Multiple People Killed In Attack On Charlie Hebdo Offices

This is awful beyond words, and monstrous beyond imagining.

All thoughts and prayers with the victims, their families, their friends and the people of France.

All clarity of thought and virtues of intelligence to the organizers, exhibitors and attendees of the forthcoming festival in Angouleme.

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Some Basic Facts As I've Come To Understand Them

* the attack occurred around 11:30.

* twelve dead.

* 11 people were wounded, with four in serious condition.

* two of the dead are police officers who were stationed at the magazine due to past threats and the 2011 firebombing of the publication's offices. At least one of those police officers was killed in three exchanges of fire following the attack.

* eight of the dead were journalists.

* the cartoonists Cabu, Wolinski, Charb, Tignous were all shot dead. Those four are counted as journalists.

* the weapons used were Kalashnikovs.

* the first person killed was in the waiting area. The majority of the people were killed during an editorial meeting. The prosecutor in charge of the initial investigation believes the gunmen knew about the time of the editorial meeting.

* Charlie Hebdo is a satirical newspaper that includes a significant cartooning element, including comics.

* Charb, real name Stephane Charbonnier, was the magazine's current editor, starting in 2009. Wolinski is a major figure in French satire and was the Grand Prix winner at Angouleme in 2005. Cabu was also a distinguished older satirist with a career stretching back decades.

* I'm told by Thomas Ragon of Dargaud that if 10 staffers of Charlie Hebdo were killed as is believed, that would represent half or slightly more than half of the newspaper's staff.

* the French President visited the scene the day of the attack, and condemned the attack from outside the offices.

* the overall length of the attack may have been relatively brief, several minutes.

* three suspects were initially the focus of current police efforts, even though it was reported that two gunmen entered the paper's offices. The assailants tried to flee in the car in which they arrived, fought with police authorities, switched to a different and stole car.

* according again to Ragon, the artists Luz and Catherine Meurisse were late to the meeting and missed the attack.

* unless a counter-narrative develops, the actions and vocalizations of the attackers leads directly to the conclusion that the attack involves the satirical publication's use of Muhammed-related material, a part of the lengthy cycle of responses to the Danish Cartoons Controversy.

* the closest thing to a counter-narrative is that the response might be to a recent issue rather than the history commentary -- it's described here.

* a march in response to the murders is being planned for Paris tonight.

* attendance at nighttime marches in Paris and other cities was significant.

* social media posting indicated one of the police officers killed was Ahmed Merabet.

* as of 8 PM ET, the best reports have one paris attack suspect being dead with two in custody. All three have been identified by the police.

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Biographical Profiles On-Line Of The Cartoonists Murdered

* Cabu
* Charb
* Tignous
* Georges Wolinski

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Selected News Stories From Today

* ActuaBD.com
* American Magazine Story About Pope Condeming Attack

* BBC News
* BoingBoing

* CNN.com Posting Including Bystander Video

* Gawker On Various Charlie Hebdo Cartoons

* L'Express Obituary For Georges Wolinski

* Mashable

* NBC News
* Newsweek Basic News Story Including Statements From World Leaders

* RT Basic News Story

* Slate's Basic News Story And Unpacking Of An Alternative Reason
* Slate's Analysis Piece From Bart Beaty On Cartooning's Importance To And Within France

* Talking Points Memo With President Obama's Full Statement
* Tele-Loisirs.fr Basic News Story Focusing On Cartoonists

* The Beat
* The Bookseller On France's Publishers Paying Tribute
* The Globe And Mail Photo Slideshow
* The Guardian Basic News Story
* The Guardian On What We Know
* The Independent Basic News Story
* The New Yorker Basic News Story And Initial Analysis

* Time Basic News Story
* Time Story On Police Response
* Time Story Focused On World Leader Responses

* USA Today

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Selected News Stories From The Past

* 2011 -- Le Monde On Publication Of Charia Hebdo
* 2012 -- New Yorker Profile Of Charlie Hebdo
* 2013 -- Jerome Taylor's Editorial In The Independent

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Miscellaneous Resources

* Charlie Hebdo Site
* PDF With Various-Language Solidarity JPEGs, as Above

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Tweets And Other Social Media Declarations of Potential Interest

* #CharlieHebdo

* AAEC Statement Of Condemnation
* Arifur Rahman

* Banksy

* Ian Bremmer's Photo Of The Streets Of Paris

* Joe Randazzo

* Nick Abadzis' Cartoon

* Obion Cartoon

* Peter Birkmoe On Facebook
* Peter van Heirseele
* Photo From Paris Shared On Facebook By Derf

* RING's Tribute
* RL Oppenheimer Cartoon
* Ruben Bolling

* Salman Rushdie
* Sarah McIntyre
* Signe Wilkinson Cartoon
* storify summary of tweets from reported.ly as story developed

* Thomas Ragon on Cabu
* Tom Richmond

* Xavier Frison Posts Call To March Tonight In Paris

* Zaid Julani
* Zunar

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posted 8:30 am PST | Permalink
 

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