"We have avenged the prophet."
Those five words, reportedly said by one of the masked gunmen during the massacre, are a horrifying coda to years of threats and attacks against French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.
On Wednesday morning, three men stormed its headquarters in Paris and killed as many as 12 people, including four famous cartoonists, and wounded several others in what's being called a terrorist attack of "exceptional barbarity" by the French government.
But what made Charlie Hebdo a target in the first place?
In 2006, Charlie Hebdo, along with several other European newspapers, republished a Danish cartoon that caricatured the Islamic prophet Muhammad in a series of 12 pictures.
In one of them, Muhammad is depicted wearing a turban shaped like a bomb with a burning fuse.
The unflattering images sparked violent protests around the world.
Two Muslim organizations sued for "incitement to hatred," and the issue's executive editor, Philippe Val, was acquitted after he was taken to court.
The case was seen as an important test for freedom of expression in France."
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