The U.S. Embassy in Cairo issues a statement that obliquely referenced the controversy over an anti-Islam film made by a U.S.-based real estate developer. The statement said the embassy condemned efforts by âmisguided individuals to hurt the religious feelings of Muslims â as we condemn efforts to offend believers of all religions.â Around the same time, pieces of that statement were sent out as tweets from the official embassy twitter account.  Around the same time, a pair of now-deleted tweets reportedly say:  CairoTuesday, 10:15 a.m. - 2 p.m.  Protesters chant slogans amid orange smoke outside the U.S. Embassy in Cairo. The protest was inspired at least in part by an allegations of an anti-Islamic film in the United States. Several protesters said that their preachers had told them to come out to demonstrate in front of the embassy on Tuesday. (Mohammed Abu Zaid / AP)  A small crowd begins gathering outside the embassy. Over the next several hours, the crowd grows larger and more aggressive. A group of protesters scales the wall of the U.S. Embassy in Cairo and enters its outer grounds. The group pulls down an American flag, then tries to burn it outside the embassy walls, according to witnesses.  BREAKING: Egyptian Islamist protesters angry over film scale US Embassy wall in Cairo and tear down flag  State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland said she learned about the Cairo protests just before her daily press briefing.  The consulate is seen in flames. The attacks were apparently prompted by outrage over an amateur anti-Muslim film made in the United States. (Esam Al-Fetori / Reuters)  Unidentified gunman begin firing at U.S. consulate compound in Benghazi. Security personnel become separated from U.S. ambassador Christopher Stevens in a burning building. Americans huddle in an annex building, taking fire for two hours until Libyan security forces arrive to drive away the attackers. Three Americans are killed on the scene.  The Cairo embassyâs Twitter account posts a series of messages, apparently responding to criticism that its earlier statement had been too sympathetic with the protesters.  U.S. ambassador Christopher Stevens is taken to a Benghazi hospital where he is dead on arrival, according to a hospital official. A Libyan doctor told the Associated Press that Stevens died of asphyxia, likely caused by smoke inhalation.  The Cairo embassyâs Twitter account posts another message, since deleted. News sites like Buzzfeed have said it read:  Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton confirms that a State Department officer was killed in Benghazi. She condemns the attack, stating:  Mitt Romney issues a statement on the attacks:  The statement was initially embargoed until midnight but the campaign lifted the embargo at 10:25 p.m. The statement referred to the tweet from the Cairo embassy, which was issued before the extent of the damage in Benghazi was known.  POLITICO reports that the Obama administration distanced itself from the Cairo embassyâs original statement. An administration official told POLITICO:  Jake Tapper of ABC news also reported the same statement.  Obama sympathizes with attackers in Egypt.Sad and pathetic.  President Obama confirms the death of U.S. ambassador Stevens.  Romney reiterates his criticism of the Obama administration:
Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans were killed Tuesday in an assault on the U.S. Consulate in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi. Here is a look at the sequence of events in Cairo and Benghazi on Tuesday -- and how quickly they became political in the United States.