London coffee shop threatened over ‘Je suis Charlie’ sign

The terrible events that took place in France last week have dominated headlines in many European countries. On social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter the phrase ‘Je suis Charlie’ became an immediate trending topic with staying power and only a few days ago, with the tragedy still raw in the hearts and minds of many Parisians, memorial services were held in the French capital.

Issues will continue to be debated as it appears to be incredibly likely that a new discourse on the fine line that freedom of speech and expression balances, but conflicting opinions, unfortunately, threatened to boil over in a British coffee shop in an event that highlights just how heightened tensions are at the moment.

Adel Defilaux, a coffee shop owner in East London, has vowed he won’t back down after receiving death threats from an individual for displaying the ‘Je suis Charlie’ catchphrase outside his premises.

The French-born Defilaux stated that his cafe was stormed early yesterday morning who had taken umbrage with slogan.

“He came in very aggressively and he told me to remove the sign,” Defilaux, 32, has said.

“I asked him why and he said his community was offended by it and said if I didn’t remove it something bad was going to happen.”

But despite his calm protestations, Mr Defilaux, himself a Muslim, was told that anybody who was showing any sign of solidarity with the satirical French publication should die.

“I calmly explained to him that what he was saying was not the reality of Island. I thought that I could calm him down, but it had the opposite effect.

“He said: ‘I believe these people deserve to be killed’….I was all alone and started getting scared,” Defilaux continued.

“He was a dangerous person. He said [that] if I didn’t take down the sign he would smash up the shop, and then he just left.”

Mr Defilaux swapped the south coast of France and Marseille for the United Kingdom half a decade ago stated that he had erected the sign in order to show support all of France, and that he had received no complaints from the local community, including a nearby mosque.

Police have since launched an investigation and have begun scouring through CCTV footage.

A police spokesman said that “officers from Tower Hamlets attended and are in contact with the shopkeeper in order to try and identify the person responsible.”