Results tagged “911attacks”

Yesterday, former NYC mayor Rudy Giuliani came out swinging against the Obama administration's decision to try five of the alleged 9/11 plotters, including mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, at a NYC federal court, accusing the White House of thinking the "War on Terror is over." But senior White House adviser David Axelrod pointed out that Giuliani previously supported the decision to try 20th hijacker Zacarias Moussaoui in federal criminal court.

After U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced that five of the plotters behind the September 11 attacks—including mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed—would be tried in federal court in lower Manhattan, the reaction has ranged from the outraged and upset to the relieved. Retired deputy fire chief Jim Riches, whose firefighter son while responding to the World Trade Center's fires, told the NY Times, "Let them come to New York. Let them get on trial. Let’s do it the right way, for all the world to see what they’re like. Let’s go. It’s been too long. Let’s get some justice."

The United States will try September 11 attacks mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, as well as four other 9/11 terror plotters, in New York City. Federal sources say that U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder will make the announcement today; President Obama didn't confirm the details, but did say from Japan, "I am absolutely convinced that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed will be subjected to the most exacting demands of justice."

One of the confessed masterminds behind the 9/11 attacks, along with four other killers, may be flown from Guantanamo Bay to face death penalty trials in the Big Apple. Yes, we're talking about ex-Al Qaeda "military commander" Khalid Shaikh Mohammed—who admitted last year to being a terrorist "to the bone", said he wished to be a martyr and even played critic to a courtroom sketch artist's drawing of him.

The 8th Annual Tunnel to Towers Run was held. The 5K run/walk, which echoes the path that firefighter Stephen Siller ran from Brooklyn to lower Manhattan to help during the 9/11 attacks, attracted thousands, even in spite of the rainy morning. Frank Siller, one of Siller's brothers, said many were still trying to register yesterday morning, "At the end of it all, there were a couple of thousand people still waiting to register. We just let ‘em go. They wanted to participate. So I’m going to say we had about 25,000 people here, without a doubt."

The 8th annual Tunnel To Towers Run is being held today, even in spite of the rainy conditions. The 5K run/walk is in tribute to firefighter Stephen Siller: On September 11 2001, he decided to run through the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel, wearing 70 pounds of firefighting gear, to the World Trade Center and help; he died in the attacks. The race starts at the Gowanus approach to the BBT and enters Manhattan on West Street.

Yesterday morning, a number of homes in Flushing, Queens were raided as part of an ongoing terror investigation. Senator Chuck Schumer said, "There was nothing imminent," and described the raids as "preventive," but now the Daily News says the FBI was worried the suspects may be involved in a Denver-based terror cell. A source said, "The FBI is seriously spooked about these guys planning another 9/11. This is not some ... FBI informant-driven case. This is the real thing."

           

On this rainy day, survivors and relatives of victims of the September 11 attacks were able to descend to the construction site where the Twin Towers once stood. In the memorial ceremony at Zuccotti Park, relatives and volunteers read names of the 2,752 victims at the memorial ceremony while politicians, such as Vice President Joe Biden, Mayor Bloomberg, former Mayor Giuliani, and former Governor Pataki, spoke (videos after the jump). NBC New York reports that one father, Vladimir Boyarsky, whose son, Gennady Boyarsky, died, said, "We miss you; life will never be the same without you. This is not the rain. This is the tears."

Former NYC mayor Rudy Giuliani was on Meet the Press this morning and host David Gregory asked him whether he'll run for governor of New York. While all signs (so far) point to yes, Giuliani demurred and said that there was ab important political season up ahead, what with the NYC mayoral election and then gubernatorial elections in NJ and Virginia. Gregory said, "So a November decision?" to which Giuliani replied, "Something like that."

           

Yesterday, the "Preview Site" for the National September 11 Memorial and Museum opened to the public. The actual memorial won't be ready until the 10th anniversary next year and the museum won't open until 2012, so the Preview Site has photographs, mementos (like an 8-foot Statue of Liberty covered in condolence cards and tributes), videos, models, and more from the day. Monica Iken, whose husband died during the 9/11 attacks, told the Daily News, "This is going to allow people to see what this memorial and museum will look like in the future. It's been difficult, but this is a wonderful day and it makes you realize it's going to happen - we are going to have this wonderful memorial."

