United States Marks 24th Anniversary of September 11 Attacks

At Ground Zero, where the twin towers of the World Trade Center once stood, relatives of the nearly 3,000 victims began the long ceremony of reading aloud the names of the dead, as has become tradition at each anniversary. By dusk, two beams of light will rise into the sky to symbolize the Twin Towers, illuminating southern Manhattan until dawn. Free concerts will take place in public spaces, and ceremonies will be held at firehouses — 39 firefighters have died in the past year alone from illnesses linked to the attacks.

Donald Trump did not plan to attend the ceremonies in New York, but will be present later in the evening at a baseball game at Yankee Stadium. His vice president, J. D. Vance, canceled his appearance at Ground Zero in order to travel to Utah, where he is meeting with the family of Charlie Kirk, the conservative influencer assassinated on Wednesday.

In the early morning, several New York mayoral candidates joined officials at the first commemorations, among them Rudy Giuliani, who led the city during the attacks, appearing in a torso brace after being seriously injured in a recent traffic accident.

The latest controversy erupted during an event near the attack site, when former Democratic governor Andrew Cuomo — now running as an independent — linked his main rival Zohran Mamdani, the party’s official candidate, to radical left-wing streamer Hasan Piker, who had declared in 2019 that “the United States deserved 9/11.”

On September 11, 2001, the United States was the target of four coordinated suicide attacks carried out by 19 members of the Islamist group Al-Qaeda, led by Osama bin Laden. In New York, two hijacked airliners were deliberately flown into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center, causing their collapse in less than two hours and killing thousands.

Editorial team/le7tv