The initiative is as astounding as it is wretched. Thirty young people, mostly girls, gathered Saturday in the district of Toulouse, where Mohamed Merah came from, to honor the memory of the killer of seven people shot dead by police Thursday, comparing their suffering to the families of the victims. One hundred members of security forces surrounded this event during which a woman wearing a full veil exhorted the group.
"What we ask today is that we stop demonizing Mohamed, that's it, he died," she said. "We share the pain and suffering of the families because it is the same pain for us here," said the girl, who declined to give her name. "I think what influenced him is what he has seen in his many travels. He could not manage all that. It was still a teenager in his head, despite his 23 years. "
The police had detected other calls to demonstrate in Toulouse Saturday morning and prevented the group from joining another. The demonstration was dispersed in the late afternoon without incident. This is not the first tribute to the author of the murders of three soldiers and four of the Jewish faith, including three children. Just hours after the death of Mohammed Merah, several Facebook pages have been created in his honor. Graffiti saying "Viva Merah", "Vengeance" and "Fuck the kippa" were also identified and cleaned up.
This article was distributed by Reuters, but can only be found in one English-language news source, from Italy. The idea that Muslims are supporting Merah is political dynamite that news editors prefer not to touch.
And earlier from Europe1:
Just hours the after the death of Mohammed Merah, several Facebook pages created to honor Him. It one of them, the creator had written this message on the wall of the page: "400 Police officers for one person ... long live France. "Some 36 Jewish graves were also desecrated in a cemetery in Nice.
Within hours, a little less than 500 people had time to "Like" the page. While some users lamented the establishment of the page, others clearly showed their support for Mohamed Merah and radical Islam.
Quickly, the Central Office of the Fight Against Crime connected with information technology and communication asked Facebook Europe to close the page, titled "Homage to Mohamed Merah (Toulouse)." It took the involvement of the Ministry of Interior for the page to be permanently removed.
(h/t Samson)