Terror in Paris Today

For John, BLUF:  No mocking on City Life.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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From The International New York Times we have this headline—"Gunmen in Paris Kill 12 at Offices of Satirical Newspaper Charlie Hebdo".

And ten eleven injured.

Dateline Paris:

Masked gunmen with automatic weapons opened fire in the offices of a French satirical newspaper on Wednesday in Paris, the police said, killing 12 people and then escaping in a car.

President François Hollande said the attack on the weekly, Charlie Hebdo, was “without a doubt” an act of terrorism and raised the nationwide terror alert to its highest status. He said that several terrorist attacks had been thwarted in recent weeks.

The gunmen were still at large hours after the shooting. The French authorities added additional security at houses of worship, news media offices and transportation centers.

A senior French prosecutor said the victims included two police officers.

The news channel France Info quoted a witness as saying that he saw the episode from a nearby building in the heart of the French capital, not far from the Place des Vosges.

“About a half an hour ago, two black-hooded men entered the building with Kalashnikovs,” the witness, Benoît Bringer, told the station.

“A few minutes later, we heard lots of shots,” he said, adding that the men were then seen fleeing the building.

Xavier Castaing, a police spokesman, said that three armed men, wearing masks, had forced their way into the offices and fired indiscriminately at people in the lobby, hitting many. He said that they were carrying AK-47 weapons, and that the attack had lasted several minutes before the attackers fled by car.

This appears to be aimed at enforcing self-censorship on the part of publications across the spectrum.  The idea of satire is lost on some.  Their self-righteousness won't allow for any mocking.  Murder, however, is OK.

From the Blog Post of Professor Ann Althouse:

Yes, you can see on that cover:  "Jésus/A-t-il existé?"  Maybe it was Christians with the Kalashnikovs.

UPDATE:  First reports are always wrong.

Regards  —  Cliff