One man was killed at a Copenhagen cafe during a free speech debate organized by a Swedish artist who caricatured the Prophet Muhammad.
The artist, Lars Wilks, had faced numerous threats for a 2007 drawing depicting the Prophet as a dog in a traffic circle. Al Qaeda in Iraq placed a $150,000 bounty on the artist’s head, The Telegraph reported Saturday.
Local news stations reported that there were some 30 bullet holes in the window of the Krudttoenden cafe were the meeting was taking place, and at least two people were taken away on stretchers, including a uniformed police officer, The Telegraph reported.
Danish police said they are looking for the gunmen who drove away in a Volkswagen Polo after the shooting, which occurred shortly before 4 p.m. at the Krudttoenden cafe.
The French ambassador to Denmark, Francois Zimeray, was also attending the discussion titled “Art, blasphemy and the freedom of expression.” He was inside during the shooting but tweeted that he was unharmed, the newspaper reported.
“They fired on us from the outside. It was the same intention as the January 7 attack on Charlie Hebdo except they didn’t manage to get in,” Mr. Zimeray told Agence France Presse.
SEE ALSO: Anjem Choudary, British radical cleric: ‘Muslims do not believe’ in freedom of speech
• Kellan Howell can be reached at khowell@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.