France Mourns The 'Charlie Hebdo' Victims

In Paris, across France, and even across the world, a minute of silence was observed in honor of the victims of the Charlie Hebdo shooting. At 11 a.m. local time, bells rang out from the Notre Dame in Paris and thousands paused. As the country is still reeling from the Wednesday attack — one in which the attackers are still at large — many organizations, global cities, and religious leaders given tribute to the 12 people killed in Wednesday's attack.

Some onlookers held pens in the air in tribute to the eight fallen journalists. Some held bouquets of flowers. And others silently wept as they stood in the late-morning rain. French President François Hollande declared Thursday a national day of mourning, the fifth time in the last 50 years that the day has been set aside. Flags in France and at many embassies around the world are flying at half mast as the country copes with its first terrorist attack since 1995.

Even the Eiffel Tower, the gigantic tourist pull famous for its sparkling lights at the top of each evening hour, will go black at 8 p.m. local time. The official Paris Twitter feed made the announcement this morning, accompanied by the now-familiar hashtag #JeSuisCharlie and a variation, #NousSommesCharlie (We are Charlie).

Journalists and citizens across the world observed a moment of silence.

Police in the UK also observed a moment of silence honoring the two police officers killed when the gunmen stormed the building.

The outpouring of support has brought new meaning to the slogan "je suis Charlie." The solidarity demonstrated in the last 24 hours shows that this pain reaches far beyond France.

Images: Getty Images