The French Muslim police officer who was murdered as he responded to the Charlie Hebdo terror attack in Paris is being honoured by a Twitter campaign: #JeSuisAhmed.
Ahmed Merabet, who rushed to the scene of the massacre on his bicycle, was shot dead in the street outside the offices of the magazine Charlie Hebdo – and now his name is sweeping the internet as people mark his heroism.
As news of the shootings that claimed 12 lives spread on Wednesday, Twitter users began posting the phrase #JeSuisCharlie. Just hours after the incident, it had been used by hundreds of thousands of people to express solidarity with the victims. Merabet’s name is now also trending globally on Twitter.
The officer, aged 42, who was from the north-eastern suburbs of Paris, was killed as he tried to stop the two heavily armed killers from fleeing the offices of the satirical magazine that had poked fun at his religion.
Some of the posts mourning the officer have been retweeted thousands of times. Twitter user @Aboujahjah posted “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. #JesuisAhmed,” while @WaseemYusaf posted: “Sir, you are the kind of Muslim I want to be linked to #jeSuisAhmed #JeSuisCharlie”
Merabet’s colleague Franck Brinsolaro, 49, was also killed as he went to the aid of the journalists. He worked as a protection officer for the magazine’s editor Stephane Charbonnier who faced death threats for publishing cartoons that were deemed offensive by terror groups,
