It was a sad day Wednesday when news spread that 12 people had been gunned down, maassacre-style, at the office of the French satirical newspaper, Charlie Hebdo. The majority were journalists and cartoonists for the publication, who had gathered to have their regular editorial planning meeting.
I happen to be in Arhus, Denmark, a city that is no stranger to a similar incident in 2005 when a cartoonist at the local newspaper, Jyllands Posten, became the subject of threats and a murder plot to assassinate him for publication of 12 editorial cartoons which depicted the Islamic prophet Muhammad. As a result, Danish police arrested three people suspected of planning to attack the cartoonist.
Notice that the front page of Jyllands-Posten today is black, with a quote as the only element on the page.
Here is an English translation for that quote (thanks to Lars Ørhøj, Chief Marketing Officer, VisioLink):
This terrorist attack reminds us, that the free world has a joint project in protecting our democratic social order against religious madness, whose representatives scatter violence, terror, fear and oppression in the name of an alleged divine legitimacy.