Barack Obama Blasts ‘Cowardly’ Terror Attack on Paris Magazine
Image by getty images
President Barack Obama on Wednesday condemned what he called the “cowardly, evil” attack against a satirical newspaper in Paris and offered U.S. assistance to the French government.
“We will stand with the people of France, through this very, very difficult time,” Obama told reporters in the Oval Office during an appearance with Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State John Kerry.
Obama said he has reached out to French President Francois Hollande and expected to talk to him soon about attack that killed a dozen people.
“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,” he said.
Obama said U.S. counterterrorism cooperation with France is excellent and “we will provide them with every bit of assistance that we can going forward.”
He said these types of attacks can happen anywhere in the world and that he would stress to Kerry the need for Americans abroad to remain vigilant.
He also cited a need to hunt down and “bring the perpetrators of this specific act to justice and to roll up the networks that helped advance these kinds of plots.”
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30
