CREDIT TO NBC
During an editorial meeting, 12 people were killed at the Charlie Hebdo , a French, weekly satirical newspaper when three masked gunmen stormed the office yelling, ” Allahu Akbar.” This literally translates, “God is Great,” in Arabic.
Among those killed; editor and principal cartoonist, Stéphane Charbonnier, who built his career on defiance and the right to insult religion, 9 staff and two policemen. Charlie Hedbo received numerous threats over the years and in particular whenever they satirized Islam and in particular the Prophet Muhammad.
French police immediately formed a manhunt, and on January 7th, 18-year-old Hamyd Mourad, turned himself in. The two other men have been identified as brothers Said Kouachi and Cherif Kouachi, both French nationals in their early 30s. They were killed in a siege today, January 9th.
Hundreds of thousands of people around the globe are protesting and standing in solidarity with France in decrying this attack. Even while police were still searching for the gunmen, thousands gathered in Paris holding candles and signs proclaiming, “Je Suis Charlie,” meaning “I Am Charlie!” They understand that freedom of speech and of the press is at stake. Political correctness has had a good run and those days are coming to a close.
Already cartoonists around the world are drawing pictures depicting the massacre; one shows two pencils standing upright like the twin towers with a jet ready to fly into them. Another shows a masked gunman shooting a cartoonist with the caption, “He drew first.”
When thinking about freedom of speech and of the press through words and cartoons; oftentimes cartoonists can get the point across faster with one picture than a writer with a 1,000 words.
French President François Hollande, declared Thursday as a national day of mourning.
Flags will be flown at half mast for three days.
