The BBC reports that some 700,000 people have taken part in marches across France to support free speech and Charlie Hebdo.
During the marches, some protesters held banners that read “I am against racism”, “unity”, or “I am Charlie” – the latter a reference to Charlie Hebdo, the satirical magazine whose Paris offices were attacked by brothers Cherif and Said Kouachi on Wednesday.
See there? Against racism and for Charlie – that wouldn’t work if Charlie were itself racist.
There’s going to be a massive march in Paris tomorrow.
Those set to attend Sunday’s rally include UK Prime Minister David Cameron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
The rally will depart from Paris’s Place de la Republique at 15:00 local time.
Ahmed Merabet’s brother is anti-racist. He doesn’t consider the Kouachi brothers to be anti-racism campaigners.
The family of Ahmed Merabet, one of the police officers killed during Wednesday’s attack, gave an emotional news conference on Saturday.
Mr Merabet was “Muslim, and very proud of being a police officer and defending the values of the Republic”, his brother Malek Merabet said.
“Our family is devastated by this act of barbarity, and shares the pain of the families of all the victims.”
Malek Merabet added that “racists, Islamophobes and anti-Semites” should not confuse extremists with Muslims.
The family said they were “proud” of the gatherings that had taken place to commemorate the victims, saying they proved that France could be united.
It’s not Charlie Hebdo that’s racist, it’s the Kouachi brothers and their allies who are racist. It’s important to get this right. Ni le FN ni les Kouachis.