President Barack Obama has paid tribute to Ambassador Chris Stevens and three others killed in the assault on the U.S. compound in Libya, calling them patriots who served America's ideals -- and laid down their lives for others.
Obama took part in a transfer of remains ceremony in a hangar at Andrews Air Force Base, joined by Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.
The remains of U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and the three other men killed in the attack were escorted by teams of Marines.
During the somber ceremony, Clinton said the deaths of the four Americans were senseless and totally unacceptable. "So we will wipe away our tears, stiffen our spines and face the future undaunted. And we will do it together, protecting and helping one another. Just like Sean, Tyrone, Glen and Chris always did."
After meeting with families of the victims, Obama watched as flag-draped cases containing the remains were carried off of a transport plane and loaded into four black hearses.
Also killed in the Tuesday assault were Americans Sean Smith, Glen A. Doherty and Tyrone S. Woods.
Obama vowed to bring those responsible to justice -- and "stand fast" against attacks on U.S. embassies.
Governor Brian Sandoval today made the following statement regarding former Navy SEAL Tyrone S. Woods, a Henderson resident who tragically lost his life in the attack at the American Embassy in Libya on Tuesday:
"As a Navy SEAL, Tyrone bravely fought for our country and as a security officer in Libya, Tyrone made the ultimate sacrifice. A registered nurse and paramedic, Tyrone stepped forward when his country asked him to. Kathleen and I extend our deepest sympathies to Tyrone's wife Dorothy and to Tyrone's three sons, Tyrone Jr., Hunter and Kai.
"I have directed Capitol Police that the flag of the State of Nevada fly at half-staff until sundown on Sunday in honor of Tyrone and all victims of the Libya tragedy, consistent with the Presidential order issued Wednesday."
Nevada Senator Harry Reid issued this statement on Tyrone Woods:
"I am deeply saddened to learn that Tyrone Woods lost his life during the attacks on the U.S. Consulate in Libya. Tyrone served his country with distinction and bravery. A former Navy SEAL, he protected our diplomatic corps as our nation worked to advance democracy and justice across the globe. My thoughts are with his family and friends, and all Americans that fell victim to this senseless act of violence. His sacrifices will not be forgotten."
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It's been a day of sometimes-violent anti-American demonstrations across the Middle East and elsewhere in the Muslim world -- with demonstrators scaling the walls of U.S. embassies in Tunisia and Sudan. They also torched part of a German embassy, and clashed with security forces at an American fast-food restaurant that was set on fire in Lebanon.
Egypt's new Islamist president has been on national TV, appealing to Muslims not to attack embassies and denouncing this week's killings of the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans in Libya. Police in Cairo kept stone-throwing demonstrators from reaching the U.S. embassy.
Several thousand demonstrators protested outside the U.S. Embassy in Tunisia and battled security forces. Some protesters scaled the embassy wall and planted a black flag.
The heaviest violence was seen in Sudan, where a prominent sheik urged protesters to march to the German and U.S. embassies. Several hundred Sudanese then stormed into the German Embassy, setting part of a building on fire. Several thousand then moved on to the U.S. embassy. They tried to storm it, and Sudanese police opened fire on some who tried to scale the compound's wall. Witnesses reported seeing three people apparently dead.
One protester was killed in the Lebanese city of Tripoli in clashes with security forces, after a crowd set fire to a KFC and a Hardee's restaurant. In east Jerusalem, Israeli police stopped about 400 Palestinians from marching to the U.S. consulate.
Security forces in Yemen fired tear gas at a crowd trying to march to the U.S. embassy.
Thousands of Kashmiri Muslims in a region controlled by India protested the film, burning U.S. flags and calling President Barack Obama a "terrorist." In Bangladesh, about 5,000 hardline Muslims marched in the streets of Dhaka, burning U.S. and Israeli flags and calling for the death of the filmmaker.
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A U.S. official says an elite Marine rapid response team has arrived in Yemen in the wake of violence and protests in the capital of Sanaa.
The deployment comes as Yemeni security forces were firing live rounds and tear gas into the crowd of about 2,000 protesters trying to march to the U.S. embassy. On Thursday hundreds of protesters stormed the embassy compound and burned the American flag.
The Marine unit, known as a Fleet Antiterrorism Security Team, was sent in response to Thursday's violence and as a precautionary measure, as waves of attacks roiled the Muslim world over an anti-Islam video.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the deployment was not made public.
A similar team was dispatched to Libya Wednesday in response to violence there.
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A federal probation office is looking into the case of the anti-Muslim filmmaker whose work is inflaming the Middle East.
The probation department in the central district of California is reviewing the case of Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, who was previously convicted on bank fraud charges and was banned from using computers or the Internet as part of his sentence. He's still on probation.
Karen Redmond is spokeswoman for the administrative office of the U.S. courts. She says if the probation department determines Nakoula violated terms of his release, a judge could send him back to prison.
Nakoula pleaded no contest in 2010, was sentenced to 21 months in federal prison and was ordered not to use computers or the Internet for five years without approval from his probation officer. (AP)
