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On Sunday, at least 1500 people rallied in front of City Hall in San Francisco in remembrance of the victims of the terrorist attacks in France and in solidarity with the huge “marche républicaine” that took place in Paris and in other French cities earlier the same day. 

People began assembling at 2:00 p.m., occupying the steps of City Hall and spreading into Polk Street, which was blocked off by police. 

The event was publicized by a Nous Sommes Charlie (We Are Charlie) page on facebook hosted by Stéphane Rangaya. Before the event, some 1500 people said they would attend and by this observer’s guess, at least that many people were there. 

According to the Nous Sommes Charlie page, the rally was organized in partnership with the French Consulate General in San Francisco. It drew French people from throughout the Bay Area.  

French was the language of the day, spoken by a large majority of those present, and French surnames were predominant among those among those posting on Nous Sommes Charlie. 

As 2:30 approached, a collective “shhh” passed through the crowd. During the minute of silence that followed, participants held up pencils and pens.  

After the minute of silence, a man on City Hall steps, who was carrying a sign with the names of the 17 victims of the terrorist attacks, read the names one by one. As each name was read, it was repeated by the crowd. 

Applause followed and then everyone sang the Marseillaise, the French national anthem. After the Marseillaise, some of those assembled sang Douce France, a song written by Charles Trenet. 

When the singing stopped, someone in the crowd yelled out “Vive la liberté”, which was repeated by the crowd. This was followed by people calling out “Vive la démocratie”, “Vive la France”, “À bas l’obscurité” (Down with darkness), “Vive la tolerance” as well expressions of the rejection of fear. 

“Vive la liberté d’expression” and “Vive la laïcité” both drew enthusiastic responses. Laïcité (secularism) embodies the French idea of separation of church and state. 

There were no speeches, no leaflets. 

People brought their own signs. Je Suis Charlie was ubiquitous, but “Je suis juif” (I am Jewish), “Je suis Hyper Kacher”, “je suis policier” (policeman) and “je suis Ahmed” were also in evidence. Hyper Kacher is the name of the kosher grocery at the Porte de Vincennes where hostages were taken and four people were killed. Ahmed Merabet was one of the policemen murdered by the terrorists. 

Some people brought French flags. A couple of people held signs showing Charlie Hebdo covers. 

Five hundred “Je Suis Charlie” buttons were made for the event and distributed at a table on the sidewalk near the steps; the excess in donations for the buttons will be donated to Reporters Without Borders . 

When the buttons were all distributed, large blue, white and red sheets of paper were laid out on the table, on which people wrote brief comments. 

One of them reads: “Pour la liberté d’expression sous toutes ses formes y compris la caricature et la dérision”. (For freedom of expression in all its forms, including caricature and satire.) 

According to Libération, a left of center French newspaper, 1.2 to 1.6 million marched in Paris on Sunday. In France as whole, some 3.5 million joined in the rallies. Libération is providing space and support to the surviving staff of Charlie Hebdo, which will continue to publish.