FACT CHECK: Does This Photo Show The Teacher Beheaded In France Holding A ‘Refugees Welcome’ Sign?

Trevor Schakohl | Legal Reporter

An image shared on Facebook allegedly shows Samuel Paty, a teacher recently beheaded in France, holding a “Refugees Welcome” sign.

Verdict: False

The man in the photo has been misidentified. The pictured man appears to be British playwright and Good Chance co-founder Joe Robertson.

Fact Check:

The image features three individuals – two women and one man – holding signs with the message “Refugees Welcome.” The caption suggests that the man “in the middle was the beheading victim.”

“I’ll also remind you that the one in the middle was beheaded by a refugee,” reads the text accompanying the photo. “Look up Teacher in France beheaded by refugee.” (RELATED: Does This Photo Show An Anti-Lockdown Protest In London?)

Paty, a history and geography teacher, was decapitated Oct. 16 in a Paris suburb after showing caricatures of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad to his class, according to The Associated Press. The suspect, who was killed by police, was an 18-year-old Russian-born Chechen refugee, according to NBC News.

However, the image being shared doesn’t show Paty. The U.K. theater company Good Chance on Oct. 17 tweeted the photo, identifying the people pictured as “the Good Chance team.”

“Today the Good Chance team are in Folkestone to #WelcomeRefugees,” reads the tweet. “The people of Kent are out in force at the Napier Barracks to let people know that they are WELCOME.”

The people pictured appear to be Good Chance Artistic Associate Amy Reade, Executive Director Naomi Webb and Robertson. Photos of them are available on Good Chance’s website.

Media outlets such as France 24 and BBC News have published photos of Paty. He does not closely resemble Robertson.

Trevor Schakohl

Legal Reporter
Follow Trevor on Twitterhttps://twitter.com/tschakohl

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