Thousands of college students celebrated in the streets surrounding the White House and Ground Zero after President Obama announced Sunday night that the United States military had found and killed Osama Bin Laden.
“It’s very exciting,” alumna Molly Keene ’06 told The Boiling Point via text message from Ground Zero, where she had gone with fellow students at NYU. “People are swinging from lampposts, crowd surfing, singing ‘God Bless America,’ and chanting ‘USA, USA.'”
Molly sent photos of the crowd including people hanging from street signs, and also a hand-drawn poster that said “We cheer for peace, not death.”
Huge crowds could be seen via TV outside the White House in Washington, D.C., and CNN reported that among them were many students from George Washington University, Georgetown University, and American University, all located in Washington.
Alumna Penina Smith ’09 joined the crowds outside the White House. Penina, a student at George Washington University, told The Boiling Point it was a welcome distraction from studying for finals.
“The effort was completely spontaneous,” Penina said. “We live four blocks away from the White House so we figured it’s what we should do.”
Penina described the scene there as “crazy” and wrote that the crowd “felt like a mosh pit.”
“Lots of people jumping and yelling, wearing ridiculous outfits,” she said.
Meanwhile in Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Times reported that police are on the lookout for potential terrorist threats in retaliation of Bin Laden’s death and that there would be extra protection at religious institutions.
“We are somewhat concerned about any retaliation because of his death,” said Mike Downing, commanding officer of the LAPD’s Counter-Terrorism and Special Operations Bureau, according to the Times. “But with our partnerships and relationships that we’ve built over the last four or five years, we will stand with these communities to resist any attacks or hate incidents.”
Security has also been beefed up at Shalhevet according to guard Jose Luis Rodrigues, who said that the school’s guards will be doubling their patrols, checking cars, and listening to the LAPD radio.
