People gather on Place de la Republique in Paris on October 18, 2020, in homage to history teacher Samuel Paty two days after he was beheaded by an attacker who was shot dead by policemen. Photo: AFP

Thousands of people gathered in central Paris on Sunday to pay homage to the teacher decapitated two days ago for showing cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed to his pupils.

Demonstrators held aloft posters declaring: "No to totalitarianism of thought" and "I am a teacher" in memory of the victim Samuel Paty.