Chants of “U-S-A, U-S-A” greeted the news that Osama bin Laden was confirmed dead early Monday morning.
Cheering crowds flocked to the White House and the streets of New York City in the early-morning hours Monday after President Barack Obama announced that U.S. forces had killed the FBI’s most wanted terrorist during an attack on a compound where bin Laden was hiding in Abbottabad, Pakistan.
While at ASU some students celebrated the news, several thousand revelers gathered around the White House in Washington, D.C., after the president spoke.
“I’m sure that the Obamas were even able to hear the crowds cheering from the front,” said Alexander Rosen, a journalism senior who was at the White House to witness the throng of people early Monday morning.
The Pentagon, which is just outside the city center in Arlington County, Va., was a target of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks orchestrated by bin Laden.
People traveled from all around the D.C. metropolitan area to join the rally around Pennsylvania Avenue and Lafayette Park to celebrate the defeat of the al-Qaida leader Monday, Rosen said. Some went so far as to climb into the trees around the White House.
“It was an electric atmosphere,” Rosen said. “Even the Secret Service [agents] were smiling.”
Street vendors, taking advantage of the crowds, set up shop to start selling American flags, Rosen said. The stars and stripes were also used as clothing.
“Americans can dress up in a flag for any occasion,” Rosen said. “Their apparel tonight was quite interesting and quite telling of the American spirit.”
The State Department has issued a warning for U.S. citizens in high-risk areas abroad to limit travel outside of homes and hotels. But Rosen said there was no fear of an outside threat in the crowd in D.C.
“Secret Service [agents] didn’t feel any threat of danger to individuals,” Rosen said.
Echoes of chants and the sound of honking horns hung in the air as Rosen left the White House area around 3 a.m. He said he had witnessed a piece of history.
“It was something that showed that Americans can come together in the hardest of times and in the best of times,” Rosen said.
Chevaan Daniel, a Hubert H. Humphrey fellow in journalism at ASU, was among the crowd of several hundred jubilant people in New York City’s Times Square.
The Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in the city collapsed killing thousands on Sept. 11, 2001 after members of al-Qaida flew hijacked planes into the buildings.
Daniel said the response to bin Laden’s death was “one of celebration” around the world, but added the State Department was “prudent” to issue a travel advisory.
“The reaction must be one of caution,” Daniel said. “The celebrations must be sensitive and they must be managed well.”
The crowd at Times Square was mostly young people, Daniel said, though he met a few veterans as well.
As the CEO of Sri Lanka’s News 1st channel, Daniel recognized the effect the news will have on his country.
“Sri Lankans are in a very interesting position to appreciate the defeat of terrorism,” he said. “We know the impact and the effects of terrorism really well.”
The effect of bin Laden’s death on geopolitics will be interesting to watch, Daniel said.
“What happens to the rest of al-Qaida and how is it going to affect America’s war on terror?” he asked.
This news is a “shot in the arm” for Obama’s presidency, said Daniel.
“It puts a very interesting spin on Obama’s next term,” he said. “His predecessor [George W. Bush] had a lot to do with this success as well.”
In his speech Obama said though killing bin Laden was a battle won against Al-Qaida, it does not mean the fight is over.
“We must also reaffirm that the United States is not — and never will be — at war with Islam. I’ve made clear, just as President Bush did shortly after 9/11, that our war is not against Islam,” Obama said. “Bin Laden was not a Muslim leader; he was a mass murderer of Muslims.”
Echoing Obama, Daniel cautioned against confusing bin Laden as a symbol of the Muslim population.
“It is not about Islam, it is about terrorists,” he said. “Osama bin Laden did not represent Islam.”
Reach the reporter at indra.ekmanis@asu.edu
(Slideshow photos by State Press photographer Lisa Bartoli at Penn State University and contributing photographer Chevaan Daniel in Time Square)
