9/11 memorial news: Biden lays wreath at Pentagon as Trump teases 2024 run
Family members of victims read the names of those who died during the attacks
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Joe Biden visited the Pentagon to attend a wreath laying ceremony with First Lady Jill Biden. The president spent the majority of Saturday attending memorials, first at Ground Zero in New York, then at the Flight 93 memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, and finally at the Pentagon in Washington DC.
Mr Biden praised former President George W Bush’s speech during an unannounced stop at a Shanksville, Pennsylvania fire department. Mr Biden commended Mr Bush for encouraging American unity, calling it “a genuinely good speech, about who we are, we’re not.” He went on to say that “he core of who we are is not divided, it’s just this notion of, I don’t know how to explain it.”
Former President Donald Trump did not visit Ground Zero Saturday to attend the 20th anniversary ceremony commemorating the 9/11 terror attacks. He did release a video earlier in the day attacking Joe Biden for the Afghanistan troop withdrawal, and later visited an NYPD precinct where he visited with police officers. During his visit to the police precinct he hinted that he would run for president again in 2024.
Vice President Kamala Harris and former President George W Bush addressed families at the United Airlines Flight 93 memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where a memorial recognises passengers who brought down the plane after learning two others had been used to attack the World Trade Center in New York on 11 September, 2001.
An earlier ceremony at the site of the World Trade Center collapse in New York City recognised the victims who were killed, as the names of the nearly 3,000 victims were read aloud over several hours. Former presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton also attended the ceremony.
Remembering the moment George W Bush learned the Twin Towers had been attacked
The footage of former President George W Bush learning that the Twin Towers were attacked has become infamous in the 20 years since 9/11.
Video captured on the day shows Mr Bush reading a book to a group of children when an aide stepped in to tell him that a plane had been flown into the World Trade Centre.
The Independent’s Nathan Place revisits the moment Mr Bush learned of the attacks and how he came to feel about the footage in the two decades after.
The infamous moment George W Bush learned 9/11 had happened
When George W Bush learned the nation was under attack, he was reading ‘The Pet Goat’ with Florida schoolchildren. He stayed there for seven minutes
Trump appears at NYPD precinct in Manhattan
Trump is speaking to NYPD officers at the 17th precinct in Manhattan.
One officer asked if he plans to run for president again.
“Oh that’s a tough question,” he said. “Actually it’s an easy question.”
He claimed that campaign finance laws prevent him from announcing
“But I think you’re going to be very happy,” he added.
The mystery of the woman who disappeared on 9/11
Sneha Anne Philip, a 31-year-old doctor who was in Manhattan on 9/11, disappeared 20 years ago. She was assumed a casualty of the world-changing terror attack, but later revelations saw her named removed - and then re-added - to the list of victims.
The Independent’s Helen Elfer examines the mystery in depth below...
Sneha Philip: The mystery of the woman who disappeared on 9/11
One of the listed victims of the terrorist attacks may not have been at Ground Zero at all
Joe Biden makes unplanned stop at Shanksville Fire Department after visiting the Flight 93 memorial
Joe Biden made an unannounced stop at the Shanksville Fire Department after laying a wreath at the Flight 93 memorial in Pennsylvania. Flight 93 was brought down by its passengers in Shanksville after they learned the hijackers onboard were planning to use the plane as a weapon.
Mr Biden met with fire fighters and greeted a crowd gathered at the station.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul signs legislation helping 9/11 first responders
New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed three pieces of legislation intended to help 9/11 first responders seeking assistance into law to mark the 20th anniversary of the terror attacks.
“The bills make it easier for WTC first responders to apply for WTC benefits, by both expanding the criteria for defining WTC first responders and allowing online submissions of notice that members of a retirement system participated in WTC rescue, recovery, or cleanup operations,” her office said in a press statement.
Donald Trump did not visit Ground Zero for the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks
Former President Donald Trump did not visit Ground Zero on the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks.
Mr Trump posted a pre-recorded video message earlier in the day blasting Joe Biden for the withdrawal from Afghanistan and later visited a police station in New York to visit with NYPD officers.
While he visited the police officers he hinted that he was going to run for president again in 2024.
Joe Biden, as well as former presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, as well as former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton all attended a memorial ceremony at Ground Zero earlier in the day.
20 years later, loved ones of those who died on 9/11 still listen to their final calls
The voices of some of those lost on 9/11 still linger on, preserved by family members who saved their final phone calls on the day of the terror attacks.
Even though 20 years have passed, many of those recordings still exist, cherished by the loved ones of the victims.
The Independent’s Bevan Hurley looks back at some of those calls and what they mean to the people who have kept them safe for two decades.
The final calls made by 9/11 victims that still comfort grieving relatives
‘When the tape is made public to the world, people will hear that they all went about their jobs without fear, and selflessly,’ wife of hero firefighter Orio Palmer says
British military marching band plays the US national anthem outside Windsor Castle
A British military marching band recognised the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks by playing the US national anthem outside Windsor Castle on Saturday. There were 67 UK citizens who died in the 9/11 terror attacks.
Donald Trump teases a 2024 run at NYPD precinct
Former President Donald Trump did not let an opportunity to tease a possible run for office slip by during a visit to an NYPD precinct on the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks.
During his visit he was asked if he was going to run again. He first said it was a “tough question” but then said it was not a tough question, claiming “I think you’re going to be very happy.”
9/11 in photos
A team of writers at The Independent has compiled images capturing the word-shaping events that occurred on 9/11.
The photos portray people fleeing the attacks in terror as well as the courageous actions first responders took to try to save those still inside the Twin Towers.
9/11 in photos as the US marks 20th anniversary of terror attacks
Images of the terror attack are as devastating two decades later as they were that fateful day
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