On October 16, 2020, teacher Samuel Paty walked through the gates of his school in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, a small riverside suburb west of Paris, for the very last time.
The history and civics buff was by all accounts a dedicated and engaging teacher who left a mark on students with gentleness and open-mindedness, a former pupil once said.
But for more than 10 days he had been subjected to a torrent of hatred and harassment online, accused of being an Islamophobe who would order Muslim pupils out of his classroom so he could delight in showing off caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad by satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo.
The allegations levelled against him whipped up such hatred that one young extremist decided to take matters into his own hands.
Paty, 47, was strolling along the pavement a stones throw away from Bois dAulne middle school when he was brutally stabbed to death and decapitated by Abdoullakh Anzorov, an 18-year-old Islamist radical of Chechen origin in full-view of horrified bystanders.
But it was only after Patys head was severed from his ravaged body - and with Anzorov lying dead in the street having been gunned down by gendarmes - that it was revealed the fatal campaign against him was sparked by a lie fabricated by one delinquent schoolgirl.
The girl in question, whose identity remains protected due to her age, delivered a tearful apology to Patys heartbroken family in a special court hearing yesterday more than four years after he was slain, French media reported.
Meanwhile, her father is standing trial along with several others for orchestrating the hateful smearing of the history teacher and soliciting the radical Islamist who carried out his gruesome murder.
History and geography teacher Samuel Paty, 47, was decapitated outside a school near Paris
Bernadette Paty and Gaelle Paty, mother and sister of slain school teacher Samuel Paty, attend the trial of eight people accused of involvement in the beheading of French history teacher Samuel Paty
People stand in front of flowers and candles next to a placard reading I am a teacher, I am Samuel at the entrance of a middle school in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, 30kms northwest of Paris, on October 17, 2020, after Paty was decapitated
Paty was violently stabbed to death and then decapitated by 18-year-old Chechen refugee Abdoullakh Anzorov on October 16, 2020
French President Emmanuel Macron leaves after paying his respects by the coffin of slain teacher Samuel Paty in the courtyard of the Sorbonne University during a national memorial event, Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2020
The Lie
The lethal saga began on October 5, when Monsieur Paty told his class they would be discussing an ethical dilemma as part of their civics class on free speech.
Paty was a firm believer in Frances sociological foundation of laïcité - secularism enshrined in the constitution that allows citizens to adhere to any faith and its associated practices in private life but stipulates that religion must be kept separate from public affairs, including education.
As such, he felt that as part of their instruction, his students should discuss the Charlie Hebdo massacre - when terrorists stormed the offices of the satirical paper and killed 12 people in cold blood.
He warned the class that the next day he would show them the caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad that had sparked the heinous attack on Charlie Hebdo.
He also said that any student who felt they might be offended by viewing the images could turn away, cover their eyes or not participate.
It was then that the young troublemaker, 13 at the time, decided to concoct what would prove to be a devastating lie.
Two days later, as she was being scolded by her mother for being temporarily suspended, the girl retorted that Paty had forced students to view the Charlie Hebdo cartoons and had excluded her when she complained.
In reality, she had never even attended the class in which the students were shown the caricatures, and no Muslim students were ordered out of the classroom.
In the grip of panic and stress, I told (my mother) that we had seen the cartoons, that I did not agree and that I had been excluded... I did not want to disappoint my parents by telling them that I was doing a lot of stupid things, she told a Parisian court in a hearing yesterday.
Less than two weeks later, Paty was lying dead in the street, his head hacked from his shoulders by Anzorovs blade after the Chechen-born refugee trekked more than 60 miles to hunt him down.
