Over a million people gathered to march against terrorism and to protect the freedom of speech in Paris on Sunday.
On Sunday, over one million demonstrators gathered in Paris to march in protest over the terrorist attacks that occurred this past week in the capital. The crowd of French nationals covered the streets near the Place de la Republique. They marched down the Boulevard Voltaire as a symbolic stand for the freedom of speech.
The protest against terrorism occurred as a response to the deaths of 17 individuals this past week. A majority of the deaths (12) were as a direct result of the attack on the Charlie Hebdo offices on Wednesday. The Kouachi brothers, the suspected gunmen, used assault rifles and pump shotguns to kill the cartoonists and journalists who were at the office in an execution style. The slogan “Je suis Charlie” (I am Charlie) was seen throughout the protest on buttons, banners, shirts, and flags in remembrance of the victims. The publication, a satirical newspaper known to mock religious figures, has become a symbol of freedom of speech for many around the world.
French officials state that some 1.3 million individuals participated in the march on Sunday, the largest protest France has ever seen. The demonstrators aimed to make the protest a symbol of solidarity. Individuals from various religions, nationalities, and ethnicities gathered in a unified support for freedom and courage.
In addition to the stand against terrorism, other groups joined the protest to address other issues, such as a growing sense of anti-Semitism. In last week’s terrorist events, one of the hostage situations occurred in a kosher supermarket. The gunman, allegedly linked to ISIS, killed four hostages before being killed by police in a raid. TIME reports that the Jewish community in Paris, some 600,000 individuals, has been voicing concerns over increasing anti-Semitism for the past few years. Some French believed that it was an exaggerated response by the Jewish community, but after the attack on the kosher supermarket that fear became realized.
Joining the millions of protesters, leaders of international governments gathered and marched arm in arm. French President Francois Hollande, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, British Prime Minister David Cameron, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were amongst other heads of state and government officials at the demonstration. Several marches took place in other regions of France as well as around the world.
