Three Days of Terror

Recently, France has undergone one of its worst security crises in decades, bringing bloodshed to Paris and its surrounding areas. On January seventh at 11:30 A.M., two masked gunmen, dressed in black and armed with Kalashnikov assault rifles got out and approached the offices of the well-known French magazine, Charlie Hebdo. Charlie Hebdo is a satirical magazine known for their cartoons, jokes, and reports. The gunmen targeted the magazine firm because of their history of portraying the prophet Mohammed. In the Islamic religion, depiction of Mohammed classifies as disrespect, no matter the context, thus infuriating the gunmen.

At first, the gunmen, now known to be Cherif and Said Kouachi, entered building six, but quickly realized they entered the wrong building and proceeded to Street ten where the Charlie Hebdo offices are located. When the brothers entered the building, they asked the receptionist where they could find the magazine offices. Another journalist was just returning to work when the gunmen threatened her and forced her to enter the keycode to the newsroom, where a weekly editorial meeting was in full swing. Before open firing, the gunmen asked for the paper’s editor, Stephane Charbonnier by name. Once located, they killed him, his police bodyguard, seven other journalists, and even a guest attending the meeting.

Police arrived just as the gunmen escaped into a black Citroen shouting in Arabic, "We have avenged the Prophet Muhammad" and "God is Greatest." A police car blocked the gunmen's escape route down a narrow street, but the gunmen open fired and eventually fled unscathed. When the car reached its preferred destination, one gunman got out of the car and shot a police officer at close range. The gunman then returned to the car and drove away with his accomplice. The getaway car was found abandoned after apparently crashing into another vehicle not far from the Magazine office. The attackers then hijacked another car, a grey Renault Clio, but police later lost track of the gunmen.

The following day at 8:45 a.m., a lone gunman attacked a street corner in the southern Paris suburb of Montrouge. Before fleeing, the gunman shot and killed a police officer, and injured a nearby street sweeper. On Friday, a gunman took hostages at a kosher grocery store on the eastern edge of Paris. The end of this day resulted in the death of four hostages, the kosher gunman (Amedy Coulibaly), and the two brothers from the initial attack (Said and Cheriff Kouachi).

The Thursday following the attack, France held a moment of silence in honor of those killed. During this minute, the lights of the Eiffel Tower were put out. Since the attacks, French justice officials have been cracking down by arresting dozens of people who glorified terrorism or made racist or anti-Semitic remarks. Customers lined up again Thursday to try to get copies of Charlie Hebdo's first edition since the attacks, which had Muhammad on its cover with a single tear reading “We Forgive.” The new edition sold out immediately.

A leader of Yemen's al-Qaeda branch officially claimed responsibility for the attacks at Charlie Hebdo, saying in a video online that the slayings were in "vengeance for the prophet." However, U.S. and French officials are leaning toward the theory that the Paris terror attacks were inspired by al-Qaeda but not directly done by the group.

The attacks were followed by multiple peaceful protests, featuring some of the worlds most influential leaders, all joining hands as a symbol of solidarity. Recently, however, Muslim countries have begun to protest not-so-peacefully, pushing the limits of their free speech, influencing international panic and a widespread fear of all practicing Muslims. Although the details of the execution of the attack are not fully known, one thing is for sure: France will never be the same.