[ot-caption title=”Jean Paul Bierlein reads the latest issue of Charlie Hebdo outside a newsstand in Nice, southeastern France, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2015. In an emotional act of defiance, Charlie Hebdo resurrected its irreverent and often provocative newspaper, featuring a caricature of the Prophet Muhammad on the cover that drew immediate criticism and threats of more violence. The black letters on the front page read: All is forgiven. ” url=”https://pcpawprint.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Charlie-Hebdo2-e1421256021297.jpg”]

Last week in Paris, masked gunmen stormed the offices of French satire magazine Charlie Hebdo armed with AK-47s. This act of terror left 12 people dead, including the editor of the magazine as well as two police officers. Due to the magazine’s provocative depictions of the profit Muhammad, the gunmen shouted “Allahu Akbar”, which roughly translates to “we avenge the prophet Muhammad” after the attack. The terrorist brothers murdered Charlie Hebdo’s five leading editorial cartoonists: Stéphane Charbonnier, 47; Jean Cabut, 76; Georges Wolinski, 80, Phulippe Honoré, 73; and Bernard Verlhac, 57.

In addition to the editors, Bernard Maris, a columnist, Elysa Cayat, a psychoanalyst, Mustapha Ourrad, a copy editor, Michel Renaud, a visitor to the building, and Frédéric Boisseau, a maintenance worker, were all killed.

Police officers Franck Brinsolaro and Ahmed Merabet were both killed inside the building. Ahmed was the wounded officer who was seen executed in the middle of the street as the gunman fled, according to Le Figaro.

One of the many reasons behind the attack was that the publication had been drawing satirical images of the prophet Muhammad for years. The depictions that have been released are not the only reasons behind the attack in Paris. Another motive people are suggesting is that the attack was an advance on tearing down freedom of speech in France.

Authorities have identified suspects, Said Kouachi and Cherif Kouachi, both in their 30s, as well as 18-year-old Hamyd Mourad.

Cherif Kouachi was arrested in Paris back in 2005, as he prepared to take part in an Islamist insurgency in Iraq. During his trial in 2008, Kouachi stated that he had been driven to take up arms due to images of torture and humiliation of Muslims at the hands of American soldiers.

People all across Europe are seeing this attack not only as the tragedy that it is, but also as an attack on freedom of speech. Since the attack, thousands of people around the world have been participating in protests. Christian Jonon, one of the many protesters, says “Freedom of expression is under attack. I don’t read it regularly but I appreciate some of the cartoonists who were killed today, some of which I’d been following since I was a child. Their death deeply moves me.”

The satirical publication Charlie Hebdo is a 45-year-old newspaper, “part of a long tradition in France of using satire and insolence” that “regularly targets politicians, police, bankers, and religion” in their articles.

From the White House President Obama condemns the “cowardly, evil attacks” in Paris. He also extended the country’s sympathies to the families of the victims as well as the French people as a whole. He vowed U.S. support in hunting down the attackers.

French residents held a day of mourning for the 12 people that were killed while the French police performed a manhunt to try and find the suspects involved in the attack. Both of the suspects involved, the Kouachi brothers were on the U.S. “No Fly” list, according to U.S. officials.

“The only thing we can do is to live fearlessly,” wrote Kai Diekmann, editor in chief of Bild. “Our colleagues in Paris have paid the ultimate price for freedom. We bow before them.”

Mourad Hamyd, 18, the third suspect involved in the attack, surrendered at a police station after hearing his name linked to the attacks. A senior U.S. intelligence source told CBS News that Mourad is the brother-in-law of the two brothers.

On January 9th, the two suspects were surrounded by SWAT in a small printing business. They have reportedly said that they are “prepared to die.” Officials from the town are evacuating all schools near the building in which the Islamic militants are hiding out in.

Sources: The New York Times, Le Figaro, NPR News, NBC News, BBC News