9/11 News

A summary of news and opinion on the current state of the 9/11 community.

9/11 terrorists play games at trial

Tue, May 8th, 2012 @ 2:09pm

The south tower starts to collapse as smoke billows from the World Trade Center in New York on Sept. 11, 2001. | Jim Collins~AP

The terrorists who killed 3,000 Americans on Sept. 11, 2001, seem determined to sabotage their trial by turning it into a stage for guerrilla theater to mock American values and to promote their murderous cause of Islamist fanaticism.

The latest attempt at bringing to justice Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and his four henchmen got off to a chaotic, farcical start this weekend with their arraignment before a military tribunal at the Guantanamo Bay detention center.

Early in the hearing, Ramzi Binalshibh knelt in the courtroom and started praying. Later, all five delayed the proceedings for 20 minutes by praying. The judge, Army Col. James L. Pohl, tolerated this abuse of a secular courtroom. For radical Muslims, their mere presence transforms any place into Islamic domain.

One of the defense lawyers, Cheryl Bormann, showed up in Muslim dress covering everything but her face and demanded the women on the prosecution team dress modestly “so that our clients are not forced to not look at the prosecution for fear of committing a sin under their faith.” The shameless hussies at the prosecution table were dressed in military or civilian jackets and skirts.

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Clifford Russell Jr. lost Bravest brother on 9/11 goes to Guantanamo Bay to get justice and closure

Honoring Firefighter Stephen Russell, Queens man and wife go to see Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and others 'get what they're supposed to get'

Tue, May 8th, 2012 @ 1:57pm

CLIFFORD RUSSELL Jr. left Queens for Guantanamo Bay to find some peace.

It’s been 10 years since 9/11, when Russell lost his brother, Firefighter Stephen Russell, and helped pick human remains out of the rubble of the north tower.

But 10 years hasn’t been enough.

“We’re desperately searching for closure, because it’s not coming on its own,” said Russell, 57. “If I’ve gotta go to Gitmo to do it — I’ll do it.”

Russell and his wife, Christina, left their new puppy and a special-needs child in Belle Harbor last week to attend the arraignment of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four henchmen at the military prison in Cuba — and wants to return next year when the trial begins.

“We were going, no matter what,” said Christina Russell, 53, who wore a photo of Stephen on a lanyard around her neck.

“I definitely wanted to see them, and see if they were what I thought and more,” she said. “We’ve gone through so much the last 10 years. Now you want to find a conclusion to it all.”

Like the other onlookers, the Russells were appalled at the defendants’ offensive courtroom antics.

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“9/11 remains used to market trinkets”

Thu, March 8th, 2012 @ 1:09am

The north tower of the the World Trade Center collapses in New York in this September 11, 2001 file photo.

Families of September 11, 2001 victims called on Sunday for congressional hearings to establish federal protocols on how to handle human remains after disasters like the terror attacks that took thousands of lives in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.

At a news conference near the September 11 memorial, family members spoke days after Pentagon officials revealed that partial remains of several victims were incinerated by a military contractor and sent to a landfill.

The families said they oppose a plan to place unidentified human remains of the New York victims in an underground repository at bedrock they say “desecrates” the memory of their loved ones.

“Are our loved ones' remains marketable?” asked Rosaleen Tallon, sister of firefighter Sean Tallon, who died in the 2001 attack. “They're using them to market trinkets.”

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New data shows 65 9/11 police officers have died from cancer

Mon, February 13th, 2012 @ 1:27pm

At least 65 police officers have died of cancer since 9/11, new stats show.

The Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association released the staggeringly high figure yesterday at a briefing featuring ailing cops who worked at Ground Zero.

The numbers released yesterday will turn up pressure on Mayor Bloomberg to release cancer data to the federal government for expanded medical coverage, PBA officials said.

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Silverstein to call a halt at 3 WTC

Unable to line up tenants, developer to cap his second Trade Center tower at seventh floor.

Thu, January 26th, 2012 @ 1:10am

LARRY SILVERSTEIN: wants an 80-story tower, but can't yet show he can fill it.

Developer Larry Silverstein is planning to halt construction by the end of the year on the second of the two towers he is currently building at the World Trade Center site if he can't find a major office tenant, sources close to the company said.

Minor modifications have already been made to the ongoing construction of the tower that will allow it to be capped at the seventh floor—73 short of its planned height. Retail tenants would be sought for the seven-story podium.

If Mr. Silverstein finds a tenant before the tower is capped, he can go ahead and complete what will be known as 3 World Trade Center, although there might be some delays, depending on when the deal is struck. The building was slated to be completed in 2015.

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