Calling the terrorist attack in Paris a “cowardly, evil attack” on press freedom, President Obama said Wednesday that the U.S. is working with French authorities to hunt down the men who killed journalists of a humor magazine.
“These kinds of attacks can happen anywhere in the world,” Mr. Obama told journalists in the Oval Office. He said he would discuss with Secretary of State John F. Kerry how U.S. authorities must “remain vigilant with respect to Americans living in Paris” and other parts of the world.
The president pledged to “hunt down and bring the perpetrators of this specific act to justice and to roll up the networks that help to advance these kinds of plots.”
Two gunmen killed at least 12 people during an attack at the French magazine’s offices on Wednesday. The dead included at least 10 employees of the magazine and a police officer who was executed on the sidewalk as he lay wounded.
“For us to see the kind of cowardly, evil attacks that took place today I think reinforces once again why it’s so important for us to stand in solidarity with” the French, Mr. Obama said. “The fact that this was an attack on journalists, an attack on our free press, also underscores the degree to which these terrorists fear freedom of speech and freedom of the press.”
The satirical magazine has poked fun at jihadists and Muslim extremists, among other targets.
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
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