Mickaelle Paty, sister of slain school teacher Samuel Paty, arrives to attend the trial of eight people accused of involvement in the beheading of French history teacher Samuel Paty by a suspected Islamist in 2020 in an attack outside his school in the Paris suburb of Conflans-Sainte-Honorine
Pedestrians pass by a poster depicting French teacher Samuel Paty on November 3, 2020, following the decapitation of the teacher on October 16
Relatives and colleagues hold a picture of Samuel Paty
The Campaign
The schoolgirls falsehood was seized upon by her father Brahim Chnina, who is now on trial along with seven other adults.
He stands accused of launching the online harassment campaign against Paty and is facing charges of association with a terrorist organisation.
That evening, Chnina began posting about Patys alleged conduct and called for action against him.
In the first clip shared on social media, a masked Chnina said into the camera: I decided to make this video following the fact that my daughter was shocked by her teachers behaviour.
I dont like using the term teacher... he is a thug, a thug of history.
He went on to recount the fabricated tale that he forced Muslim kids out of his classroom, that his daughter refused to go and was shown a picture of the Prophet Muhammad naked.
What is this hatred? he declared.
The posts attracted the attention of Abdelhakim Sefrioui, an Islamist preacher, who partnered with Chnina and asked to film his daughter repeating her claims.
He asked me if he could film me. I didnt think he was mean, so I accepted. I repeated my lie, the girl reportedly told the court in Paris yesterday.
They also pushed the 13-year-old to file a police complaint and she duly did so, repeating the lie for a third time.
As a result, a confused Paty was called into the police station, telling officers he was confused as to why the student had made the allegation given that she wasnt even in his class on the day of the ethics debate.
Meanwhile, Chnina and Sefrioui continued to spread the allegations about Patys supposed Islamophobia with the aim, according to the prosecution, of designating a target, provoking a feeling of hatred and thus preparing several crimes.
Within two days of launching the campaign of harassment, Chnina came into contact with extremist Anzorov, with the pair calling one another nine times between October 9 and 13, the polices investigation showed.
Little more than a week after Chnina began spreading his daughters fake stories, Anzorov travelled from his home in Normandy to Conflans-Sainte-Honorine in preparation for his bloody assault.
Two of his young friends Naim Boudaoud and Azim Epsirkhanov, now 22 and 23, are accused of having accompanied the killer to a knife shop where he procured the deadly weapons.
Boudaoud is also accused of going with Anzorov to buy two replica guns and steel pellets the day of the attack. Epsirkhanov admitted he had received 800 euros from Anzorov to find him a real gun but had not succeeded.
Both are facing charges of complicity in terrorist murder, a crime punishable by life imprisonment.
General view of the courthouse on the Ile de la Cite on the first day of the trial of eight people accused of involvement in the beheading of French history teacher Samuel Paty by a suspected Islamist in 2020 in an attack outside his school in the Paris suburb of Conflans-Sainte-Honorine
Flowers and signs reading I am Samuel Paty are displayed at a makeshift memorial during a march (marche blanche) in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, northwest of Paris, in tribute to French teacher Samuel Paty
This court sketch made and published on November 4, 2024, shows (L-R) defendants Abdelhakim Sefrioui, Louqmane Ingar, Azim Epsirkhanov, Priscilla Mangel and Yusuf Cinar sitting during the trial of eight adults charged with contributing to the climate of hatred that led to an 18-year-old Islamist radical in the 2020 beheading teacher Samuel Paty
The Murder
On the fateful day that Paty was to be cut down, the teacher was pointed out to the terrorist by one of the lying girls friends at the gates of their middle school.
Anzorov, having waited outside the premises for some two hours in anticipation of Patys departure, subsequently tailed the unsuspecting teacher for a few hundred metres until he turned a corner at the end of the road.
He had told pupils at the gates that he was going to humiliate Paty and make him apologise for the cartoon.
In reality, the 18-year-old extremist launched an extremely violent assault with a 12-inch-long knife.
He stabbed Paty several times in broad daylight on the pavement of a main road, puncturing his abdomen and slicing at his head and arms.
With the defenceless 47-year-old bleeding on the concrete, Anzorov stood over him and began sawing at his neck, eventually cutting the teachers head clean off his shoulders.
