海角大神

While Charlie Hebdo鈥檚 provocative, no-holds-barred satire has provoked violent backlashes before, nothing in its history compares to Wednesday's deadly attack.聽

French authorities are hunting three masked gunmen believed to have killed 12 people, including two police officers, and wounded 10 when they opened fire in the magazine's offices in central Paris.聽

How Charlie Hebdo responds to Wednesday鈥檚 attack remains to be seen. But if the past is any indication, the magazine will stick to its mission of skewering a wide range of targets: from French politicians and police to religious leaders and historical figures. Charlie Hebdo prides itself on upholding France鈥檚 venerable tradition of unfettered mockery in the name of free speech and expression. It also considers itself in opposition to聽religious backwardness of all faiths.聽

鈥淲e鈥檙e a newspaper against religions as soon as they enter into the political and public realm,鈥� Editor-in-Chief G茅rard Biard told The New York Times in 2012, adding that religious leaders, and Islamic leaders in particular, have .

Charlie Hebdo was founded in 1970 by journalists from Hara-Kiri, a satirical publication that was banned that year for mocking the death of former President Charles de Gaulle. The magazine takes its name from the Charlie Brown cartoons originally re-printed in its pages. It has a reputation of聽for 鈥�,鈥� The BBC reports. "Drawing on France's strong tradition of bandes dessinees [comic strips], cartoons and caricatures are Charlie Hebdo's defining feature."

That includes violent or sexually explicit drawings of the pope, nuns, or the police that are guaranteed to offend the public. "Anything to make a point," The BBC writes.

Charlie Hebdo鈥檚 brand of satire has made it a lightening rod in French society. The magazine angered many Muslims in 2006 when it reprinted cartoons of Muhammad that had originally appeared in Jyllands-Posten, a Danish newspaper. As 海角大神 reported at the time:

Charlie Hebdo's cover depicted the prophet covering his eyes, next to the line, "Mohammed overwhelmed by extremists," and thinking to himself, "It is hard to be worshiped by idiots."

The reprinted cartoons prompted a lawsuit by two French Muslim groups, which accused Charlie Hebdo of slander. The magazine was later acquitted.

The magazine鈥檚 offices were firebombed in November 2011 after it with the title 鈥淐haria Hebdo鈥� and a cover that promised 鈥�100 lashes if you don鈥檛 die laughing,鈥� The Guardian reports.

And in 2012, the French government condemned Charlie Hebdo for again publishing several crude caricatures of Muhammad, some of which depicted him naked. The government condemned the decision to publish them as 鈥渋rresponsible at a time of violence and unrest across the Islamic world鈥� and urged the magazine to reconsider. When the magazine refused, the French government closed embassies, consulates, cultural centers, and schools in about 20 countries and increased security at the magazine鈥檚 offices.

With a weekly circulation of about 30,000, Charlie Hebdo has never been a top seller. It stopped publication from 1981 to 1992 for lack of resources and has recently issued appeals on its website for financial support. It may now find that its current plight taps a wider vein of sympathy.聽