Arras holds funeral for murdered teacher with France on state of alert
Visit our website:
http://www.france24.com
Like us on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/FRANCE24.English
Follow us on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/France24_en
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00 Let's come back to France now where the funeral for the high school teacher who was killed
00:03 last week is being held today.
00:06 Dominique Bernard was stabbed to death at his school by a former student and suspected
00:11 Islamist extremist.
00:13 The suspect has since been charged with terror offenses.
00:15 After it came out, he had sworn allegiance to the Islamic State extremist group in an
00:19 audio recording before the attack.
00:21 The French president, Emmanuel Macron, is expected to attend that funeral service today.
00:26 Well, Claire Pacalano is also in the northern French town of Arras where the attack happened
00:30 and where the funeral is also taking place.
00:32 Claire, you've been speaking to many people there.
00:34 I can only imagine the shock and sadness they're still feeling.
00:41 I'm standing here just near a large screen where people who've come here have gathered
00:46 to watch the funeral take place live.
00:48 It will be broadcast here and there really is a feeling of shock that this could happen
00:54 in Arras.
00:55 People are repeatedly saying to me, "This kind of thing doesn't happen here."
00:59 I recently spoke to a man whose children used to go to the high school where Dominique Bernard
01:03 taught.
01:04 He said, "Jews and Christians and Muslims get on well in Arras.
01:09 We have good community relations.
01:11 This is not something that should tear us apart or fracture us or make fractures within
01:17 our relationships."
01:18 He also said, "School is not a place for violence.
01:21 This is a place for knowledge, for learning."
01:24 I spoke to a few young people who were at the school where Dominique Bernard recently
01:28 was.
01:29 They were saying to me that they really couldn't believe this had happened and they just felt
01:32 they owed it to the family to be here today to show their support.
01:37 Dominique Bernard leaving behind a wife who was a teacher herself and three daughters.
01:42 I was also speaking to another French literature professor, a teacher here, and she said that
01:47 she became a teacher thanks to Dominique Bernard.
01:51 She used to go to university with him and she said that she has memories of staying
01:56 up all night when they were in their early 20s discussing and reading French literature
02:01 together.
02:02 He's known here in Arras as a passionate teacher, a kind-hearted, soft-spoken man, and he will
02:09 be sorely missed here in this town.
02:12 I'm sure that's the case.
02:14 In the meantime, Claire, more has come out about what motivated the attacker to carry
02:19 out this horrible tragedy, the killing of this high school teacher.
02:24 What more can you tell us about the motivations?
02:28 We are getting more elements coming through from the ongoing investigation.
02:34 We know that he's known as Mohamed M in the investigation.
02:39 That's what the prosecutor in charge of it is calling him.
02:42 He was born in Russia in the Caucasus region, came to France when he was five years old.
02:47 He was 20 when he carried out the attack.
02:49 He is, of course, in custody.
02:50 He's been charged with terrorism offenses, as has his younger brother, who is believed
02:55 to have helped show him how to use the two knives that he used during the attack, and
03:00 his cousin as well.
03:02 It's believed that his cousin was aware that the attack was going to take place, but he
03:06 didn't do anything about it or report it to the police.
03:10 We also know that 100 people have been questioned in this attack, and on the telephone of the
03:16 prosecutor, Mohamed M, on that telephone, he made an audio recording saying how much
03:22 he hated France.
03:24 He hated what he called the values of French people.
03:27 He hated the education he had received.
03:29 He hated democracy.
03:30 And of course, he pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group, too.