Je Suis Charlie: Crowds Gather at French Embassy

At the Place de la Republique in Paris, the crowd mourning the killings at the magazine Charlie Hebdo waved papers, pencils and pens.

In London, the crowds filled Trafalgar Square, gathering on the same bricks where thousands stood somberly defiant nearly a decade ago, after terrorist bombs killed so many on the city’s subways and buses. People were gathering Thursday, too, in Brussels, in Madrid, and in Berlin, at the Brandenburg Gate.

In the United States, in Washington D.C., the Embassy of France was the scene of Thursday’s mourning and in some way a place where people searched for an answer to a question: How, literally in the name of God, can people become so twisted as to shoot unarmed innocents?

The hundreds on hand outside the building presented flowers, held ”Je suis Charlie” signs and otherwise acknowledge the 12 people killed a day earlier by masked gunmen.

This wasn’t the first Washington crowd to show support after the attack.

More than 400 people attended the vigil hosted by The Newseum, the D.C. interactive museum of journalism, Wednesday night. The Washington Post reports that attendees held signs that displayed “Je suis Charlie” and chanted the phrase and translation, “I am Charlie. Je suis Charlie.”

Most of the crowd was French and a large screen projected “Je suis Charlie” in support of the publication.

The Newseum spread the word about the event on Facebook writing:

“In light of the horrendous attack that killed 12 people in Paris today, let’s get together to stand peacefully in support of Charlie Hebdo and for freedom of the press. Bring your pencils and pens. #jesuischarlie”

The First Amendment’s freedom of the press is one of the many topics called out after the Paris violence and social media users have been expressing support by posting #JeSuisCharlie to Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

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Photo Credit: @fromcentralprk, @clawrencenbc, @SC0TT_WILLIAMS, @Sheila_MacVic

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