Tag: satire

One officer killed in Charlie Hebdo shooting was Muslim

French police have identified one of the two officers killed in the shooting attack at the offices of satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo in Paris. The victim was a follower of Islam, media reported.

The 42-year-old Ahmed Merabet was shot at point-blank range despite apparently pleading for mercy, and his death was tragically caught on camera.

Merabet, a Muslim by faith, was serving as a patrolman in the 11th arrondissement, which is the district where Charlie Hebdo’s office is located in Paris, the Daily Caller reported.

The identity of the second officer has not been confirmed by officials, but media reports stated that he was assigned to protect the defiant editorial director of the provocative outlet, Stéphane “Charb” Charbonnier.

In 2011, Charlie Hebdo’s offices were firebombed after the outlet published a spoof issue which mocked Sharia law and was “guest edited” by the Prophet Muhammad. In 2012, Charbonnier oversaw publication of an even more provocative issue on Muhammad, which showed the prophet naked and in sexual poses. The journal mocked Christianity and Judaism too.

On Wednesday morning, at least two black-hooded adult gunmen armed with Kalashnikov rifles entered the building of the French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo, killing 10 journalists and two policemen. According to survivors of the massacre, the gunmen claimed they were from Al-Qaeda.

Police have launched a manhunt for three suspects, identified as Said Kouachi, 34, Cherif Kouachi, 32, and Hamyd Mourad, 18.

The youngest suspect, Mourad, reportedly handed himself in at a police station in Charleville Mézières after seeing his name on the list of shooting suspects on social media, French outlets reported. The 18-year-old claims to have alibi of his innocence, which is being investigated.

“The youngest of those wanted surrendered to police pleading not guilty. His alibi will be verified by investigators,” iTele said on Twitter.

According to iTele, Hamid Mourad said that at the time of the attack he was in lycée in Charleville-Mezieres. It was reported earlier that Mourad is a student.

Twelve killed in attack on French satirical magazine

Masked gunmen stormed the offices of a French satirical newspaper Wednesday, killing 11 people before escaping, police and a witness said. The weekly has previously drawn condemnation from Muslims.

French President Francois Hollande called the slayings a terrorist attack and said that several other terror attacks have been thwarted “in recent weeks.”

Xavier Castaing, head of communications for the Paris police prefecture, confirmed the deaths in the shooting at the offices of Charlie Hebdo, a satirical weekly that been repeatedly threatened for publishing caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad, among other controversial sketches.

Hollande rushed to the scene and top government officials planned an emergency meeting.

Luc Poignant, an official of the SBP police union, said the attackers escaped in two vehicles.

A witness to the attack, Benoit Bringer, told the iTele network he saw multiple masked men armed with automatic weapons at the newspaper’s office in central Paris.

Source: AP