Man who saved lives at Paris grocery gets French citizenship
Source: Associated Press
Man who saved lives at Paris grocery gets French citizenship
By SYLVIE CORBET, Associated Press | January 20, 2015 | Updated: January 20, 2015 4:08pm
PARIS (AP) — French authorities on Tuesday honored a Mali-born employee who saved lives at the kosher supermarket attacked by terrorists as a hero and granted him French citizenship.
Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve praised Muslim Lassana Bathily, 24, for his "courage" and "heroism" during a ceremony in the presence of Prime Minister Manuel Valls.
Cazeneuve said Bathily's "act of humanity has become a symbol of an Islam of peace and tolerance."
"Tonight I'm very proud and deeply touched," Bathily said with tears in his eyes, humbly stressing that he doesn't consider himself a hero. "I am Lassana. I'll stay true to myself."
"People are all equal to me and skin color isn't a matter. France is the country of human rights," he added.
Bathily was in the store's underground stockroom when gunman Amedy Coulibaly burst in upstairs on January 9 and killed four people. He turned off the stockroom's freezer and hid a group of shoppers inside before sneaking out through a fire escape to speak to police and help them with their operation to free the 15 hostages and kill the attacker.
Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/world/article/Man-who-saved-lives-at-Paris-grocery-gets-French-6027588.php
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> Cazeneuve said Bathily's "act of humanity has become a symbol of an Islam of peace and tolerance."
