story highlights
Ahmed Merabet is reportedly a Muslim whose parents immigrated from North Africa
The attackers of Charlie Hebdo, lying wounded in the street, shot him in the head
CNN
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Ahmed joined Charlie in paying tribute to the victims of the Paris terrorist attack on social media this week.
Hashtag #JeSuisCharlie – “I am Charlie” – poses an international rally point For people expressing solidarity with the victims of the massacre by gunmen in the offices of the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo on Wednesday.
But another hashtag, #JeSuisAhmed, has become a poignant way to honor Ahmed Merabet, a 40-year-old police officer killed by terrorists.
During the massacre at Charlie Hebdo’s offices, gunmen claimed they were avenging the Prophet Muhammad by attacking a magazine that repeatedly mocked Islam and other religions.
But by killing Meerbet, he killed a man who is said to have been a Muslim. like the parents of two prime suspects In the attack, Marabet’s mother and father are believed to have moved from North Africa to Paris.
‘I died defending their rights’
“I am not Charlie, I am Ahmed the dead cop. Charlie ridiculed my faith and culture and I died defending his right to do so,” wrote Twitter user Dayab Abu Jahanjah.
As of Friday morning Paris time, his tweet using the #JeSuisAhmed hashtag had been retweeted more than 17,000 times.
Many more tributes to Merabet were posted on the hashtag.
Simultaneously, some tweeted a quote for the French philosopher Voltaire: “I don’t agree with what you say, but I will defend your right to say till death.”
Others simply thanked the fallen officer.
‘It was his job, it was his duty’
Even before Merabet’s name and background became public, many people knew how he died because of the widely circulated video from Wednesday’s attack.
He was on patrol near Charlie Hebdo’s office when the assailants exploded.
“He was on foot, and came face-to-face with the terrorists. He took out his weapon. It was their job, it was their duty,” police union representative Rocco Contento told the Guardian.
Video of the scene shows Mirabet twitching painfully on the ground after having already been shot once. As the gunmen move towards him, he raises his hand indicating surrender.
French media reported that one of the gunmen asked the wounded officer, “Do you want to kill us?”
In the video, Merabet is heard crying, “No! It’s OK, Boss.”
Then a gunman shot him in the head from point blank range.
Likeable, always smiling colleague says
Contanto described Marabet as a calm, conscientious person – friendly and always smiling. In one picture, he is seen smiling at the camera.
According to Contento, he had a girlfriend.
Merabet had reportedly been a police officer for eight years, assigned to the 11th akhara, where the attack took place.
He had been working as a bicycle cop, but the French newspaper Le Figaro reported that he had recently qualified to become a spy.
The other killed officers were protecting the editor
Merabet was not the only police officer killed in the attack. The other was Frank Brinsolaro, who was assigned to the security. Stephen “Charb” CharbonnierAccording to Le Figaro, Charlie Hebdo’s editor for the past several years.
Brinsolaro, 48, was killed inside the magazine’s offices along with Charbonnier and other cartoonists.
Le Figaro reported that the police officer had just married a woman with whom he had a 1-year-old daughter.
“The whole of France needs to act,” Brinsolaro’s twin brother, Philippe, said according to the newspaper. “You cannot attack the right to freedom of expression and the state like that.”
Like Ahmed and Charlie’s staff on social media, Frank Brinsolaro was also being remembered through the hashtag #JeSuisFranck.
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