletter - Most of the news
Every morning, the news seen by Le Parisien
I'm registering
Your email address is collected by Le Parisien to enable you to receive our news and commercial offers.
Learn more
In the crowd, teachers were keen to display signs that read “I am a teacher”.
LP / Arnaud Dumontier
Hugo, educated in 3rd, was one of Samuel Paty's students, who gave him support lessons every week.
"He was great, very accommodating, and attentive," he says.
But "since last week the atmosphere was tense, it was sure that it was going to end badly".
His mother Sabrina agrees: "He had spoken to me a lot for a week, we even received a text from the principal on the intranet, which said that there were problems between the parents of the pupil and this teacher".
“Everyone contributed their opinion during their lessons, it was great.
Now we must continue and face, we must not prove them right, ”says another former student, currently in first class at Gennevilliers.
And to cope, some wanted this afternoon to display their attachment to the values of the Republic, the French flag around their neck.
LP / Arnaud Dumontier
Local elected officials also made the trip for this tribute which lasted about two hours.
A Marseillaise all in gravity was intoned.
On Sunday, a new gathering will be held at Place de la République in Paris, at the call of Charlie Hebdo, the teachers' unions and the SOS Racisme and Dessinez Create Liberty associations.
CONFLANS - Marseillaise and minute of silence from elected officials and the crowd to pay tribute to #M monsieurPaty pic.twitter.com/rT0z0RgaYb
- Clément Lanot (@ClementLanot) October 17, 2020