Today In History: Osama bin Laden Killed; Trump Effigy Holds KKK Hood At LA May Day Rally

May 1, 2017, is the 121st day of the year, with 244 days remaining. The moon is in a waxing crescent phase at 32 percent illumination.

President Obama announces death of Osama bin Laden

In 2011, President Barack Obama sat alongside Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the Situation Room to watch the mission to capture al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden, 54, whose organization claimed responsibility for the 9/11 attacks.

Bin Laden’s death was the culmination of an operation led by Navy SEALs and CIA forces, ending a manhunt that had spanned a decade. Bin Laden was found at his compound near a Pakistan army base and was shot in the left eye.

“Justice has been done,” Obama said.

DNA testing confirmed, with 99.9 certainty, that the target was, indeed, bin Laden. One of bin Laden’s sons, two of his most trusted couriers and one unidentified woman, who had been used as a human shield, were also killed.

Former President George W. Bush hailed bin Laden’s death as a “momentous achievement.”

May Day: Los Angeles residents march for immigrant rights

In 2016, a May Day immigrant rights rally in Los Angeles featured a strong anti-Donald Trump theme as a crowd marched with an inflatable effigy of the GOP presidential candidate holding a Ku Klux Klan hood. Surrounding picket signs echoed similar sentiment with messages that ranged from “Dump Trump” to “Build Bridges — Not Walls!”

“He’s threatened that, should he become president of the United States, in his first 18 months in office, he fully intends to deport all 11 million-plus undocumented persons in the United States,” Juan Jose Gutierrez, coordinator of the Full Rights for Immigrants Coalition in Los Angeles, told Reuters.

“We don’t take that lightly.”

Other marchers waved Mexican flags and held signs that called for immigration reform and an end to deportations. No arrests were made, and there were no reports of violence.

Stay on top of all breaking White House news by signing up for the free Patch morning newsletter.

Like the White House Patch Facebook Page.

Follow us on Twitter.

Sign up to comment on the site.

Photo credit: Pete Souza