(image: The Telegraph)

Thursday will be a day of national mourning across France, with a minute’s silence to remember the victims of the country’s deadliest act of terrorism in fifty years.

In the wake of the shocking attack on the offices of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, in which 12 people, two police officers and ten employees of the magazine – including some of the nation’s most prominent political cartoonists – were killed and a further 11 wounded, French President Francois Hollande told the nation:

An act of exceptional barbarism has been committed in Paris against a newspaper. A paper – in other words, an organ of free speech. An act against journalists who had always wanted to show that in France it was possible to defend one’s ideas, and exercise their rights that are guaranteed and protected by the Republic.

A massive manhunt followed for three suspects, identified as two brothers in their thirties and a third man aged 18, culminating – amid conflicting reports late tonight – in the apparent surrender of the youngest suspect. The other men, named as Cherif and Said Kouachi, remain at large. One of them is understood to have been previously convicted on terrorism charges.

The heavily-armed attackers struck at the magazine’s offices during the weekly editorial meeting, storming the building and killing a police officer assigned to protect the staff. Witneses say they sought out and shot editor Stephane Charbonnier and sprayed the office with bullets before escaping in a waiting car, on the way exchanging fire with a second police officer then executing him on the sidewalk. It appeared a relatively sophisticated, planned attack. Witnesses said the gunmen had yelled “The Prophet has been avenged.”

Charlie Hebdo has been attacked before, and is no stranger to controversy, with Charbonnier frequently the subject of threats. In 2012, he spoke to Al Jazeera about the magazine’s “right to use its freedom.” For Charbonnier, the New  York Times wrote, “free expression was nothing without the right to offend.”

The attack prompted a massive outpouring of public sympathy and support, manifested most immediately through social media, where the #JeSuisCharlie hashtag quickly trended worldwide, particularly among news organizations such as the Agence France-Presse newsroom (below).

As cartoonists around the world responded with some striking, poignant images, the murders also prompted an examination of the nature of free speech, ideology, intimidation and modern political satire.

Wednesday evening saw emotional vigils and sombre gatherings across France and in cities around the world, as thousands of people took to the streets to express shock, revulsion, resilience and solidarity.

(image: AFP)

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