       

The last column removed from the original World Trade Center building after the September 11, 2001 attacks returned to Ground Zero yesterday. The beam, and its graffiti messages and mementos, was raised up and put in place—it will be part of the National September 11 Memorial and Museum. An ironworker told the Daily News, "For this to go up evokes emotion. It shows the rest of the world that even if you knock us down we'll get right back up."

Get ready to rumble: State Senator Bill Perkins (D-Harlem) says that his Senate committee, the Committee on Corporations, will hold a public meeting discuss development—or, rather, the slow pace of development—at the World Trade Center site. He told NY1, "We are literally still at ground zero when it comes to the monument and development of that site. It's a site that has local, national and international importance and it's important that we try to play a role in moving it along."

A new study released yesterday by the city's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene revealed that the number of people who have developed post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of being exposed to 9/11 continues to increase as the years since the attack go on. Nineteen percent of the 50,000 people polled in the 2006-07 survey showed signs of PTSD, up from 14 percent in a survey taken in '03-'04. Co-author of the study, NYC Deputy Health Commissioner Lorna Thorpe said, "There are very few studies that have looked at one-time major disaster and looked at the course of mental health over time." She said that lingering health problems or eventual job loss due to the tragic events lead to the increase in PTSD cases and that the statistics from those around the WTC attacks are very consistent with those of combat veterans. Thorpe said, "(PTSD) is really the largest burden in terms of health conditions."

Thousands of pages of previously undisclosed documents compiled by lawyers for 9/11 victims' families probably won't be admissible in court. But they were passed along to the NY Times, which reports that they show Saudi "support for terrorist organizations" at least through 2006. Some documents, obtained from the Treasury Department through the Freedom of Information Act, include sworn statements from various witnesses detailing the transfer of millions of dollars from prominent Saudi charities to Al Qaeda and other extremist groups. At least one charity is controlled by members of the royal family, and another witness said in a sworn statement that he witnessed an emissary for a leading Saudi prince, Turki al-Faisal, hand a check for one billion Saudi riyals (now worth about $267 million) to a top Taliban leader in '98. The Justice Department, which recently urged the Supreme Court not to hear a lawsuit brought by families against the Saudi royal family, is now fighting to keep other leaked classified documents from surfacing in court.

Families of firefighters killed in the 9/11 attacks are looking to obtain a meeting with President Obama to discuss his decision to close the detention center at Guantanamo Bay. Obama announced on Thursday that Gitmo would be closed for 120 days while officials review the prison known for its harsh interrogation methods. Civil Rights lawyer Norman Siegel says that the families are looking for "open and fair, but speedy trials for the prisoners who are being held there." Obama may be in store for an an earful if family members share the sentiments of Michael Burke, whose brother was a fire captain who died in the attacks and writes an op-ed for today's Daily News. He argues that it is impossible to fight terrorism under the Constitution, which would could become a "means to our destruction." He also says that Obama "is convincing these mass murderers that we are too narcissistic, too foolish and too weak to protect and defend ourselves."

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other suspects in the 9/11 attacks have agreed to plead guilty in "full". While it's unclear whether they'll admit to specific charges, the defendants "request[ed] an immediate hearing session to announce our confessions," according to a letter read in the Guantanamo Bay court. The NY Times reports, "The request appeared to be intended to cut short any effort to try them, and to challenge the United States government to put them to death" (but the judge isn't accepting formal pleas immediately). Mohammed, who allegedly confessed that he planned the attacks, also took time to tell the judge, "I don't trust you" and "We don’t want to waste our time with motions. All of you are paid by the U.S. government. I’m not trusting any American.”

One of the lingering conspiracy theories surrounding the attacks on September 11, 2001 is that 7 World Trade Center, which was not hit by a plane, was deliberately destroyed (here's one example of a conspiracy website), because no other steel building has collapsed simply due to fire before. But now a report from the National Institute of Standards and Technology says that the fire is the culprit.

A federal court judge in Manhattan vacated a $28.5 million settlement for four families of 9/11 victims, finding that the settlement was too large and the lawyer's fees too high. Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein said Maryland law firm Azrael, Gann & Franz's "entire strategy seems to have been to coast on the work of others," by not settling until late in the process. The victims were all Pentagon employees, who, per the NY Times, Hellerstein said were "modest wage earns" and that the settlements of $5.5-8.5 million were "disproportionately large" relative to other settlements. One victim's relative was distraught, telling the Post, "How can he take back our money?"