World leaders and citizens marched, arms linked. Leaders included French President Francois Hollande, British Prime Minister David Cameron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. President Barack Obama was not present. According to BBC.com, some held signs that read, “Je Suis Charlie”, which means “I am Charlie” in French. “Charlie” referred to the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo where a terrorist attack occurred four days prior in Paris. It was the first attack of the week, but not the last.

On the morning of Jan. 7, two gunmen entered Charlie Hebdo offices and killed 12 people, reportedly because of the magazine’s satirical works regarding Islam.

Soon after the attack, the brothers shot and killed a nearby police officer. The brothers managed to escape from the scene only to be involved in a violent car chase with police two days later northeast of Paris. Heavily armed police eventually surrounded the brothers in an industrial building. The two brothers came out of the warehouse four hours later, fired at police, but were soon shot down and killed, according to bbc.com.

The next attack occurred on Jan. 8 when gunman Amedy Coulibaly killed a policewoman and injured a man in the south of Paris. The next day, Coulibaly took 19 hostages in Hyper Cacher kosher supermarket in eastern Paris for four hours until police stormed the building. They rescued 15 hostages and retrieved bodies of four who were killed. Coulibaly was also shot and killed.

The suspects involved in these events have since been linked to such terrorist groups as al Qaeda and ISIS, according to CNN.com.

In response to the events of the previous week, marches and rallies took place Jan. 11 in several French cities including Paris where the attacks occurred. According to BBC.com, over three million people joined the rallies across France. In the face of the violence taking place the week prior, some people sang the national anthem while others waved French flags.

In an interview with BBC.com, Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius acknowledged the severity of the attacks, but announced the country will not give power or control to the terrorists. In addition, France will show that its people are not afraid and the protection of their liberty and equality will always remain a strong foundation of the country.