Muslim Hero of Jewish Supermarket Attack Will Be Given French Citizenship

This is a Friday, Jan. 9, 2015 file photo of a security officer directs released hostages after they stormed a kosher market to end a hostage situation, Paris. Explosions and gunshots were heard as police forces stormed a kosher grocery in Paris where a gunman was holding at least five people hostage. At the kosher supermarket in Paris, a quick-thinking Muslim employee hides several Jewish shoppers in the basement before sneaking out to brief police on the hostage-taker upstairs. (AP Photo/Michel Euler, File)
Michel Euler—AP
By Noah Rayman
January 15, 2015

A Muslim employee of a kosher grocery store in Paris who helped protect customers during an attack on the store last week will receive French citizenship, the Interior Ministry said Thursday.

Lassana Bathily, 24, has been hailed as a hero for ushering several customers into a walk-in freezer to hide them from the attack. Almost 300,000 people have signed an online petition to grant him citizenship.

Bathily, originally from Mali, has lived in France since 2006 and requested citizenship in July, according to the Interior Ministry. A naturalization ceremony will be held on Tuesday.

Four people were killed when a gunman stormed the store on Friday and took hostages. Police later killed the gunman in nearly simultaneous raids on the store and a printing plant north of Paris where two suspects in the deadly attack on the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo were holed up.

Write to Noah Rayman at noah.rayman@time.com.

SPONSORED FINANCIAL CONTENT

Read More From TIME

Read More From TIME

EDIT POST

Subscribe & Save

Subscribe today and save up to 84% off the cover price.
SUBSCRIBE NOW

Sign Up for Our Newsletters

Sign up to receive the top stories you need to know now on politics, health and more
SUBSCRIBE