The first week of 2015 turned tragic when three masked gunmen stormed the Paris offices of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo killing 12 people, including some of France’s most prominent cartoonists, and injuring many more. Despite the perpetrators remaining at large, and France raising its terror alert to the highest level, more than 100,000 people across France took to the streets in solidarity with the victims of the country's worst terror attack in decades.

VICE News went to Place de la République following the attack, where grieving Parisians from all groups of society have gathered. We spoke to people who either knew the cartoonists personally, were fans of Charlie Hebdo, or were attending to stand up for freedom of expression in the face of deadly intimidation tactics. less