VERSAILLES, France – In a sombre ceremony, France has paid homage to two police officials knifed to death this week in their home by a man claiming allegiance to the Islamic State group.
President Francois Hollande said during Friday’s ceremony in Versailles that measures would be taken to ensure anonymity for police, who have been shaken by the incident and feel targeted out of uniform.
He said off-duty police may now carry arms, but didn’t elaborate further.
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Hollande posthumously made the two victims, police officer Jean-Baptiste Salvaing and police administrator Jessica Schneider, knights of the Legion of Honor, France’s highest honour.
Hollande also denounced insults often heaped on police, calling officers “sentinels of the Republic.”
France remains under a state of emergency, declared after November’s Paris attacks that killed 130.