A First-Hand Account of Terrorist Attack in Paris — #CharlieHebdo

From Claire Berlinski, at Ricochet, "First-Hand Account From The Terrorist Attack on Charlie-Hebdo":

Let me use the words I am not allowed to use on Ricochet. You motherfuckers. We will kill you. Every one of you. Believe it. #JeSuisCharlie

— Claire Berlinski (@ClaireBerlinski) January 7, 2015

I'm sorry to respond to so many messages so impersonally. I'll answer by tomorrow. For now this sums it up. https://t.co/rOkgSpZLSe

— Claire Berlinski (@ClaireBerlinski) January 7, 2015

If you've been trying to reach me, you should have a response by now. If I missed you, my apologies: Summary here. https://t.co/47zAIBxHIP.

— Claire Berlinski (@ClaireBerlinski) January 8, 2015

If I sound incoherent, it’s because I am shaken. The reasons will be obvious.

I had no intention of reporting on this from the scene of the Charlie-Hebdo massacre. I was walking up Boulevard Richard Lenoir to meet a friend who lives in the neighborhood. But the moment I saw what I did, I knew for sure what had happened. A decade in Turkey teaches you that. That many ambulances, that many cops, that many journalists, and those kinds of faces can mean only one thing: a massive terrorist attack.

I also knew from the location just who’d been attacked: Charlie-Hebdo, the magazine known for many things, but, above all, for its fearlessness in publishing caricatures of Mohamed. They’d been firebombed for this in 2011, but their response — in effect — was the only one free men would ever consider: “As long as we’re alive, you’ll never shut us up.”

They are no longer alive. They managed to shut them up.

The only thing I didn’t immediately know was how many of them had died...

Don't miss the remainder. Claire's a good woman. Really, really good.

And check the links at the Twitter embeds.