What an awful story to begin the day, as we have learned that two gunmen stormed the offices of Charlie Hebdo, a French satirical newspaper, and opened fire during an editorial meeting. As of now, 12 people are confirmed dead and at least 10 more are injured. The shooting reportedly went on for five minutes and, in spite of having a shootout with police, both gunmen are still on the loose. The publication has been vilified for years because of its portrayal of the Prophet Muhammad and its offices were actually fire bombed once before.
The publication had been seen as so much of a target that up until recently there was a strong police presence outside of the offices. Sources have said that it was only recently that the building became less protected. According to Chris Parsons of Yahoo News UK, French President Francois Hollande visited the site of the attack and has since called an emergency meeting.
Charlie Hebdo has a history of causing controversy with cartoons of Islam's prophet Muhammad.
Speaking to the BBC after its office was firebombed in November 2011, the paper's editor-in-chief, Stephane Charbonnier — who is said to be among the dead today — said the incident had only confirmed that it was right to take the stance it did.
He said: "This tells me we are right to publish the magazine, and we are right to continue defying Islamists and make their lives difficult as much as they do ours.
"If we can poke fun at everything in France, if we can talk about anything in France apart from Islam or the consequences of Islamism, that is annoying." recalls Parsons.
Today's attack appears to have been well-planned and easily orchestrated, and that is leading many to already connect it to a Muslim extremist group such as ISIS. There is also extreme concern that it could be the first in a rash of brutal terrorist attacks on soft targets in France and elsewhere. There is currently a manhunt underway and France has raised its terror level to as high as it can get.
