Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Charlie Hebdo: Man regrets 'stupid' decision to put video of police officer's death online

Jordi Mir's footage of Ahmed Merabet’s murder spread around the world

Monday 12 January 2015 10:09 GMT

A screen grab of Jordi Mir's video of the murder of Ahmed Merabet outside the Charlie Hebdo offices

A man who filmed the Charlie Hebdo killers murdering an unarmed police officer in Paris has said putting it online was a “stupid reflex” caused by years on social media.

Jordi Mir, an engineer in his 50s, told the Associated Press he realised putting the footage of Ahmed Merabet’s death on Facebook was a mistake within minutes but when he took it down 15 minutes later, it was too late to stop it spreading around the world.

He did not realise what he was filming at first on Wednesday morning, when he walked to his window after being disturbed by the sound of gunshots.

Mr Mir initially thought a bank robbery was being carried out and believed gunmen Said and Cherif Kouachi were part of a police SWAT team, unaware they had just massacred 11 people at the Charlie Hebdo offices.

“I was completely panicked,” he said, being interviewed across the Parisian boulevard where Mr Merabet was shot dead.

Ahmed Merabet, 42, died outside the offices of Charlie Hebdo magazine after being shot by armed attackers on 7 January 2015 (Facebook)

“I had to speak to someone. I was alone in my flat. I put the video on Facebook. That was my error.”

Less than an hour after he took it down, Mr Mir said he was horrified to see his footage airing on the television and spreading on YouTube.

The 42-second clip shows two masked gunmen – later revealed to be the Kouachi brothers - walking towards 42-year-old Mr Merabet as he lay on the ground injured.

“You want to kill us?” one of the brothers says as he strides toward the wounded officer.

“No, it's OK, boss,” Merabet says, raising his hand in a gesture of surrender. He was then shot point-blank in the head.

The footage prompted a new wave of horror and revulsion as the world reeled from the Charlie Hebdo attack. The front page of the next day’s Le Figaro newspaper featured a still from the video over an editorial called “war”.

As police started arriving at the scene, Mr Mir downloaded his video on to a memory device and rushed outside to hand it to officers, before putting it online.

Malek Merabet speaks about the death of his police officer brother Ahmed in the Charlie Hebdo magazine attacks (AFP)

Mr Mir said he had “no answer” to what prompted him to share the footage with his 2,500 Facebook friends, except force of habit after a decade of social networking.

“I take a photo - a cat - and I put it on Facebook. It was the same stupid reflex,” he said, adding that if he could go back he would never have posted it.

“On Facebook, there's no confidentiality,” he said. “It's a lesson for me.”

The video's publication around the world has distressed Mr Merabet's family, who have had to re-live his murder every day.

“How dare you take that video and broadcast it?” his brother, Malek, asked journalists on Saturday. “I heard his voice. I recognised him. I saw him get slaughtered and I hear him get slaughtered every day.”

A person at a vigil in Berlin holds up a 'Je suis Ahmed' poster during a rally on Sunday 11 January 2015. (AFP/Getty Images)

He urged people not to confuse terrorists with Muslims like his brother, who he said was a “pillar” of the family who was proud to serve the public in France for eight years in the police and stood by the national principles of “Liberté, égalité, fraternité”.

Asa Cusack, a research fellow at the University of London, wrote in the Huffington Post that the video had stripped Mr Merabet of his dignity.

His death sparked the #jesuisAhmed hashtag as the world paid tribute to the officer who died defending a magazine that ridiculed his faith.

Mr Mir wanted the officer’s family to know he was “very sorry” and that he had refused offers to buy the footage and asked media organisations to blur Mr Merabet's image before running it.

Many outlets broadcast the unedited footage without permission, he said.

In pictures: Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack

Show all 39

1/39In pictures: Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack

In pictures: Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack

Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack

Pencils, representing the freedom of expression, placed in tribute in Nantes

Reuters

In pictures: Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack

Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack

France's Jason Lamy Chappuis soars through the air over a message that reads "Je suis Charlie"

Getty

In pictures: Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack

Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack

Solidarity in Nice

AP

In pictures: Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack

Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack

Turkish citizens organised a vigil in front of the French consulate in Istanbul

AFP

In pictures: Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack

Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack

Graffiti decorates a London wall in solidarity with the victims of the attack in Paris

AFP

In pictures: Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack

Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack

A tribute of flowers and candles outside the French Embassy in Prague, Czech Republic

AP

In pictures: Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack

Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack

Messages of sympathy near the Charlie Hebdo office in Paris

AFP

In pictures: Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack

Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack

Workers install a poster reading 'Je suis Charlie' (I am Charlie) on the Palais des Festivals facade in Cannes

In pictures: Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack

Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack

A woman looks at floral tributes left outside the Charlie Hebdo magazine offices in Paris

In pictures: Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack

Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack

A woman places flowers near the offices of French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo in Paris

In pictures: Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack

Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack

Journalists of international press agency Agence France-Presse (AFP) hold signs reading "Je suis Charlie" (I am Charlie) at their headquarters in Paris as they observe a minute of silence for the victims of an attack by armed gunmen on the offices of French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo in Paris which left at least 12 dead and many others injured

In pictures: Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack

Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack

Pens and pencils are placed in the form of a peace sign over the names of late French cartoonists Cabu, Tignous, Wolinski and late Charlie Hebdo editor Charb on the Place de la Republique (Republic Square) in Paris

