Muslim Hero of Jewish Supermarket Attack Will Be Given French Citizenship

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.

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