#JeSuisCharlie: Thousands tweet support for victims of Paris terror attack

Caitlin Dickson
·Editor
#JeSuisCharlie: Thousands tweet support for victims of Paris terror attack

Within hours following a terror attack that left 12 dead at the Paris offices of French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo Wednesday morning, thousands had taken to Twitter in an outpouring of support for the victims with the hashtag #JeSuisCharlie, or “I am Charlie.”

Charlie Hebdo replaced its homepage with the bold letters. A simple link on the homepage leads to a PDF displaying the same message in multiple languages. The U.S. Embassy in France changed its Twitter picture to display the “Je Suis Charlie.”

The U.S. Embassy in France changed its Twitter picture to Je Suis Charlie, an expression of solidarity with the victims of a shooting at the Paris office of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.
The U.S. Embassy in France changed its Twitter picture to Je Suis Charlie, an expression of solidarity with the victims of a shooting at the Paris office of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.



Charlie Hebdo is known for taking politicians as well as religious leaders and figures to task with politically incorrect and often controversial cartoons. Unsurprisingly, the magazine’s caricatures of Muhammad (considered blasphemous by Muslims) have sparked the most backlash, including a lawsuit and a 2011 firebombing at Charlie Hebdo headquarters. Editor Stephane Charbonnier, killed in Wednesday's attack, was reportedly on an al-Qaida hit list as recently as 2013, in addition to other threats.

French President François Hollande has confirmed Wednesday’s deadly shooting was “undoubtedly a terrorist attack,” and many of those tweeting in solidarity are promoting the importance of free speech and critique, which the Paris gunmen appeared intent on silencing.