TWIN CITIES RESPONSES

The Twin Cities chapter of Alliance Française, a language school and cultural exchange organization, has called for a gathering at 11:30 a.m. Thursday to hear from journalists about protecting freedom of the press, and to have a moment of silence at noon for the victims of Wednesday's killings in Paris. The event is at Alliance headquarters, 113 N. 1st St., Minneapolis.

In other local reaction, Louise Erdrich and Garrison Keillor joined other writers in signing a statement from PEN/America to condemn the murders. "This attack on cartoonists, writers, and editors is an attack on free expression worldwide," it said. "Peaceful coexistence within diverse communities requires a climate of tolerance and an open exchange of views that includes criticism, humor, and hyperbole. The right to satirize, to question, to expose, to mock, even when offensive to some, is a bulwark of a free society." Signers also included Margaret Atwood, Salman Rushdie and Junot Diaz.

STAFF REPORTS