Je Suis Charlie: Pirate tribute to Charlie Hebdo goes like hot cakes in French city of Lyon

The reaction to the attacks against French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo have been many.

In the French city of Lyon, the tragedy sparked a unique initiative. Cartoonists, printers and artists joined forces to print a one-off edition of “Charlie Héros” in homage to the victims of the attack.

A first edition was put online, then printed and handed out ahead of Sunday’s nationwide marches.

“We were shell-shocked,” said Jean-Charles Lavégie, artistic director of “Charlie Héros”.
“I just said ‘We should do a pirate version of Charlie Hebdo’, and my business partner, (cartoonist) Olivier d’Arfeuille, followed. So we sent emails to friends of ours who are cartoonists to see if they would be interested.

We immediately received messages of support, we received drawings from people who wanted to publish a hard copy of the newspaper and wanted to be in it.”

A second edition was printed with a new front page and handed out for free on Tuesday evening, the day before Charlie Hebdo hits the newsstands.

Pirate tribute to Charlie Hebdo goes like hot cakes in French city of Lyon | euronews, le mag

France: 'Je Suis Charlie' Message Goes Viral After Paris Attack - by Leanne Itallie

Messages of condolence, outrage and defiance over the Paris terrorist attack on a newspaper office spread quickly around the world Wednesday with thousands of people taking to the streets to protest the killings and using the slogan "Je Suis Charlie" on social media.

Many who poured into Place de la Republique in eastern Paris near the site of Wednesday's noontime attack waved papers, pencils and pens. Journalists led the march but most in the crowd weren't from the media world, expressing solidarity and support of freedom of speech.

Similar gatherings, including some silent vigils, took place at London's Trafalgar Square, in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, in Madrid, Brussels, Nice and elsewhere.

"No matter what a journalist or magazine has to say, even if it is not what the majority of people think, they still have the right to say it without feeling in danger, which is the case today," said Alice Blanc, a London student who is originally from Paris and was among those in the London crowd, estimated in the hundreds.

Online, the declaration "Je Suis Charlie," or "I Am Charlie," replaced profile pictures on Facebook while Twitter users showed themselves with the slogan on signs with words of support for the 12 victims who were killed at Charlie Hebdo, a weekly newspaper that had caricatured the Prophet Muhammad.

The "Je Suis Charlie" slogan grew into a trending hashtag on Twitter and spread to Instagram, along with an image of a machine gun with the words "Ceci n'est pas une religion," or "This is not a religion."

One user on Instagram sent out a simple black-and-white drawing of the Eiffel Tower with the message: "Pray for Paris." Another wrote: "Islam is a beautiful religion. This is not what we see on TV. Terrorists are not real Muslims. #IamCharlie."

Masked gunmen methodically killed the 12 people, including the newspaper's editor, as they shouted "Allahu akbar!" ? or "Allah is the greatest" ? while firing, then fleeing in a car.

Read more: 'Je Suis Charlie' Message Goes Viral After Paris Attack - ABC News