Kosher grocery employee, a Muslim, hailed as hero for hiding customers

Bathily, a “practicing Muslim,” says he entered the freezer with some people, then switched off the freezer and the light and told everyone to stay calm, according to BFMTV.

“I’m the one (who) is going to go out,” he reportedly told them. “I took the elevator and went upstairs.”

A man who claims to be Bathily’s cousin, Abdoul Bathily, posted, “Bravo to my cousin, Lass Bathily, you showed courage yesterday, the rest of the world would not have done it.”

France’s “L’Express” newspaper ran a headline titled, “Lassana Bathily, ‘musulman malien,’ héros de la prise d’otages de Vincennes,” or “Lassana Bathily, ‘Malian Muslim,’ hero of the hostage situation in Vincennes.”

CNN