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The 19.3-acre center in Chicago opened Friday during the Juneteenth holiday after a private ceremony the night before. Visitors described the former president's legacy as unifying and scandal-free.
Fox NewsThe Barack Obama Presidential Center opened to the public on Friday during the Juneteenth holiday. 3-acre campus in Chicago hosted its first public visitors after a star-studded private ceremony and concert the previous night. Juneteenth marks the day Black slaves were declared free in 1865.
The opening drew attendees from Chicago and other cities who spoke with Fox News Digital about the former president's record. Lauren Tillman, who lives about 40 minutes outside Chicago, said the center brought people together. "The community is great, we're just kind of glad it's here," she told Fox News Digital.
Ashley Woods attended with Tillman. "To know that [Obama] was going to try to do at least something for his people, that meant a lot to me," Woods said. She added that the legacy represented "Black excellence" and showed that people from Chicago could reach the highest levels of government with little scandal.
Sheryl Rogers and Peggy Neely-Harris traveled from St. Louis for the weekend. " Valerie Reynolds, a 26-year-old Chicago resident, said the center would improve the image of the city's South Side. "I think Barack Obama's legacy is and will continue to be the inspiration of togetherness," she told Fox News Digital.
Kia Ware came from Virginia. "It makes me sad because I was so proud of everything that was accomplished during that legacy in terms of, you know, fighting for vulnerable people and vulnerable lands and protection of so many things that are now being erased forever," she said. Barack Obama spoke at the dedication ceremony on Thursday.
Fox News reported that during his presidency his administration seized records of Fox News phone lines, including a number belonging to the parents of a reporter, after an FBI agent described reporter James Rosen as a likely criminal co-conspirator in an Espionage Act affidavit.
Fox News also reported that one weapon from Operation Fast and Furious was used to kill Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry in 2010. Then-Attorney General Eric Holder was held in contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with a subpoena during a House Oversight Committee investigation into the operation.
Fox News reported that Obama ordered the extrajudicial drone strike killings of four terror-tied Americans in Yemen without due process.
foxnews.comIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a Jerusalem policy summit that two named operations destroyed Iran's nuclear infrastructure and killed 20 scientists. He also described strikes on missile and regime targets plus new security zones in Gaza, Syria and Lebanon.
foxnews.comA federal judge barred the Kennedy Center from shutting for two years of renovations and required removal of President Trump's name from the building. The board will vote in mid-July on three renovation options.
theepochtimes.comChicago police recorded seven deaths and 38 injuries from multiple shootings that began Friday evening and continued through Sunday. Officials reported at least two dozen separate incidents since 5 p.m. Friday.