How’s this for irony? The first police officer killed during Wednesday’s barbaric attack on the offices of the satirical weekly publication Charlie Hebdo, committed by Muslim terrorists in the supposed defense of the Muslim faith, was reportedly himself a Muslim.
Without even realizing it, they executed one of their own, as he lay injured on the sidewalk pleading for his life.
The man has been identified as Ahmed Merabet, 42, who was patrolling the area and was among the first law enforcement officers to arrive on the scene, according to The Independent, which reported:
Mr Merabet is seen in footage released by Reuters begging the gunmen to spare his life in the 11th arrondissement of Paris, where the offices of the publication are situated, before he was shot more than once. The man is survived by his wife.
After being shot the first time, the gunmen wearing balaclavas and holding Kalashnikov rifles are seen running past the police officer – who had his hands up in surrender – and shot in his direction again at point-blank range as he was lying on the pavement outside the offices.
The masked gunmen is [sic] heard asking the police officer “Do you want to kill me?” before he allegedly replied “No, it is OK chief” before one of them shot him a second time round amid an attack described as the worst in France in 50 years
The following video depicts the terrorists callously executing Merabe while he clearly indicated surrender with his raised hands.
CAUTION: The video is graphic and may be distressing to some.
http://youtu.be/tVDkFi-WBTA
Here’s a tweeted photo of Merabet taken in happier times, the way he should be remembered.
First victim of #CharlieHebdo attack was French Muslim cop Ahmed Merabet. pic.twitter.com/XGdnPdSlVY #JeSuisCharlie
— Lee McKerracher (@LeeMcKerracher) January 8, 2015
Another officer, Franck Brinsolaro, who was serving as a police bodyguard on the premises, was also murdered during the bloodbath. He was a married father of two.
