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While news last night of Osama Bin
Laden's death prompted some Americans to flood ground zero and the White House chanting "USA! USA!" while waving American flags, the reaction in Portland to President Obama's announcement Sunday was far more measured, judging from the responses we got this morning to the news.
Here's what people had to say downtown Monday morning:
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Troy Nixon, 40, lawyer
"I think it's a positive thing. It's closure for the country. I would hope that people are relieved and not overly celebratory because somebody's dead. It's necessary for these things to happen but not something you should be jumping up and down, waving your flag and cheering about. The video disturbed me from last night a little bit. It looked like a frat party."
Roland Chew, 77, retired
"It's taken us nine-and-a-half years. We should have gotten him long ago. We thought he was in the caves and he wasn't. It's going to be interesting to see how this all developed. It's remarkable that they were able to do it, and we're very pleased.
Kevin Michaud, 23, works in a salmon fishery in Alaska
"At first I was a little shocked. I thought he was already dead but honestly I don't even really care. I'm not even convinced that he was the mastermind behind the whole 9-11 thing, so how can I have any resentment towards him. I don't know him. If he's dead and people think that's a good thing—whatever."
Nicole Tolliver, 34, works in nutrition
"I was sleeping and my husband woke me up out of bed and I couldn't go back to sleep. I had an overwhelming feeling of happiness that he is dead and he can't plan any more attacks."
Gary Johnson, 55, retired mechanic
"He got out too easy. They shot him in the head. He should have been held for trial. I think it would have served everybody more if he did life imprisonment with hard labor than to go ahead and kill him. I felt great when I heard the news but right now I fear the repercussions. I don't think it's going to be nice. You might have cut the head off the snake but you didn't kill it."
Dodie Grant, 51, medical insurance analyst
"I thinks it's awesome because it's relevant news instead of the other crap that's out there. After all these years the families of the victims finally have some justice, they have some peace. It's about time."
Kenneth Lebanno, 37, unemployed
"I feel like we are cheated out of the full story now that he is dead. I think he should have been interrogated. I think he needed to have formal charges brought against him before we killed him. Other than that I feel vindicated. It's a torn story. It's not a beautiful situation to see people celebrate someone else's death. I kept thinking about how everybody was bent when we look over and see people celebration death of Americans. I'm torn on it."
Alan Wheeler, 36, commercial painter
"So be it. He deserved it, but until I see an actual picture of it I don't believe it."
Vince Furrillo, 32, bike messenger
"I think in a lot of ways it's a good thing that happened. It's a great moment for American unity. It's a good thing for people who had loved ones who died in 9-11. They can finally feel a sense of justice. But at the same time, I can't truly celebrate someone's death—even someone who is responsible for slaughtering a lot of people. I think we should not take solace in revenge and become victims to our own darker sides"
WWeek 2015