Charlie Hebdo

At the end of January 7, 12 people had died in the shooting. Others were barely surviving
in hospitals, or were alone with terrifying memories that can never be erased. One innocent
person was killed before the gunmen even made their way to the second floor newsroom of the
Charlie Hebdo office. Upon arrival, they executed the editor of the magazine and the police
officer protecting him. Immediately after, the killers divided women from men, asked for their
names, then killed 10 of them. Surviving witnesses said that it was not a spray of bullets, but
cruel executions that were specifically meant for each person killed. Two police officers were
later killed in attempt to capture the gunmen and bring them to justice after they fled in a
getaway car. During the shooting, the gunmen shouted repeatedly, Weve avenged the honor of
the prophet. They claimed the reasoning for the attack was to get revenge after a political
cartoon was published about the Prophet Mohammed that offended some people.
In an interview following the Paris terrorist attacks, the entire Charlie Hebdo attack was
said, by the Secretary of State John Kerry, to be rationalized because of the cartoon that was
published about Mohammed. This statement of Kerrys was extremely inappropriate because
there is no rationale or legitimacy to the deaths of these innocent people. The opinions of the
people offended should have been expressed peacefully. Violence was not a rational reaction and
to say otherwise was incredibly disrespectful to the people who lost their lives. Not everyone is
going to agree with each other, but taking someone else's life in a vengeful rage is going to
prevent people from ever trying to make peace.
Later in the interview, in an effort to correct his distasteful language, he mentioned that
the killings were an act of terrorism and were meant to attack the views of many people in the
world. His correction made it easier to forgive Kerry, but was also a contradiction of his previous

statement. His attempt to avoid bad publicity was apparent. This effort is evident because in an
interview that was filmed the following day, he failed to mention his comments from the first
interview. It is likely that after thinking about what he said he realized the disrespect in his
words.
The next day, New Jersey governor Chris Christie also said that the remarks made by
Kerry were offensive. Former New York governor George Pataki even called for Kerry to resign
as a result of his previous interview. Although it may be an overreaction to suggest a person of
high political importance surrender his position, it is unsettling to have a powerful figure like
him to state an opinion so shameful in a public interview. As the Secretary of State, he reflects
the views of the United States, and it would be awful if other countries thought that people in
America were understanding of the violence.
The Charlie Hebdo cartoonists and editors were people that were wrongfully killed for
doing their job. To make such a profane remark such as the killers had a reason to kill them is
disrespectful to them, and the people in their lives that were affected by the loss of their loved
one.