San Antonio-area journalists observe moment of silence after killings at Paris newspaper

San Antonio journalists gather at The Alamo on Thursday, Jan, 8, 2015, to show solidarity with the French journalists of the Charlie Hebdo publication who were killed by Muslim extremists in Paris yesterday. San Antonio journalists gather at The Alamo on Thursday, Jan, 8, 2015, to show solidarity with the French journalists of the Charlie Hebdo publication who were killed by Muslim extremists in Paris yesterday. Photo: Billy Calzada, San Antonio Express-News Photo: Billy Calzada, San Antonio Express-News Image 1 of / 44 Caption Close San Antonio-area journalists observe moment of silence after killings at Paris newspaper 1 / 44 Back to Gallery

About 60 San Antonio-area journalists joined newgatherers across the world Thursday night to mourn and express solidarity after the killings of staff members Wednesday at a French newspaper.

Holding cards of what has become a rallying cry that said, "Yo Soy Charlie" and "Je Suis Charlie, ("I am Charlie"), journalists held candles and observed a moment of silence around 6:45 p.m., followed by a recitation of the Hail Mary.

Ten staffers and two police officers were shot to death by masked gunmen in the offices of French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo in Paris on Wednesday. Authorities there are searching for two terrorist suspects.

According to a report in The Independent, masked gunmen shouting “Allahu akbar” attacked journalists during a morning editorial meeting. Witnesses told The Independent that one of the gunmen shouted that they had “avenged the Prophet Mohamed” in a reference to cartoons deemed controversial that had appeared in the weekly.

As journalists gathered in front of the Alamo shrine on Thursday evening, several lit candles to observe the moment of silence. The gesture was an important for Irene Abrego, a journalism instructor at San Antonio College.

She said journalism students have long heard that there’s no jobs in the industry, which for the past several years has shrunk. But the reality is, there are people out in the field doing work that matters, she said.

“For the journalists out there in areas that are dangerous because of the war on cartels, pirates, it’s so vital that they continue writing,” Abrego said. “We can’t operate without the information they are gathering. They know when they go, there’s a real possibility of injuries or death. You have to really believe in what you’re doing to know all that and still go out and report.”

Sixty-one journalists were killed on the job in 2014, according to the Committee to Project Journalists. In Mexico alone, 97 journalists have been killed in the past four years, according to a new study released Wednesday by Mexico’s National Commission on Human Rights, the BBC reported.