The first issue of the French magazine Charlie Hebdo since last week’s massacre at the publication’s Paris headquarters hit newsstands early Wednesday morning and almost immediately disappeared.
The cover for this latest issue depicts the prophet Muhammad holding a sign reading “Je Suis Charlie,” the rallying cry that people around the world adopted to support the paper’s surviving staff.
Photos shared on Twitter showed people lining up in the early morning hours to snag one of the 3 million copies produced in the wake of the tragedy.
7h10. Paris. 15e. #CharlieHebdo pic.twitter.com/yhRo983x4m
— OliverTweete 🦊 (@DeparisJulien) January 14, 2015
La queue pour acheter le Charlie Hebdo ce matin à Paris. #ParisestCharlie pic.twitter.com/3UG1ccYXBb
— Sara Keusen (@SaraKeusen) January 14, 2015
https://twitter.com/RosieGray/status/555248458635157505
#CharlieHebdo pic.twitter.com/MfUyrBaraD
— Christophe Bauer (@KrsBauer) January 14, 2015
Some kiosks were limiting sales due to the high demand.
Some Paris newspaper stands only selling one copy of new Charlie Hebdo magazine per person this morning.
— Imelda Flattery (@Imeldaflattery) January 14, 2015
Early reports indicated the iconic issue sold out at many newsstands by 7am local time.
https://twitter.com/JM_Beck/status/555248198550577152
#CharlieHebdo already sold out in several French cities. 3 million copies have been printed. #JeSuisCharlie
— Stephane Pedrazzi (@StephPedrazzi) January 14, 2015
Unfortunately, some of the purchases were for less than noble ends.
https://twitter.com/RosieGray/status/555307343215611904
French journalist Jérémy Maccaud reported people were sprinting from kiosk to kiosk in the hopes of finding a stray copy.
Donc là les gens font des sprints d’un kiosque à un autre:”Ils n’en avaient que 30, ce n’est pas assez !” #CharieHebdo
— Jérémy Maccaud (@jmaccaud) January 14, 2015
The proprietor of one Paris newsstand posted a sign to let people know that they were sold out of the 30 copies they had received.
https://twitter.com/AnneBrigaudeau/status/555260720208965632
This was clearly not the way Charlie Hebdo‘s founders wanted to become an international sensation, but the attention directed at their latest issue is certainly one way to honor the 12 men who died in last week’s terrorist attack.
Photo via Gerry Lauzon/Flickr (CC BY 2.0)
