An eight-year-old boy from the south of France who claimed to support the men who attacked the satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo was detained and questioned by police for defending terrorism.

Fabienne Lewandowski, deputy director for public security in the Alpes-Maritimes region, said on Thursday that the boy declared “I am with the terrorists” and refused to take part in the national minute of silence for the victims. The storming of the newspaper offices left 12 people dead and launched three days of terror in the Paris region that killed a total of 20 people, including the gunmen.

A lawyer for the child says the decision to question the child at a police station shows a “collective hysteria.” Dozens of people have been arrested and accused of defending terrorism since the attacks.