Thousands rally in Paris and London after Charlie Hebdo killings
Thousands of people are today attending rallies in Paris and London, after 17 people were killed across three days of terrorist attacks in France.
On Wednesday, gunmen killed twelve people after attacking the offices of Charlie Hebdo, a satirical French magazine that famously published a cartoon of a gay Muslim kiss.
The two suspects, Cherif and Said Kouachi, were killed in a raid on Friday, while another gunman killed four people after taking hostages at a kosher supermarket in Porte de Vincennes.
Over a million people are attending a unity rally in Paris, in protest at the killings, while a smaller rally is also taking place in London, in Trafalgar Square.
Trafalgar Square in London just now pic.twitter.com/E5qn7DsMk0
— Nick Eardley (@nickeardley) January 11, 2015
Very humbling at Trafalgar Square today #SolidariteCharlieHebdo #JeSuisCharlie pic.twitter.com/05wjERowPm— Andrew Eynon (@Andrew_Eynon) January 11, 2015
A few hundred people in Trafalgar Square, pens held aloft in support of #JeSuisCharlie pic.twitter.com/JPwQkx1buy— Nick Eardley (@nickeardley) January 11, 2015
Leaders including Prime Minister David Cameron and French President Francois Hollande are taking part in the rally in Paris, alongside UK Home Secretary Theresa May and Labour leader Ed Miliband.
Enormous crowds in Paris as public & world leaders gather to stand up to terrorism #ParisAttacks #JeSuisCharlie pic.twitter.com/ocoUIcKwei— Jim Sciutto (@jimsciutto) January 11, 2015
He wrote: “I have been told on twitter that the staff of Charlie Hebdo spewed ‘hate’.
“It is exceptionally important to remember that what they actually spewed, if you want to use that word, was contempt. Contempt for Islam, for Christianity, for Judaism – for anything they could have a go at”
