The Onion has responded to today’s tragic terrorist attack at the offices of French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo with a new article titled “It Sadly Unclear Whether This Article Will Put Lives At Risk.†The post echoes much of what former Onion editor Joe Randazzo wrote at MSNBC earlier today, and while it’s way too honest and heartbreaking to be funny, it serves as both a strange read and powerful display of solidarity from one humor publication to another. Here’s an excerpt:
Those familiar with the situation told reporters that if someone were to read the very words written here and be offended by them, it would be reasonable to expect them to be upset and—at worst—write an angry letter to this publication expressing their ire in a relatively calm and composed fashion. Reports further confirmed that to somehow use this article—or indeed any article or any piece of self-expression—as a pretext to violence, let alone deadly violence, is simply impossible to justify and should never, ever transpire in human civilization.Then again, sources added, that’s what actually happened today.Sickened, distraught, and profoundly sad sources further added it was fully within the realm of possibility that it could happen again.
The rest of the article is well worth the read over at The Onion.