EXCLUSIVE - Minute's silence after Arras attack: 'I'm going to kill teachers too', the document that lists the disruptions

Louise Sallé with Gauthier Delomez / Photo credits: Ronan Houssin / NurPhoto / NurPhoto via AFP 18:00 p.m., October 19, 2023, modified at 18:01 p.m., October 19, 2023

From laughter to death threats, including refusals to attend the minutes of silence: more than 500 disturbances and protests at the tribute paid on Monday to Dominique Bernard, the teacher killed in the terrorist attack in Arras, have so far been recorded, according to a police source. Europe 1 has obtained an official dashboard listing, department by department, the situations observed in schools, colleges and high schools.

>> READ ALSO - Arras pays tribute to Dominique Bernard, "sensitive", "discreet" and loved teacher

Hauts-de-France most affected by disruptions

It is first of all the Hauts-de-France that is most concerned by cases of non-respect of the minute of silence. In Pas-de-Calais, there were 73 incidents in middle and high schools. As for the Nord department, 54 situations have been reported, 16 of which have been reported to the public prosecutor.

On the whole, there are slight disturbances to the homage paid in the institutions. In this dashboard, there are many cases of laughter, smiles, even verbal provocations with the mention "Allah Akbar", terms used by the Arras attacker. One example is a 4th grade student in Dordogne, who said "Alluha Akbara" in Spanish class but later said he didn't understand what it meant. Situations that may have led to reprimands from the educational team or disciplinary proceedings.

"He looked for it, he deserved it"

Other reported cases seem to raise more questions. At a high school in Saint-Quentin, a student mimed Kalashnikov shots after the tribute and gave the impression that he was in agreement with the terrorist attack. In the Bouches-du-Rhône region, disturbing comments have caught the attention of teaching staff. "I hope others will have the courage to kill other teachers," said one high school student. "The history teacher did something, I hope later I will do something to a teacher," said a middle school student. "He was right to kill him," said a young first-grader.

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Elsewhere, other phrases have been reported. "It's well done for him, he's been looking for it, it's deserved," said a high school student in Gironde, or "I'm going to kill teachers too," said a middle school student from the Meuse. Young students also downplayed what happened to the teacher. "It's nothing, it's just a teacher who got killed, I don't care", or "I don't care about the teacher who died, well done for him" are some of the scenes recounted in this dashboard consulted by Europe 1.

Death threats in several departments

Threats against teachers are also reported in the document, including death threats. Examples are cited in Hérault, Isère, Pyrénées-Orientales and Yonne. In Calvados, just before the minute's silence, a high school student told a teacher and warned him that he would "give him an Arras" if the date of an assessment was maintained.

Among the disruptions were also students who defended this terrorist act or showed their support for Hamas, the Palestinian terrorist organization. Finally, it should be noted that in South Corsica, no incident was observed in three schools and for good reason, at the call of the SNALC teaching union, the students were asked to go home because the teachers castigated the fact that they only had two hours to discuss these events. A minute's silence was to be held on Thursday, on the occasion of Dominique Bernard's funeral.