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Witnesses: There Was No Protest in Benghazi

CBS: Witness accounts directly contradict administration

September 20, 2012

CBS News reported Thursday morning that according to witnesses, there was never a protest before the terrorist attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, where four Americans were killed on Sept. 11.

"Witnesses tell CBS News that there was never an anti-American protest outside of the consulate," correspondent Margaret Brennan said in the report. "Instead, they say, it came under planned attack. That is in direct contradiction to the administration's account of the incident."

According to Brennan, the FBI has not yet arrived in Benghazi.

U.S. officials confirmed Wednesday that the attack on the consulate is being considered a terrorist action, but said there was no evidence yet discovered indicating the attack had been premeditated.

"What we don’t have, at this point, is specific intelligence that there was a significant advanced planning or coordination for this attack," said National Counterterrorism Center director Matthew Olsen during a Wednesday Senate hearing. "Again, we’re still developing facts and looking for any indications of substantial advanced planning, we just haven’t seen that at this point."

White House press secretary Jay Carney said Tuesday that an anti-Islam video and the protests in Cairo "precipitated some of the unrest" in Benghazi.

Fox News reported Wednesday evening that a man who was released from Gitmo into Libyan custody in 2007 may have been involved in or even led the attack that killed U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans.

Published under: Benghazi , Video