In pictures: Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack

Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack

Australia mourns victims of the Paris massacre at Federation Square in Melbourne

In pictures: Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack

Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack

Indian artist Sudarsan Pattnaik is pictured with his sand sculpture, in tribute of those who lost their lives in the attack by gunmen on French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo in Paris that killed 12 people, at Golden Sea Beach in Puri, some 65 kilometers from Bhubaneswar

In pictures: Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack

Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack

A man holds a placard that reads "I am Charlie" as members of the European Parliament and citizens gather during a minute of silence for victims of the shooting at the Paris offices of weekly newspaper Charlie Hebdo, in front of the EU Parliament in Brussels

In pictures: Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack

Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack

A painting of the 'Marianne', the national symbol of the French Republic is placed between candles to commemorate the victims killed in an attack at the Paris offices of the weekly newspaper Charlie Hebdo, in front of the French Embassy in Berlin

In pictures: Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack

Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack

Pencils and flowers of condolance are placed at the French embassy at Pariser Platz in Berlin

In pictures: Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack

Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack

Mourners hold signs depicting victim's eyes during a rally in support of Charlie Hebdo, a French satirical weekly newspaper that fell victim to an terrorist attack, at Union Square in New York

In pictures: Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack

Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack

People hold up placards reading 'I am Charlie' during a gathering in Nice

Getty Images

In pictures: Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack

Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack

A man lights candles set near the portrait of three of the four cartoonists killed, in Paris

Getty Images

In pictures: Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack

Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack

A man holds the French national flag tied a black ribbon as he and others gather in Lyon to pay their respects

Getty Images

In pictures: Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack

Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack

Parisians gather to pay respect for the victims of a terror attack against 'Charlie Hebdo'

Getty Images

In pictures: Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack

Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack

People gather in front of the 'Club de la presse' in Montpellier, to show their solidarity for the victims of the attack by unknown gunmen on the offices of the satirical weekly, 'Charlie Hebdo'

Getty Images

In pictures: Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack

Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack

A drawing depicting cartoonist Jean Cabut, left, Charlie Hebdo editor Stephane Charbonnier, center, and cartoonist Georges Wolinski, is placed outside the French Embassy in Berlin, Germany. The message reads 'Victims of their success, R.I.P.'

AP

In pictures: Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack

Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack

A woman lays a candle during a gathering at the Place de la Republique in Paris

Getty Images

In pictures: Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack

Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack

People take part in a vigil in Trafalgar Square, London, following the deadly terror attack on French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris

PA

In pictures: Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack

Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack

People light candles forming the name Charlie during a gathering in Strasbourg, eastern France

Getty Images

In pictures: Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack

Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack

People stand stand in Marseille, southern France, next to a portrait of French cartoonist Georges Wolinksi, killed during an attack by unknown gunmen on the offices of the satirical weekly, 'Charlie Hebdo'

Getty Images

In pictures: Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack

Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack

People hold placards reading in French 'I am Charlie' during a gathering at the Place de la Republique in Paris

Getty Images

In pictures: Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack

Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack

A man holds a placard reading 'With all our heart with Charlie Hebdo, Freedom of the press: Our freedom' during a gathering in Marseille, southern France

Getty Images

In pictures: Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack

Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack

The French and European union flags fly at half-mast at the French Embassy in Washington, DC

Getty Images

In pictures: Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack

Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack

People gather at the Place Royale in Nantes to show their solidarity for the victims of the attack in Paris

Getty Images

In pictures: Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack

Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack

Flowers, candles and a sign reading 'I am Charlie' are placed against a wall during a demonstration in Paris

AP

In pictures: Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack

Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack

Journalism students hold a banner reading in French: 'Journalism students : Solidarity' as they raise pens during a gathering at the Place de la Republique in Paris

Getty Images

In pictures: Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack

Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack

People gather for a rally in solidarity with the killed Charlie Hebdo employees, in Geneva, Switzerland

EPA

In pictures: Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack

Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack

A man holds a placard reading: 'Freedom of the press is priceless, fundamentalism, of any kind, will not pass' as others hold up placards reading in French, 'I am Charlie' during a gathering at the Place de la Republique in Paris

Getty Images

In pictures: Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack

Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack

Journalists raise their press cards as others hold up pens during a gathering at the Place de la Republique, following the terrorist attack on the offices of the satirical weekly, 'Charlie Hebdo'

Getty Images

In pictures: Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack

Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack

People hold candles at a rally in support of the victims of Wednesday's terrorist attack, at the Place de la Republique in Paris

Getty Images

In pictures: Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack

Reaction to Charlie Hebdo attack

People gather in front of the city hall of Rennes, western France, following the attack in Paris

Getty Images

Mr Merabet said he has been told his video helped galvanise international opinion and compared it to a “war photo” like Robert Capa's controversial “the falling soldier”, an image of a fighter being shot dead during the Spanish Civil War.

The Kouachi brothers went on the run for two days before being killed in a shoot-out with police at a print works north of Paris on Friday. Their associate Amedy Coulibaly took more than a dozen shoppers, including a baby, hostage at a kosher supermarket and threatened to kill them if police made a move on the brothers.

He had murdered a police woman the day before and killed four hostages before being shot dead by officers who stormed the shop.

Additional reporting by AP

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies