‘I’m going to take your head off’ – French teacher facing death threats asks for transfer, says he fears becoming ‘next Samuel Paty’

Children stand in front of a drawing of French history and geography teacher Samuel Paty, in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, Saturday, Oct. 16, 2021. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
By Karolina Klaskova
3 Min Read

A French teacher who says he is receiving death threats from a parent is asking to be transferred out of the school, saying he fears being killed just like French history teacher Samuel Paty, who was beheaded by a young Chechen migrant Islamist last year.

The teacher, employed at Val-de-Seine high school in Grand-Quevilly, near Rouen, said a parent threatened to kill him. The teacher has since filed a complaint with police and the threat is being taken seriously. Teachers suspended all classes Nov. 7 following a crisis meeting.

The incident actually took place on Oct. 20, right before school holidays, but the school was shut down only after students returned.

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“It was 5 p.m., and we were in a parent-teacher meeting. While waiting for the next meeting, I was correcting my papers and at one point, I saw a burly man come up to me and say ‘What have you got against my daughter?,'” says the teacher.

The father then allegedly told the teacher: “You take my daughter for sh*t, you talk badly to your students.” Another teacher intervened to try to calm the father down.

“Before leaving the room, he points at me and yells: ‘If you continue like this with my daughter, I’m going to take your head off!’ The witness said the father was furious and his gaze was threatening,

Since this event, the teacher has been on sick leave. His psychological state was deemed too fragile to resume classes.

“I don’t want to be a second Samuel Paty. I don’t see myself coming back to this establishment. I asked the rector to change my location to protect me.”

A complaint was filed, and the student’s parent has been interviewed by the police.

French teachers have often faced death threats in the past, including one teacher who faced multiple death threats for asking a student to lift her Islamic veil to check her identity. Schools in the most diverse areas of the of country, such as France, increasingly see White parents, including many liberals, segregating their children in private schools due to dangerous classroom enviroments. In October, 14 students were arrested for rioting over the right to wear religious garb in their school in Paris.

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