12 Dead in Attack on Satire Magazine in France

We at FIRE were horrified to hear today of the attack on the satire magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris, which left 12 dead. Our thoughts are with the the families of those affected and the people of France. An attack of this scale and apparently based solely on free expression is intended to chill free speech worldwide. While satire (in this case of the Islamic prophet Mohammed) is always especially unpopular with the intended targets—or, in some cases, their devotees—expression cannot be considered free if it becomes too dangerous to engage in it. FIRE hopes that the perpetrators of this heinous attack are swiftly brought to justice.