About
Charlie Hebdo Terrorist Attack was a mass shooting that took place inside and near the headquarters building of the French weekly satirical news magazine in Paris in early January 2015, which resulted in the deaths of at least 12 people, including many staff journalists and cartoonists, as well as police officers, and left many more wounded. Following the attack, the unknown group of armed assailants fled the scene and the suspects still remains at large (as of 4:30 pm, EST).
Background
At around 11.30 a.m (GMT) on January 7th, 2015, two hooded men equipped with Kalashnikov rifles stormed the headquarters of Charlie Hebdo, a French left-wing satirical weekly newspaper that has been in active circulation since 1970, and opened fire, killing at least three police officers and nine employees[1], including the two most senior cartoonists and co-founders of the newspaper, Jean Cabut (better known as Cabu) and Georges Wollinsky, as well as the publication’s director Stéphane Charbonnier (Charb) and renowned cartoonist Bernard Verlhac (Tignous). In a cellphone video footage of the attack captured by a witness who took refuge on the rooftops of a nearby building (shown below), at least two armed attackers dressed in black were seen shooting firearms in the middle of an empty street while yelling Allahu Ackbar (Arabic: “God is greater”), while in another video footage of the scene, one of the armed assailants was apparently heard yelling “[they] avenged the Prophet Muhammad.”[2]
Notable Development
Images From the Scene
Online Reaction
On Twitter, the hashtag #Jesuischarlie (I am Charlie), created by Stylist magazine journalist Joachim Roncin[5] was launched for netizens to show their support for the victims[3]. The Facebook page “Je suis Charlie” has gained more than 70,000 likes within the first hours of its creation, calling for peaceful demonstrations everywhere in France and through out the world[7], as well as inviting everyone to change their profile avatar to a picture of “Je suis Charlie”. On the night of January 7th, French news outlets reported that thousands of demonstrators took their grievance against senseless violence to the streets in many cities and towns across the country.[11]
Official Response
As soon as the attack was acknowledged by the French government, president François Hollande made a speech condemning it, expressing his shock, mourning the tragic loss of lives and organizing a meeting to reevaluate France’s vigipirate plans to defend the country against foreign threats[8] (shown below).
International Reactions
Within hours of the ordeal, several news sites relayed public statements from countries around the world, especially from the US White House and John Kerry[4][9]. It also includes several Muslim organizations (such as the French CFCM) and Muslim netizens speaking against the attack and condemning it[10] (shown below).
Homage from Google
Google paid tribute to the victims by creating a doodle displaying a black ribbon on the front of its search homepage[6] (shown below).
External References
[1]Les Echos – En DIRECT Attentat à Charlie Hebdo : la France « touchée dans son coeur » selon Valls#
[2]BFMTV– EN DIRECT– Charlie Hebdo: les dessinateurs Cabu, Charb, Wolinski, et Tignous tués dans l’attentat
[3]Le Point – Charlie Hebdo – #Jesuischarlie : la solidarité s’exprime sur les réseaux sociaux
[4]Les Echos – Les réactions affluent après l’attentat à Charlie Hebdo
[5]Huffington Post – «Je suis Charlie» : qui est à l’origine de l’image et du slogan que le monde entier reprend par solidarité
[6]France Soir – Google Doodle: hommage aux victimes de «Charlie Hebdo»
[7]Facebook – Je suis Charlie
[8]Le Point – Carnage à “Charlie Hebdo” – Hollande : «C’est un attentat terrorist»
[9]LCI– Les condamnations de l’attentat de Charlie Hebdo arrivent du monde entier
[10]Le Telegramme – Sur les réseaux, la stupeur et l’horreur des musulmans de France