Waving flags and cheering, students ran across campus Sunday night after learning 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden was killed by U.S. Special Forces in Pakistan.
President Barack Obama informed the nation late Sunday night that he authorized an operation against the al-Qaida leader last week.
Upon hearing the news, Elias Ballew, a junior in history, went with his friends running around campus, wearing flags on their backs.
“It’s a proud moment — it’s a victory,” Ballew said. “To quote South Park, ‘If you don’t like your team, get out of the stadium.’ We’re cheering for our team.”
Kevin Young, a freshman in mechanical engineering and mathematics, said his girlfriend informed him of Obama’s press conference minutes before it aired.
“I was happy. The biggest catastrophe in American history has been settled … for now,” Young said, after watching the news in the Becton Hall lounge.
Students not on campus at the time, such as Rebekah Sanderson, a senior in English education, also heard the news quickly after it was announced.
“I was sitting outside of baggage claim at RDU waiting to pick up a friend when a traffic officer started yelling to all who were parked there that ‘Osama is dead! Osama is dead!'” Sanderson said in an email.
Nicole Medlin, a senior in public relations, reflected back on the event that sparked the nation’s outrage — the attacks of September 11, 2001.
“Nearly 10 years ago, I sat in a middle school classroom as I watched a second plane crash into a building in far-away New York. Today, I sit, two weeks away from graduating college and watch as a long-time enemy collapses,” Medlin said. “Nearly 10 years ago, this country bonded over an attack on our nation. Today, we celebrate one step closer to this war coming to an end.”
Kenneth Farnaso, a junior in biological studies, heard about the press conference while studying in the library with his suitemate, Tom Powell.
Farnaso said he and Powell rushed to the Learning Commons desk to ask them to change the channel of the TV in Hill of Beans to CNN to watch the live address.
“Being born and raised in New Jersey, minutes away from the Twin Towers, and witnessing first hand the traumatic events brought about by 9/11, it was a sigh of relief when I read the international headlines,” Farnaso said. “Friends from back in New Jersey whose loved ones had passed away were calling me, tweets were being sent, texts were flooding my phone — it was crazy.”
In a statement shortly after 11:35 p.m., Obama announced that “justice has been done.”
He said he was notified last week that bin Laden was hiding in a mansion in the Pakistan city of Abbottabad. After a firefight Sunday, U.S. forces killed bin Laden and took custody of his body.
Obama said no Americans were harmed in the firefight and the soldiers took measures to minimize civilian casualties.
“After nearly 10 years of service, struggle and sacrifice, we know well the costs of war,” Obama said. “The death of bin Laden marks the most significant achievement to date in our nation’s effort to defeat al-Qaida.”
However, Obama maintained “the cause of securing our country is not complete.”
“We must — and we will — remain vigilant at home and abroad,” the president said. “We will be relentless in defense of our citizens and our friends and allies.”
Jenny Brackett and Susannah Brinkley contributed to this report.
