International response to Innocence of Muslims protests (original) (raw)

Following the 2012 diplomatic missions attacks that began on September 11, 2012, many nations and public officials released statements. Widespread early news coverage said that the protests were a spontaneous response to an online preview of Innocence of Muslims, a movie considered offensive to Muslims. Later consideration of the Libya attack's complexity, of statements made by some Libyan officials, and of the potentially symbolic date (the anniversary of the September 11 attacks) fueled speculation of preplanned efforts. U.S. missions in Cairo, Egypt, and Benghazi, Libya, were attacked during the first day of the protest.