Business Insider (h/t: AOSHQ) has gathered some news off the Reuters Twitter feed:

Reuters reports that protesters loyal to Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad have broken into the U.S. embassy compound in Damascus, according to diplomats in the capital city.

Reuters reports that French Embassy guards have fired live ammunition on the protesters to stop the attack on the U.S. Embassy.

The AP is quoting (presumably a State Department source),that the Assad loyalists launched the protest in response to US Amb. Robert Ford’s visit to Hama. Hama has long been an anti-regime stronghold and the place where Hafez al-Assad slaughtered (at least) several thousands of his own people.

Some updates from Business Insider:

UPDATE, 9:35:

Witnesses told the AP that the protesters have smashed windows and raised a Syrian flag above the U.S. embassy compound.

UPDATE, 9:41:

The attackers have reportedly left the U.S. Embassy complex in Damascus. A U.S. Embassy official told Reuters that the Syrian authorities response was “slow and insufficient.”