French Muslim asks for hugs at Paris-attack mourning site

A French Muslim man asked crowds at the Place de la Republique in Paris, France for hugs after gunmen and suicide bombers killed at least 129 people across the city Friday night.

A video posted by Facebook page "In the NOW" on Tuesday showed the man blindfolded while standing near a memorial at the square. He had two signs in French, one of which read, "I'm a Muslim, but I'm told that I'm a terrorist," while the other read, "I trust you, do you trust me? If yes, hug me."

One by one, the onlookers approached and opened their arms to the man. The gesture moved some to tears.

At the end of his act, the man who was not identified thanked the people for giving him a hug.

"I did this to send a message to everyone. I am a Muslim, but that doesn't make me a terrorist. I never killed anybody. I can even tell you that last Friday was my birthday, but I didn't go out. I deeply feel for all the victims' families," he said.,

"I want to tell you that 'Muslim' doesn't necessarily mean terrorist. A terrorist is a terrorist, someone willing to kill another human being over nothing."

Terrorist organization Islamic State claimed responsibility for the Paris attacks.

In 12 hours, the video was viewed 1,162,130 times. It had also earned over 24,000 likes and 42,200 reposts.

Meanwhile, UK news site The Guardian reported that French Muslim and Jewish leaders gathered at the Bataclan concert hall, where at least 80 people were killed, to show solidarity with the victims and their families.

Muslims all over the world also condemned the attacks in Paris through social media with the hashtags #NotInMyName and #IAmAMuslim. — Trisha Macas/DVM, GMA News