![French President Francois Hollande Receives John Kerry, US Secretary Of State At Elysee Palace French President Francois Hollande Receives John Kerry, US Secretary Of State At Elysee Palace](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/gettyimages-497495408.jpg?quality=85&w=2400)
Secretary of State John Kerry said Tuesday that the “rationale” for the January attack on a French satirical magazine made more sense than the attacks in Paris last Friday.
During remarks at the U.S. Embassy in Paris, CBS News reports that Kerry said the Friday attacks, which killed 129, were not the same as the attack on Charlie Hebdo, which left 12 dead. “There’s something different about what happened from Charlie Hebdo, and I think everybody would feel that,” Kerry said. “There was a sort of particularized focus and perhaps even a legitimacy in terms of—not a legitimacy, but a rationale that you could attach yourself to somehow and say, ‘Okay, they’re really angry because of this and that,'” he continued. “This Friday was absolutely indiscriminate.”
Charlie Hebdo‘s often controversial cartoons have sometimes provoked anger among Muslims. The January shooting at the publication, claimed by al-Qaeda, were apparently motivated by illustrations of the prophet Muhammad. The recent Paris attacks were claimed by ISIS.
The publication has continued to poke fun at extremists, publishing a cartoon following Friday’s attacks of a Frenchman riddled with bullet holes. The caption read “They have guns…We have champagne.”
Read More: Charlie Hebdo Survivor Among First Responders in Paris Attack
More Must-Reads from TIME
- Breaking Down the 2024 Election Calendar
- How Nayib Bukele’s ‘Iron Fist’ Has Transformed El Salvador
- What if Ultra-Processed Foods Aren’t as Bad as You Think?
- How Ukraine Beat Russia in the Battle of the Black Sea
- Long COVID Looks Different in Kids
- How Project 2025 Would Jeopardize Americans’ Health
- What a $129 Frying Pan Says About America’s Eating Habits
- The 32 Most Anticipated Books of Fall 2024
Contact us at letters@time.com