Skip to content
  1. Home
  2. News

The World Reports: Je Suis Charlie; Attack on Paris Newspaper (with VIDEO)

12 people have been killed in a terrorist attack on France's Charlie Hebdo, a paper that published satirical political, religious cartoons
Kolby Solinsky
69668BCLN2007n_Montreal-Vigil20150107T1845
Montrealers hold signs of JE SUIS CHARLIE


In the video above, a crowd in Montreal holds a vigil to remember the victims of Wednesday's terrorist attacks in Paris, France – a shooting by three masked gunman (since identified) that killed 12 people at the offices of the satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo.

"I want to express my indignation in the face of an act that's only a reflection of hatred, basic hatred," said on woman, at the vigil. "It only nourishes hatred and misunderstanding in a world where we badly need to talk to one another, to understand each other, and to get together and to show some kind of solidarity.

"It's horrifying and it's a real tragedy."

Video: The Canadian Press

**********

3:55 p.m. PST

On Wednesday afternoon, French police identified three men as suspects in the shooting:

"Two officials named the suspects as Frenchmen Said Kouachi and Cherif Kouachi, who are brothers and in their early 30s, as well as 18-year-old Hamyd Mourad, whose nationality wasn't immediately clear," writes Jamey Keaten and Lori Hinnant, with AP.

"One of the officials said they were linked to a Yemeni terrorist network. A witness of Wednesday's shootings at the offices of weekly satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo said one of the attackers told onlookers, 'You can tell the media that it's al-Qaida in Yemen.'"

**********

3:47 p.m. PST

Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at, a Canadian Muslim community organization, has released a statement denouncing Wednesday's attack:

"We offer our heartfelt condolences to the victims and those left bereaved," it reads. "It is never right to provoke the religious feelings/sentiments of any religious person. Although, it is a great source of regret that such violent acts and terrorist activities continued to be associated with Islam – despite the fact they have nothing to do with Islam's true teachings.

"It is hoped that the perpetrators of today's attack are swiftly arrested and brought to justice with the full weight of the law."

**********

In the video below, federal NDP leader Tom Mulcair speaks about the attack on the offices of Paris's Charlie Hebdo newspaper, a weekly satirical French publication where three masked gunmen shot and killed 12 people on Wednesday.

The magazine was known for its provocative cartoons, many of them directed at the Muslim religion.

Mulcair called it a "criminal, cowardly act" – but he said it "must become a rallying cry for those of us who hold to the important of those freedoms (of religion, expression, speech) to defend them more than ever."

CP reports it's the "deadliest postwar terror attack" in France.

President Francois Hollande has called the shootings "a terrorist attack without a doubt"; Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper also commented on the shootings, calling it "barbaric".

"This barbaric act – along with recent attacks in Sydney, (Australia), Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, and Ottawa – is a grim reminder that no country is immune to the types of terrorist attacks we have seen elsewhere around the world."

"Canada and its allies will not be intimidated and will continue to stand firmly together against terrorists who would threaten the peace, freedom and democracy our countries so dearly value. Canadians stand with France on this dark day."

(Video: The Canadian Press)

**********

Twitter has been flooded today with shots of cartoons scribbled in support of Charlie Hebdo, and of rallies in Paris – and demonstrations elsewhere in the world – in opposition to the attack.

Those have been embedded below.

Read: '20 Heartbreaking Cartoons From Artists Responding To The Charlie Hebdo Shooting' by BuzzFeed (Jan. 7, 2015)