Timeline of Events, Comments Surrounding Benghazi
Timeline of Events, Comments Surrounding Benghazi
The attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, has become a major issue in the presidential campaign, focused on the evolving Obama administration explanations.
Before the Sept. 11 assault that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans, a 14-minute video surfaced on the Internet as a trailer to a low-budget movie insulting the Prophet Muhammad. On the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, protesters scaled the walls of the U.S. Embassy in Cairo and attacked the U.S. compound in Benghazi.
What follows is a timeline of key events and statements about the Benghazi attack by President Barack Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Vice President Joe Biden, Republican senators and Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney. The State Department provided the timeline for Sept. 10-11 with local times in Benghazi; the remaining events were gathered from other Associated Press sources.
Sept. 10-11
U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens arrives in Benghazi and holds meetings on and off the consulate grounds on Sept. 10. He spends the night, and for the 11th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks holds meetings inside the compound only. It is an enclosed area about 300 yards long by 100 yards wide, with a 9-foot outer wall topped by barbed wire and augmented by barriers, steel drop bars and other security upgrades. There are four buildings in the compound. Five diplomatic security officers are present, along with four members of a local militia deployed by Libya’s government to provide added security.
Around 8:30 p.m.
Stevens finishes his final meeting of the day and escorts a Turkish diplomat outside the main entrance of the consulate. The situation is calm. There are no protests.
Around 9:40 p.m.