Randy Vega announced his status to the world Sunday night via Facebook with the simple phrase: "bin Laden's dead." Vega, as he sat in the East Side Cafe in Norwalk, said, "I'm happy. Thousands of people died at the World Trade Center, including my brother's best friend. I hope he rots in hell."
Happy was a common reaction to the news announced by President Obama: Nearly 10 years after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, Osama bin Laden was killed in a firefight with U.S. Navy Seals. "I think it's amazing, it's finally happening," said Laura Becker, of Bethel, at the Tavern on 7.
Mizar Hasheem, a clerk at the East Avenue Citgo, said it was "good." Hasheem, who is from Sri Lanka, was surprised it took this long and said the world will be a safer place. But that was an uncommon reaction.
"It's good he's dead, but I don't think it's going to make a difference," said David Dziedzic at the East Side Cafe. "It's not going to make a difference in any of our lives."
Vega, who said his brother's late friend was named Ceasar and was in his 40s when he died in the terror attack bin Laden organized, said, "There will always be war going on."
Todd Tingets, another East Side customer who knew someone who died Sept. 11, said bin Laden's death doesn't mean he'll go away. "He had it all planned out," said Tingets. "I guarantee he has videos lined up."
Cathy Saldana, who was also at the East Side Cafe, said that it took 10 years negated the importance of it.
One person didn't believe the news an Afghanistan combat veteran who would identify himself only as the "veteran from the Tavern on 7." Other people in the bar confirmed the man is a combat veteran; the man said he knows how things work in Afghanistan and said the soldiers substituted one body for another. "I'm 90 percent sure it's not his body," he said. "In a month, they'll be saying that's not him."
He wasn't celebrating. "It's not going to change anything," he said. "Whether they found him or not, we're still going to be over there," he said. "It was pointless from the start."
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