Vice President JD Vance is expected to participate in memorial events today at Ground Zero in Manhattan, the site where the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center were destroyed in the airplane attacks 24 years ago.
In the series of attacks on 9/11/2001 that shook the US, another plane struck the Pentagon in Washington, and a fourth crashed in rural Pennsylvania after passengers and crew attempted to regain control from the hijackers.
This year's commemoration takes place amidst a climate of profound political division in New York and across the nation.
New York is witnessing an unprecedented mayoral race among Democratic candidate Zohran Mamdani, former Governor Andrew Cuomo, and incumbent Mayor Eric Adams. New Yorkers will head to the polls on 4/11.
The annual 9/11 commemoration in New York typically includes the current mayor and community leaders. It is unclear which mayoral candidates will attend this year and whether US President Donald Trump will be present, as he has been in previous years.
Trump has repeatedly criticized Mamdani, a naturalized US citizen and Muslim, calling him "crazy." A Republican congressman has even called for the deportation of the front-running candidate. According to the latest New York Times and Siena poll, Mamdani is leading the New York mayoral race by 22 percentage points.
"It was a horrific day, but for many New Yorkers, it was also a moment when they were seen as 'outsiders'," Mamdani said, referring to the rise in anti-Muslim attacks after 9/11.
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A man cleans the area of the 9/11 Memorial at the Pentagon in Washington on 10/9. Photo: AFP |
A man cleans the area of the 9/11 Memorial at the Pentagon in Washington on 10/9. Photo: AFP
The US has faced numerous acts of political violence in recent months, including the assassination of Charlie Kirk, a political activist and Trump ally, the murder of a Democratic congresswoman in Minnesota and her husband, and a firebombing attack on the residence of Pennsylvania’s Democratic governor.
New York will observe a citywide moment of silence at 8:46 a.m. (7:46 p.m. Hanoi time), the moment when hijacked Flight 11 struck the North Tower of the World Trade Center 24 years ago. Churches throughout the city will ring bells to mark the occasion, while families of the victims will read the names of the deceased at Ground Zero.
2,977 people were killed in the attacks, including passengers and crew members on the four hijacked planes, victims in the Twin Towers, firefighters, and Pentagon personnel. This figure does not include the 19 hijackers, who were members of the al-Qaeda terrorist organization.
Hong Hanh (According to AFP)