His savage attack complete, Anzorov promptly snapped several pictures of Patys corpse and head, uploading the images to social media.
One image posted to Twitter from a burner account was accompanied by the caption: To (French President) Macron, leader of the infidels - I executed one of your hellhounds who dared to belittle Muhammad.
Calm his fellow human beings before a harsh punishment is inflicted on you.
The sickening images also spread like wildfire through the Snapchat social media account and were picked up by many of the schools students.
Anzorov then fled the scene but only made it a few hundred metres before armed police surrounded him. When they ordered him to come quietly, he began shooting at the officers with an airgun.
They promptly returned fire and shot him dead on the spot, with a terrified resident capturing Anzorovs fate on video shot from the first-storey window of a nearby house.
The schoolgirl whose fabricated tale started the entire saga told the court in Paris yesterday that she learned of her teachers death watching the news that evening.
She was later sent a picture of Patys lifeless and headless body.
I collapsed in my sisters arms. I collapsed in my mothers arms... I called my father. I felt his trembling voice, she said.
The next day, I learned on television that my father was in police custody.
But even after Patys murder, the girl doubled down on her story.
It was only after 30 hours in police custody and two separate bouts of questioning that she finally confessed the truth.
My teacher had been decapitated, my father was in police custody, I couldnt say it was false, she admitted.
A photograph taken on October 16, 2023, shows a portrait of slain French teacher Samuel Paty during a tribute ceremony at the Bois dAulne school in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, outside Paris
National Assembly president Richard Ferrand (C) stands among French MPs near a photo of late teacher Samuel Paty, as they pay tribute on October 20, 2020
Hundreds of people gather on Republique square during a demonstration Sunday Oct. 18, 2020 in Paris in support of freedom of speech and to pay tribute to a French history teacher who was beheaded near Paris
The Aftermath
Patys murder horrified France.
Mass protests erupted in the days after his death with tens of thousands of people taking to city streets, particularly in the capital, to mourn his death and demonstrate against Islamic extremism.
Social media campaigns were also launched, styled on the #JeSuisCharlie movement that swept France following the 2015 Charlie Hebdo attacks, in support of free speech and secularism.
President Emmanuel Macron visited Patys school and declared that our compatriot was killed for teaching children freedom of speech.
He later paid respects at the teachers coffin and delivered a rousing speech on the steps of the Elysee Palace in which he declared Paty the face of the Republic, of our desire to crush terrorism, to push back the Islamists, and to live as a community of free citizens in our country.
Patys killing even sparked a change in legislation, with the French government adopting new laws months after his death that granted authorities more powers to crack down on extremism, investigate suspicious religious funding and close down places of worship if they are found to have promoted hate or violence.
Meanwhile, after extensive investigations, Chninas daughter went on trial last year along with five co-defendants, all of whom were aged 14-15 at the time of Patys slaying, for their involvement in the case.
Five of the six received little more than a slap on the wrist, having been handed suspended sentences.
The schoolgirl who invented the lie was placed on 18 months probation for the slanderous allegations she made against Paty that ultimately proved the catalyst for his murder.
Only one of the pupils received a six-month term with an electronic tag after being identified as the person who identified Paty to Anzorov.
The schoolgirl concluded her testimony in court yesterday with a tearful apology to Samuel Patys family - sisters Mickaelle and Gaelle and mother Bernadette.
I know its hard to hear, but I wanted to apologise... I wanted to apologise sincerely. Im sorry for destroying your life, she reportedly said through tears.
I apologise for my lie that brought us all back here, she added, admitting to those in attendance, including the accused: Without me, no one would be here.
The words will offer little comfort to the family of Paty, even as his memory lives on in France and beyond as a champion of free speech and a hero in the fight against extremism.
The trial of her father and the seven other adults suspected of involvement in Patys gruesome death is set to conclude on December 20.