( CNN ) Charlie Hebdo , the French magazine targeted by gunmen who killed journalists and police in a brazen lunchtime attack Wednesday , is no stranger to controversy . The Paris-based weekly satirical publication , which was founded in 1970 , became famous for its risqué cartoons and daring takedowns of politicians , public figures and religious symbols of all faiths . And although the motive behind Wednesday 's massacre is not yet clear , Charlie Hebdo 's notorious cartoons satirizing the Prophet Mohammed in recent years have angered some Muslims and made it a target for attacks . `` Everybody knows them when you work in journalism , '' said Marie Turcan , a journalist who was just 200 meters from Charlie Hebdo 's central Paris office when the shooting began . `` They have marked French journalism forever with their drawings and their cover stories . '' A reputation for controversy . In November 2011 Charlie Hebdo 's office was burned down on the same day the magazine was due to release an issue with a cover that appeared to poke fun at Islamic law . The cover cartoon depicted a bearded and turbaned cartoon figure of the Prophet Mohammed with a bubble saying , `` 100 lashes if you 're not dying of laughter . '' In September 2012 , despite the ongoing global furor over the anti-Islam film `` Innocence of Muslims , '' the magazine published an issue featuring a cartoon that appeared to depict a naked Mohammed , along with a cover that appeared to depict Mohammed being pushed in a wheelchair by an Orthodox Jew . French and American officials expressed dismay with the decision , and France closed embassies and schools in about 20 countries temporarily as a precaution . Charlie Hebdo journalist Laurent Leger defended the magazine at the time , saying the cartoons were not intended to provoke anger or violence . `` The aim is to laugh , '' Leger told BFM-TV in 2012 . `` We want to laugh at the extremists -- every extremist . They can be Muslim , Jewish , Catholic . Everyone can be religious , but extremist thoughts and acts we can not accept . '' `` In France , we always have the right to write and draw . And if some people are not happy with this , they can sue us and we can defend ourselves . That 's democracy , '' Leger said . `` You do n't throw bombs , you discuss , you debate . But you do n't act violently . We have to stand and resist pressure from extremism . '' Massacre at editorial meeting . Charlie Hebdo 's last tweet before Wednesday 's attack featured a cartoon of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi seemingly sending out his wishes for the new year with the words `` And , above all , health . '' Police surveillance had reportedly been fairly tight around the magazine 's office until recently , and there had been 24-hour surveillance of the premises before that , according to CNN 's Jim Bittermann in Paris . Bittermann said the staff of Charlie Hebdo , which publishes weekly on Wednesday , were in their lunchtime editorial meeting when the gunmen stormed the building . Among the dead are editor Stephane `` Charb '' Charbonnier along with Georges Wolinski , Jean `` Cabu '' Cabut and Bernard Verlhac , known as `` Tignous '' -- some of France 's `` most talented cartoonists , '' according to French journalist Agnes C. Poirier . Christopher Dickey , the Paris-based foreign editor of The Daily Beast , said Charlie Hebdo is a small publication that packs a big punch . `` It does n't have a huge readership , but it has always had a very controversial approach to the news , '' Dickey told CNN . `` To see it silenced this way , especially after it survived a firebombing of its headquarters three years ago , is really reprehensible . '' Thousands of people took to social media in the attack 's aftermath to express solidarity with Charlie Hebdo , posting images with the words `` Je Suis Charlie '' in white on a black background , or paying tributes to the magazine on Twitter using the # JeSuisCharlie hashtag . Some considered cartoons blasphemous . Any depiction of Islam 's prophet is considered blasphemy by many Muslims . France has the largest Muslim population in Western Europe , with an estimated 4.7 million followers of the faith . France , which is known for its stark separation of church and state , angered some Muslims in 2011 when it banned full-face Islamic veils like the burqa , claiming they were degrading and a security risk . Charlie Hebdo is far from the only publication whose depiction of Mohammed sparked controversy . Newspapers in Norway and Denmark prompted furious demonstrations around the world in 2005 when they ran Mohammed cartoons . Several cartoonists were attacked in the fallout of that controversy . Sweden 's Lars Vilks got death threats after drawing Mohammed with the body of a dog . And a man tried to break into Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard 's house after he portrayed Mohammed wearing a turban shaped like a bomb . Hollande reacts . On Wednesday , French President Francois Hollande reacted to the news : `` France is today facing a shock , the shock a of a terror attack , because this is a terrorist attack without a doubt , against a publication that was threatened several times and that was protected . '' `` In these moments we have to form a block to show we are a united country . We know how to react appropriately , with firmness , but always with the concern for national unity . ''
Gunmen storm satirical magazine 's office in Paris , officials say . Charlie Hebdo has courted controversy before with satirical takes on religious extremism . Comment: