A liberal school district issued guidance in late August that directed teachers not to “associate” the devastating 9/11 attacks “with Islam or Muslims.”
Now, conservative legal group America First Legal is demanding answers from Fairfax County Public Schools in Virginia after it <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/school-district-tells-teachers-to-not-link-9-11-attacks-with-islam-fight-anti-muslim-bias">issued guidance</a> to teachers ahead of the 25th anniversary of the September 11 terror attacks, focusing on combating “anti-Muslim bias.” The guidance downplayed Islam’s links to the attacks and focused on building “safe spaces” for Muslim students. 
The district, just outside of Washington, D.C., is located only miles away from where Islamic hijackers affiliated with Al Qaeda crashed a plane into the Pentagon, killing over 180 people. The county is a deep blue enclave, with over 65% of voters backing Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election. 
America First Legal <a href="https://aflegal.org/press-release/america-first-legal-launches-investigation-into-fairfax-county-public-schools-over-teacher-guide-that-falsifies-and-obstructs-the-origins-and-ideology-of-the-9-11-terrorists/">announced</a> Wednesday that it would be requesting all communications and documents related to the creation of the guidance. The public records request, filed earlier this month, seeks to determine how the guide was created and whether there were any outside influences. 
“Fairfax County Public Schools is attempting to sanitize history and erase the radical Islamic terrorism that struck our nation on September 11, 2001,” said America First Legal Counsel Will Scolinos. “Those unforgettable attacks are a national tragedy, with effects far exceeding ‘Islamophobia.’ Parents and the public must have full transparency regarding who is responsible for stripping truth from our children’s classrooms.”
The guidance, first <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/pentagon-witness-blasts-virginia-school-districts-vanilla-9-11-teacher-guide">reported</a> on by Fox News, focused more on addressing supposed racism than on reflecting on the deadly attacks. 
“Do not focus a commemorative learning experience about 9/11 on an examination of Islam. Students deserve consistent and meaningful learning about world religions, and about Muslim perspectives and contributions, throughout their K-12 experience,” teachers in the county were told. “But teachers who decide to take a deep dive into world religions as part of their 9/11 lesson unintentionally send the harmful message that Islam, or all Muslims, are responsible for these terrorist attacks.”
While recognizing that the attacks were carried out by Al Qaeda, the guidance from Fairfax County said its ideology should not be linked to “Islam or to Muslims as a religious community.” Teachers were also told to “intentionally include Muslim Americans among the heroes, helpers, and victims represented in your teaching about 9/11.”
In contrast to Fairfax County, Texas has approved new curriculum standards that ensure students are taught the connection between the 9/11 attacks and radical Islam. The history standards in Texas will also discuss the violence surrounding the emergence of Islam.

World Trade Center Attacked

Liberal School District Erases History Around 9/11. Powerhouse Legal Firm Wants Answers.

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america first legal

fairfax county public schools

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A nonprofit is providing 9/11 lesson plans to schools across the United States that don&#8217;t mention Osama bin Laden, al-Qaeda, or Islam.
Fairfax County, Virginia&#8217;s public school system drew national outrage when Fox News revealed its 9/11 lesson plan, whose <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/pentagon-witness-blasts-virginia-school-districts-vanilla-9-11-teacher-guide" target="_blank" rel="noopener">first section</a> was &#8220;Responding to Racism, Hate, and Bias against Muslims and Middle Eastern People.&#8221; It instructed teachers to &#8220;leverage a critical lens with students,&#8221; meaning use critical race theory.
&#8220;The commemoration of 9/11 focuses on those whose lives were lost and those who sacrificed to help others &#8211; not those who attacked the United States,&#8221; it says.
But the problem is not limited to deep-blue areas. In a message to families on Friday, Fairfax schools superintendent Michelle Reid said she was &#8220;reviewing our materials as we value feedback from our FCPS community,&#8221; and blamed others for the curriculum, saying administrators drew from &#8220;authoritative subject-matter resources, including materials from the 9:57 Project, which is an association with the mission to connect Veterans with students to perpetuate service, teamwork, and the legacy of Flight 93.&#8221;
The 9:57 Project says it &#8220;provides six lessons on 9/11 and its effects.&#8221; Its <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/12QO3tH5rP99wQQL4dhvgRmOjqm65kBcF/view" target="_blank" rel="noopener">94-page curriculum</a> completely omits who attacked America on 9/11, instead focusing on human interest details and the hardships of the United States&#8217; wars in Iraq and Afghanistan afterwards.
The word &#8220;Islam&#8221; does not appear. Some on the left claim describing the terrorists&#8217; ideology as Islamist risks reflecting poorly on all Muslims. Yet that can&#8217;t explain not naming the individuals who committed the attacks. The curriculum does not include the name Osama bin Laden, and does not say al-Qaeda was behind the attacks. It mentions the terrorist group only once in saying that a United States service member was missed by his family because he was &#8220;fighting in the mountains of Afghanistan against al-Qaeda.&#8221;
It has worked with numerous school districts, such as the Pineville and Corbin districts in Kentucky.
That makes it effectively the 9/11 version of the 1619 Project, a revisionist history by far-left New York Times writer Nikole Hannah-Jones that was implanted into schools via a nonprofit&#8217;s realization that teachers don&#8217;t want to bother creating their own lesson plans, and if someone packages and promotes a free one, they will use it.
The concealment of who committed 9/11 has been so pervasive among educators that when PragerU asked college students the question, <a href="https://pjmedia.com/aaron-hanscom/2026/09/11/i-was-a-teacher-on-911-this-video-shows-how-badly-weve-failed-the-next-generation-n4957128" target="_blank" rel="noopener">many of them did not know</a>, and became visibly uncomfortable that their high schools had allowed them to be so ignorant. &#8220;I don&#8217;t want to sound retarded,&#8221; one said, before guessing, &#8220;Israel?&#8221;
The 9:57 Project was founded by Peter Findler, an administrator at the Wakefield School in The Plains, Virginia, and John Hamilton, an Army veteran. It is <a href="https://the957project.org/our-team1/our-leadership" target="_blank" rel="noopener">advised</a> by women from leftist private schools. It did not respond to a request for an interview.
Former Attorney General <a href="https://x.com/JasonMiyaresVA/status/2098518488922927152" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jason Miyares</a> said on social media that the Fairfax curriculum would &#8220;be like trying to teach Pearl Harbor and leaving out the fact that we were attacked by the Japanese Empire. It’s that absurd.&#8221;
Fairfax County&#8217;s treatment of 9/11 was especially shocking because it is home to many military members and is a few miles from the Pentagon. Yet only one of 12 school board members objected to the curriculum.
&#8220;As someone who witnessed the aftermath of the attack on the Pentagon and as a military dad, I am outraged that Fairfax County Public Schools directed educators and schools to teach our children that 9/11 was about &#8216;Racism, Hate, and Bias against Muslims and Middle Eastern People,'&#8221; Mateo Dunne, whose constituents include residents of Fort Belvoir, told The Daily Wire. &#8220;This is a gross mischaracterization of our history that resembles the worst propaganda propagated by our foreign adversaries.&#8221;
Fairfax instructed teachers not to &#8220;center the extremists or the acts of the extremists,&#8221; and to instead &#8220;create safe spaces for Muslim and Middle Eastern students.&#8221; The reason some Fairfax students might be offended by hearing the names of terrorists who committed 9/11 is because their families are, in fact, tied to terrorist groups.
Some of the 9/11 hijackers attended the Dar al-Hijrah mosque in Fairfax County, whose <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/school-board-member-abrar-omeish-whose-father-led-september-11-hijackers-mosque-opposes-resolution-honoring-victims" target="_blank" rel="noopener">imam</a> was Anwar al-Awlaki, an al-Qaeda operative who later traveled to Yemem, where former president Barack Obama had him killed. Al-Awlaki was hired by mosque director Esam Omeish, whose daughter, Abrar Omeish, later joined the school board, using her position largely to push radical Islam.
Just before the 20th anniversary of September 11, Abrar <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/school-board-member-abrar-omeish-whose-father-led-september-11-hijackers-mosque-opposes-resolution-honoring-victims">opposed a motion</a> to honor the victims of 9/11, instead offering a September 11 resolution that spent one paragraph on dead Americans and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/proposed-9-11-resolution-from-school-board-member-who-spoke-of-jihad-spends-1-paragraph-honoring-dead-americans-10-lamenting-muslim-discrimination">ten paragraphs treating Muslims as the victims</a>. At a school graduation that year, Omeish declined to put her hand over her heart for the pledge of allegiance, and gave a speech telling graduates to remember their &#8220;jihad&#8221; as they entered a world of &#8220;white supremacy.&#8221;
Fairfax County receives extra federal dollars for educating the children of military members, but many say they are treated as second-class citizens, below people who aren&#8217;t citizens at all. In 2022, an FCPS curriculum called for &#8220;Identifying Your Privilege,&#8221; saying that <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/fairfax-schools-tell-children-of-military-members-that-they-have-privilege" target="_blank" rel="noopener">&#8220;Military Kids&#8221; had privilege</a> alongside &#8220;Cisgenders&#8221; and &#8220;Native English Speakers.&#8221;
Its lessons on slavery do not omit the race of people who owned slaves, or say that their descendants hundreds of years later have nothing to do with it.

Osama Bin Laden

9/11 Lesson Plan Used By Schools Nationwide Omits Bin Laden, Al-Qaeda, And Islam

critical race theory

curriculum standards

education

fairfax county

This article was written by Mark J. Burns and published on <a href="https://sportandstate.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sport &amp; State</a>, a new media company founded by Clay Travis that is built around sports, culture, original voices, and live conversation.
* * * * *
Football is synonymous with everyday American life.
This weekend, the NFL and its 32 franchises, in addition to dozens of college football programs across the country, plan to use the sports’ biggest stage to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks.
American flag displays, moments of silence, in-stadium recognitions of first responders, 9/11 tribute branding, and special musical performances are among the many ways the football community is honoring the lives lost in 2001.
<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Never Forget</h2>
During Week 1, the NFL <a href="https://www.nfl.com/news/nfl-commemorates-25th-anniversary-september-11-league-wide-tributes" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> all games “will feature tributes designed to honor the lives lost, recognize survivors, first responders and military families, and connect fans to the lasting message of remembrance and service that emerged after September 11.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
We will Never Forget.
📺: NBC <a href="https://t.co/EIFJTCXN20">pic.twitter.com/EIFJTCXN20</a>
— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) <a href="https://x.com/Seahawks/status/2097844796639596727?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 10, 2026</a></blockquote>
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The phrase “Never Forget” will be stenciled into end zones, and game officials will also use a 9/11 branded coin for the opening coin toss — the coins will later be auctioned off to benefit the NFL’s 9/11 charity partners. Additionally, for all of Sunday’s 1 p.m. ET kickoffs, there will be live broadcast coverage of the national anthems.
For specific teams, the Colts have organized multiple commemorative efforts. During the pregame ceremonies, the organization will recognize members of the Indiana Task Force 1 (IN-TF1), which conducted search and rescue operations at Ground Zero.
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Kicking off the season with a Seattle rock legend. <a href="https://x.com/MikeMcCreadyPJ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MikeMcCreadyPJ</a>
📺: NBC <a href="https://t.co/xxedRQoutY">pic.twitter.com/xxedRQoutY</a>
— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) <a href="https://x.com/Seahawks/status/2097844900435792058?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 10, 2026</a></blockquote>
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Country music artist Craig Morgan, who is also a U.S. Army veteran and longtime supporter of first responders, will perform the national anthem at Lucas Oil Stadium. Additionally, a portion of the team’s gameday 50/50 raffle will also be directed toward the Indiana 9/11 Memorial Fund.
“We hope fans leave the game with gratitude in their hearts for the sacrifice made by so many 25 years ago, as well as for the continuing service of those who protect and serve us every day,” said Steve Campbell, Colts Vice President of Communications &amp; External Affairs, to Sport &amp; State.
The Panthers’ organization said they are participating in <a href="https://uptowncharlotte.com/do/9-and-11-flags-and-lights-of-remembrance" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Charlotte’s 9/11 Flags and Lights of Remembrance</a> event, which includes honoring the 2,977 lives lost 25 years ago.
Other franchises like the Steelers and Titans are devoting time and resources to remembering 9/11, too. The Titans invited 200 local first responders to Sunday’s game with the Jets, while the organization will also host a meal packing session on Friday at Nissan Stadium as part of the country’s broader 9/11 Day of Service initiative to pack 20 million meals for families across the U.S.
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For the Steelers, the first NASA NFL flyover will occur pregame, according to a team spokesperson. Family members of victims from the United Airlines Flight 93 crash in Shanksville, Penn. will be on site, too.
During halftime, the United States Air Force Heritage of America Brass Band will perform service songs from each branch of the military, in addition to God Bless the USA, followed by a third quarter recognition of Master Sergeant Tim Motte, Pennsylvania US Army and Air National Guard. He conducted multiple combat tours and previously served as a state trooper where he was a first responder on the scene for the Flight 93 crash.
<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Red, White, And Blue</h2>
Across college football, stadiums from coast to coast will turn into places of remembrance this weekend with different displays of patriotism.
Fans at Kyle Field, home of Texas A&amp;M and the 12th man, will see the nation’s colors represented across the entire stadium this weekend.
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The stage is set in red, white and blue. 🇺🇸 <a href="https://t.co/ZHjm8HCdIp">pic.twitter.com/ZHjm8HCdIp</a>
— Texas A&amp;M Football (@AggieFootball) <a href="https://x.com/AggieFootball/status/2097686517489533062?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 9, 2026</a></blockquote>
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On Friday, Kansas hosts Missouri under the lights but not before four T-38 Talon jets conduct a pregame flyover at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium. Like the Jayhawks, additional football programs such as Indiana, Georgia, SMU, and West Virginia will provide moments of silence during their respective national anthems as well as offer other in-stadium visual displays paying tribute to the 9/11 anniversary.
Louisville’s matchup against Villanova on Friday is the Cardinals’ Salute to Service game, which will honor military members from nearby Ft. Knox and recognize approximately a dozen football alumni who are in the military or first responders. During halftime, there will also be a re-enlistment ceremony held on the field at L&amp;N Federal Credit Union Stadium for current military members.
Meanwhile, Rutgers will <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/outkick-sports/rutgers-unveils-special-911-uniforms-honor-37-alumni-killed-september-11-attacks" target="_blank" rel="noopener">don 9/11 tribute helmets and jerseys</a> Friday night against Boston College as the Big Ten program honors the 37 alumni killed in the terrorists attacks, while Georgia hosts its 3rd memorial stair climb at Stanford Stadium for ROTC students and local first responders — North Carolina is <a href="https://x.com/GoHeels/status/2098075921378869450" target="_blank" rel="noopener">organizing a similar tribute</a> on Friday.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
As we take the field on the 25th anniversary of 9/11, we honor all of those whose lives were lost on that tragic day, including our 37 <a href="https://x.com/RutgersU?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RutgersU</a> alumni.
We remember. We honor. We will never forget. <a href="https://t.co/XtzQ7fjdh6">pic.twitter.com/XtzQ7fjdh6</a>
— Rutgers Football 🪓 (@RFootball) <a href="https://x.com/RFootball/status/2097057411831861599?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 7, 2026</a></blockquote>
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Against Rutgers, Boston College, in its annual Red Bandanna game, will honor 9/11 hero and alumnus Welles Crowther, who is known as the <a href="https://www.bc.edu/bc-web/sites/bc-news/articles/2026/fall/-red-bandanna-football-game.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">“The Man in the Red Bandanna”</a> for the type of handkerchief he wore years ago. Crowther guided nearly 20 survivors to safety down a stairwell in the South Tower of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11. The Eagles will distribute red bandannas to the first 10,000 fans in attendance.
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.<a href="https://x.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a> tells the story of the “Man in the Red Bandana,” a 24-year-old rookie equities trader in the South Tower who heroically gave his own life to save 18 others on September 11, 2001. <a href="https://t.co/EiYCfUlOsJ">pic.twitter.com/EiYCfUlOsJ</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/2097343221034574287?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 8, 2026</a></blockquote>
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Members of the Crowther family as well as relatives of Boston College alumni who died on 9/11 will also be honored. A drone show at Alumni Stadium is scheduled to dot the nighttime sky during halftime, too.
Nebraska, which hosts Bowling Green on Saturday night, plans to incorporate military personnel and first responders into the team’s pregame entrance, according to Keith Mann, Senior Associate A.D. of Communications. 
The senior administrator said the Cornhuskers will also illuminate the sky overhead with a postgame drone show of their own via a partnership with America 250 and an unnamed donor in Omaha, Neb. The organization put on a similar drone show this summer at the Men’s College World Series, Mann said.
<iframe loading="lazy" title="2026 Men&amp;apos;s College World Series America 250 Drone Show" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/u3a6GskExj8?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>

DENVER BRONCOS VS GREEN BAY PACKERS, NFL

Flyovers, Special Unis, And Drones: How Football Honors 25th Anniversary Of 9/11

college football

first responder

never forget tribute

welles crowther

It’s been 25 years since September 11, 2001. But while the terror attacks may be seared into the memories of survivors forever, 9/11 remains a tragic piece of American history we can&#8217;t afford to forget.
“Everyone&#8217;s got a story,” human rights activist <a href="https://sujojohn.com/">Sujo John</a> tells The Daily Wire. He was working in the North Tower at the World Trade Center. He says he survived by the grace of God.
Excluding the hijackers, almost <a href="https://www.fbi.gov/history/cases-and-criminals/911-investigation">3,000 lives</a> were lost that day. But the deadliest attack on American soil saw continued fatalities in the aftermath. More than <a href="https://usafacts.org/articles/how-have-military-deaths-changed-over-time/">7,000 U.S. military</a> personnel were killed in subsequent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, along with nearly <a href="https://costsofwar.watson.brown.edu/costs/human/us-military-veterans-contractors-allies">8,000 U.S. contractors</a>. Those numbers don’t even account for the hundreds of thousands of allied troops and police who were also killed, and the millions of veterans now living with severe disabilities and PTSD.
Immediately following the attack, the congested air and debris surrounding the 14.6-acre Ground Zero site in Lower Manhattan became toxic. Decades later, many survivors and first responders endure an ongoing nightmare.  
“Victims of 9/11 who were exposed to all that stuff have died,” John reminds me. “There was a <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/09/05/us-news/nearly-6k-lives-lost-to-9-11-related-cancer-over-57k-others-diagnosed/">study</a> in the New York Post that said some 57,000 people have responded saying they have cancer.” Reported diagnoses include recent spikes in cancers of the thymus gland in the chest, stomach and bowel endocrine cancers, and breast cancer in men. Cases in survivors total <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/08/31/us-news/9-11-cancers-skyrocket-nearly-1700-ahead-of-25th-anniversary/">28,913</a>, now surpassing 28,131 of those in first responders. 
A quarter-century later, it’s still a political flashpoint. “You&#8217;re dealing with radical Islam,” John says, citing <a href="https://jewishonliner.org/p/inside-cairs-2026-2027-back-to-school-guide?utm_source=chatgpt.com">the Council on American-Islamic Relations</a>’ recent direction for schools not to &#8220;talk about 9/11 as a terrorist attack.” John describes a reporter who asked him, “If you were to face a group of kids, would you tell them it was a terrorist attack?” He’s shocked this is even up for debate. “It&#8217;s crazy that we were talking about something like that.”
John and his wife Mary had just moved to America from Calcutta, India, in February 2001. They were young and wanted to experience a new city early in their careers. He got a job in the North Tower; she worked in the South Tower. 
“I wrote an email at 8:05 in the morning,” John remembers, pulling up a message to a friend from church on his phone. He asks if I’m a person of faith. I say yes. He reads, “This is my sixth month in this country. God has been so good to us in so many ways … Back in India, although I had a secular job, I was involved in ministry. If church doors would be open, I would be there … Here, all I find myself doing is going to church on Sundays. I&#8217;m so ashamed to admit that I&#8217;m not involved in anything. Maybe this is what God wants me to go through right now, waiting for his will and purpose.” 
He had just signed a life insurance policy the night before, waking his wife up to alert her, “If something happens to me, this is who you need to call. This is the paperwork. We&#8217;ll never talk about this again.&#8221;
John had found real success in a short period of time. Still, there was something missing. “In the business world, you chase success and success shows up and yet there&#8217;s a hole in your heart. And you can&#8217;t fill that thing with stuff,” he explains. He employs a bit of gallows humor. “God reads email, I guess.”
American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into the 93rd through 99th floors of the North Tower of the World Trade Center 41 minutes after he sent that message. His office on the 81st floor became a chaotic scene of fire and twisted steel as walls immediately began to collapse. There were rumors that a wing of the plane had ripped through their floor. 
“Ten thousand gallons of jet fuel, flying at 440 miles an hour. You can only imagine how loud that was. But we all thought it was a small commuter plane. Nobody thought it was a large plane, let alone a terrorist attack.”
The E train stopped just short of the subway station at the South Tower, where Mary was headed into work. She was four months pregnant at the time, and running a little late that day. She stepped out onto the street as people jumped to their deaths around her. 
After rescuing a woman who had been trapped in a crumpled bathroom stall, John and his company made the hour-and-20-minute trek down the stairs. “We pass all these firemen, policemen, and we high-five them, saying, ‘You guys are the real heroes. God be with you,’” he recalls. “We had no idea that that would be the last time we would see their faces.”
“If you&#8217;ve heard the story of two men that carried a lady down in a wheelchair, both of them worked with me,” he says, calling his friends Michael Benfante and John Cerqueira heroes. “They brought a lady who was working for Port Authority down 68 flights, and then the building collapsed. They ducked under a firetruck. They all survived.”
“Nineteen Al-Qaeda terrorists attacked America that day. And the first response came through these men. They showed the world what this country is made of.”
John heard the second explosion from the stairwell, as United Airlines Flight 175 struck the South Tower at 9:03 a.m. Cell phones were jammed, so he made a desperate move to call his wife from a landline in an Asian bank on the evacuated 51st floor. His friends wouldn’t let go of him, but he remembers someone remarking, “What’s life for Sujo without his wife?” 
Moments later, a firefighter forced him back down the stairs. John says, “I&#8217;m absolutely sure that man that came and alerted me didn&#8217;t make it out of the building.”
When his group reached the concourse level, John recalls, “In between these towers, we see this picture of death and destruction. Bodies and body parts lying there.” Not knowing if his wife Mary was alive, he exited his building and headed toward the South Tower. 
“That&#8217;s when the unthinkable happens,” he remembers. “I made it through these revolving doors when I hear this incredible roar. This is the South Tower imploding and going down. I&#8217;m saying, ‘Okay, this is it. I&#8217;m going to die here.’”
“But I had this tremendous peace that if I were to die, I would make it to heaven.” He prayed with people near him, choking on thick soot. “That&#8217;s when I feel someone pull me. He says he&#8217;s with the FBI.” The two men followed a red flashing light from a crushed ambulance, leading them out of the ash and debris.
The agent told him, “‘I’ve got to go back and get more people.’ He runs back into the North Tower. The ground shakes again. The North Tower collapses. This American hero died that day.” Special Agent <a href="https://www.fbi.gov/history/wall-of-honor/leonard-w-hatton">Leonard W. Hatton</a> was the only active FBI agent to die in the 9/11 terrorist attacks. 
“Both the towers have collapsed and I&#8217;m saying, why am I spared?” Several excruciating hours later, John’s cell phone suddenly springs back to life. “When I said ‘Hello,’ it&#8217;s my wife on the other side … God had spared our lives.”
He couldn’t be more grateful to have survived that day. Along with becoming the least likely candidate to launch a public speaking career around his story of resilience and faith (he laughs about his Indian accent), he founded <a href="https://youcanfreeus.org/">You Can Free Us</a>, a global initiative to fight modern slavery. With a heart dedicated to helping others, he’s “involved in ministry,” just like he wrote in that email the morning of 9/11. His outreach works to free children from international sex trafficking and forced labor, providing the resources for kids to finally be kids. There are cartels and mafias. Enormous amounts of money. Predators setting traps in the not-so-dark fringes of Instagram and TikTok, promising fake summer jobs and modeling contracts. It’s difficult work, but he does it with purpose. 
I ask if there was ever a moment that he felt the pang of survivor’s guilt. “For the first few days and weeks, yes,” he says. “You used to hear these church bells. You used to see these funeral processions. But as I look back … I look at different small ways God has used my life.”
“We look at life on Earth in terms of years. But life on Earth is so short compared to life after this life,” John says. “What is important is living every day at peace within yourself, at peace with your loved ones, and at peace with God. That&#8217;s truly the secret to living a life that has purpose.”

The 9/11 Lesson This Survivor Says America Is Already Forgetting

al qaeda

human trafficking

radical islam

world trade center

As the United States prepares to mark 25 years since the September 11 terrorist attacks, a major press release distribution service rejected an announcement for a campaign devoted to victims of jihadist terrorism, warning organizers that the initiative could be viewed as inflammatory or prejudicial toward Muslims.
PR Newswire, which is owned by the communications company Cision, refused to distribute the announcement for a campaign called “<a href="https://infidelawareness.com">Infidel Awareness Month,</a>” according to an email obtained by The Daily Wire. It is scheduled to run from September 11 through October 7, using the anniversaries of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and Hamas&#8217;s 2023 attack on Israel as bookends for a month of films, testimony, interviews, research, and daily discussions about Islamic extremism and its victims. 
But before the observance even began, the campaign encountered a controversy of its own. Cision, the parent company of PR Newswire, rejected the group’s press release announcing the initiative, telling organizers that the release could be interpreted as inflammatory or prejudicial toward a religious group.
“After review of your release with the headline &#8216;‘Infidel Awareness Month’ launches on the 25th Anniversary of 9/11,&#8217; we have determined that this release will not be an appropriate fit for Cision’s distribution network,” the company told organizers in an email obtained by The Daily Wire.
“Our concern is primarily that the nature of the initiative can reasonably be construed as being inflammatory and inciteful against a group of people,” Cision continued. “Per our guidelines, Cision will not knowingly transmit content that reads — or could reasonably be interpreted to read — as abusive or threatening speech, or writing that expresses prejudice against a particular group, especially on the basis of race, religion, or sexual orientation.”
“For this reason, the release has been canceled out of our system,” the company concluded. 
The rejection is notable because the organization’s own statement explicitly distinguishes its opposition to jihadist ideology from hostility toward Muslims. 
“Hatred of Muslims as people, bigotry, discrimination, and violence directed at men and women because they are Muslim, is real, and it is as abhorrent as every other form of bigotry,” the organization says. “We condemn it without reservation.”
“Muslims are entitled to exactly the dignity, safety, and equal standing that everyone else is owed,” the statement continues. The group says its target is not Muslims as a people, but what it describes as a “supremacist current within Islam” that has inspired terrorism and political violence. “No to supremacist Islam. Yes to Muslims who live as our neighbors,” the organization says.
Historian Richard Landes founded the initiative, which includes former Muslims, scholars, philosophers, filmmakers, Jews, and Christians. Its inaugural observance, billed as “27 Days of Truth,” will focus on victims of jihadist violence.
The campaign is organized around three themes: “A Record,” documenting and remembering victims; “A Reckoning,” examining what organizers say are euphemisms and institutional failures surrounding jihadist ideology; and “A Warning,” arguing that jihadist movements remain a threat even after the territorial defeat of ISIS and the death of Osama bin Laden.
“Infidel Awareness Month is about remembering, understanding, and speaking plainly,” Landes said in the group&#8217;s announcement. “We cannot defend a free society if we are afraid to name the ideology that has repeatedly declared us its enemy.”
Danny Burmawi, a former Muslim from Jordan who is now founder and CEO of the Ideological Defense Institute, a partner in the project, shared his transformation from celebrating the September 11 attacks as a child to opposing jihadist ideology. 
“Twenty-five years ago, as a boy in Amman, I cheered when the towers fell. Today I am a proud infidel,” Burmawi <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/twenty-five-years-ago-i-celebrated-9-11-today-i-celebrate-america-as-a-proud-infidel">said</a>. “The Month is about confronting the threat of an ideology that demands submission and seeks to impose Sharia law across society.” 
Burmawi also emphasized that the initiative is not intended as a campaign against Muslims. 
“Muslims are this ideology&#8217;s first victims, and some of its bravest opponents are those, like me, who left it,” he said.
In a July <a href="https://icsa.substack.com/p/by-richard-landes-infidel-awareness">essay announcing the initiative</a>, Landes proposed making Infidel Awareness Month an annual observance through 2076.
Cision&#8217;s PR Newswire says its distribution network includes more than 82,000 media and syndication outlets and more than 300,000 journalists and influencers. 
The Daily Wire asked Cision what specific language violated its standards and whether the company had considered the initiative&#8217;s explicit condemnation of anti-Muslim bigotry.
Cision did not provide a response by publication.

YEMEN-CONFLICT-RELIGION-ISLAM-SHIITE-ASHURA

Anti-Jihad Campaign’s 9/11 Launch Deemed Too ‘Inflammatory’

censorship

cision

islamic terrorism

richard landes

With the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks fast approaching, only two states out of 50 have mandated that schools teach the history of the horrific Islamic terrorist attacks.
While students in Florida and Arizona learn about the history surrounding the deadly attacks in New York City and at the Pentagon — as well as the fourth attempt that was thwarted over Pennsylvania by passengers aboard the hijacked plane — ten other states have laws that simply &#8220;encourage&#8221; such lessons. But as The New York Post <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/09/05/us-news/schools-flooded-with-9-11-retellings-that-focus-on-islamophobia/?utm_campaign=nypost&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=twitter">reported</a>, there is no specific direction regarding what form such a lesson must take — meaning that it could be something as simple as a moment of silence or a brief assembly.
What appears to be filling the void could be more concerning than a simple lack of instruction on the topic, however, as at least four states — Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Wisconsin, and Oregon — have recommended revisionist curriculum such as &#8220;<a href="https://www.gse.upenn.edu/our-expertise/teaching-beyond-september-11th">Teaching Beyond September 11th</a>.&#8221; Developed by the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education, the curriculum devotes far more time and focus to the post-9/11 rise of &#8220;Islamophobia&#8221; than to the motivations behind the attacks in the first place.
&#8220;On the 11th of September 2001, 19 hijackers flew two airplanes into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York, one airplane into the Pentagon in Virginia, and a fourth into a field in Pennsylvania. A total of 2,996 people were killed, including the hijackers,&#8221; one passage reads.
It does not delve into radical Islamist beliefs driving the attackers, and its treatment of al-Qaeda mastermind Osama bin Laden is noncommittal at best: &#8220;The U.S. accused Saudi national Osama bin Laden, living in Afghanistan at the time, of being the mastermind behind the attacks.&#8221;
Lesson plans include topics like &#8220;Islamophobia and the Oval Office,&#8221; &#8220;Right-wing Extremism,&#8221; &#8220;Islamophobia in Global Context,&#8221; &#8220;Surveillance of Muslims,&#8221; &#8220;Civil Liberties after 9/11,&#8221; and &#8220;The Muslim and African Ban.&#8221;
One lesson singled out by The Post discussed a Danish cartoon depicting Muhammad — which sparked riots that resulted in more than 250 deaths — and asked students to consider how the media response to the deadly riots had &#8220;presented certain values as more important than the fact that the cartoons were offensive and racist.&#8221;
New York state Assemblyman Matt Slater (R-Yorktown) criticized the curriculum, saying, &#8220;Nearly 3,000 innocent people were murdered by al Qaeda on September 11th. They were the victims. The terrorists were the perpetrators. Any curriculum that blurs that fundamental truth, or makes the victims secondary to a political narrative, isn’t teaching history, it’s rewriting it.&#8221;

Hijacked Plane Crashes Into The World Trade Center

Only Two States Mandate 9/11 Education — Others Teach ‘Islamophobia’ Instead

Only Two States Require Standard Curriculum On 9/11 Education

education policy

islamophobia

politics

A <a href="https://www.change.org/p/please-sign-to-support-honoring-the-memory-of-those-lost-on-september-11th-with-dignity">bombshell petition</a> demanding Big Apple Mayor Zohran Mamdani be banned from attending the upcoming 25th anniversary 9/11 commemoration at Ground Zero has officially hit 50,000 signatures, and Hollywood star Patricia Heaton is <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/07/29/us-news/patricia-heaton-joins-effort-to-ban-mamdani-from-9-11-anniversary-ceremony/">cheering the movement on</a>.
The massive groundswell of support comes as heartbroken victims’ families fight to keep the socialist mayor far away from the memorial site. The push recently got a major boost from the &#8220;Everybody Loves Raymond&#8221; star, who cheered on petitioners with an enthusiastic &#8220;Keep it going New Yorkers&#8221; post on social media while sharing a link to the campaign.
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Keep it going New Yorkers <a href="https://t.co/xBMIgWNzYG">https://t.co/xBMIgWNzYG</a>
&mdash; Patricia Heaton (@PatriciaHeaton) <a href="https://x.com/PatriciaHeaton/status/2081739943785676848?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 27, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The crusade is spearheaded by 9/11 widower Giovanni Galante, who tragically lost his wife, Grace, in the horrific terror attacks. The petition demands that organizers bar Mamdani from the upcoming milestone ceremony. For the grieving families, Mamdani’s presence would amount to a slap in the face on a deeply personal day of mourning.
Organizers argue the mayor has forfeited any right to stand on sacred ground, pointing to a string of controversial public statements, questionable alliances, and radical political ties.
In a blistering statement accompanying the petition, organizers laid out a rap sheet of grievances regarding the mayor. The grievances included his refusal to unequivocally denounce the inflammatory rallying cry &#8220;globalize the intifada”; his endorsements of an activist who dismissed 9/11 as merely an act done in the context of &#8220;U.S. capitalism, racism, white supremacy, and Islamophobia,&#8221; and socialist primary winner Darializa Avila Chevalier, who boasted about wiping her dirty hands on the American flag.
The statement also calls out Mamdani&#8217;s hiring of Ramzi Kassem as the city’s chief counsel, despite Kassem having represented a convicted al-Qaeda operative involved in a tanker bombing plot, and his public comments blaming the U.S. government for radicalizing high-profile al-Qaeda propagandists like Anwar al-Awlaki.
&#8220;This anniversary is one of remembrance grounded in shared American values,&#8221; the petition states.
For the families who suffered unimaginable loss 25 years ago, allowing Mamdani to participate in the milestone event risks tarnishing the sacred integrity of Ground Zero.
Despite the intense backlash and the skyrocketing signature count, Mamdani is insisting he fully intends to show up at Ground Zero in September to mark the solemn day alongside New Yorkers.

MixCollage-30-Jul-2026-10-03-AM-4174

Sitcom Star Joins Push To Ban Mamdani From 9/11 Ceremony

Patricia Heaton

zohran mamdani

Dave Portnoy, the founder of Barstool, just held an &#8220;emergency press conference&#8221; explaining why New York City’s democratic socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani isn’t wanted at the 9/11 25th Anniversary Memorial Ceremony.
The millionaire social media mogul took to X Monday night to list several reasons why Mamdani should be excluded from the ceremony, emphasizing that the socialist mayor has not &#8220;hid who he is.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Hmm I wonder why the families of 9/11 don’t want Mandami at the 25th anniversary memorial ceremony. Could it be for any of the following reasons?
He campaigned with Hassan Piker who said US deserved 9/11
He endorsed Claire Valdez who also said America deserved 9/11
He… <a href="https://t.co/EH1vQMysWb">https://t.co/EH1vQMysWb</a>
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) <a href="https://x.com/stoolpresidente/status/2081922743230984620?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 28, 2026</a></blockquote>
&#8220;He campaigned with Hassan Piker who said US deserved 9/11,&#8221; Portnoy began.
Portnoy is correct. In 2019, on a Twitch livestream, Piker said, &#8220;America deserved 9/11, dude. F*ck it, I&#8217;m saying it,&#8221; adding, &#8220;We totally brought it upon ourselves … We did, we f*cking did.&#8221;
Portnoy then pointed out that Mamdani endorsed Darializa Avila Chevalier, who co-founded a group at Columbia University whose <a href="https://abc3340.com/news/nation-world/anti-israel-columbia-students-call-for-total-eradication-of-western-civilization-divest-palestine-hamas-bangladesh-protests-demonstrations">mission</a> included this statement: &#8220;We are Westerners fighting for the total eradication of Western civilization.&#8221;
RELATED: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/democrats-newest-pick-is-their-most-radical-yet">Democrats’ Newest Pick Is Their Most Radical Yet</a>
The Massachusetts native also pointed out that back in 2013 Mamdani sympathized with the Boston Marathon bombers who killed three and injured more than 250 people on April 15, 2013.
Five days after that terrorist attack, Mamdani defended one of the bombers in a <a href="https://x.com/ZohranKMamdani/status/325639432000655361?s=20">post</a> that read, &#8220;The implications of not mirandizing Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.&#8221;
Mamdani’s father, Mahmood Mamdani, justified suicide bombing three years after the worst terrorist attack on American soil in his 2004 book titled &#8220;Good Muslim, Bad Muslim: America, the Cold War, and the Roots of Terror.&#8221;
The elder Mamdani said that &#8220;we need to recognize the suicide bomber, first and foremost, as a category of soldier.&#8221;
Portnoy continued with nearly a dozen more reasons why he believes 9/11 families don’t want to see Mamdani on the 25th anniversary of arguably the worst day of their lives.
Making a name for himself in sports, Portnoy hasn’t shied away from political issues over the last few years. He spoke out against Mamdani during his mayoral campaign, and is still baffled at how someone who has repeatedly refused to denounce anti-America rhetoric can be in charge of the country’s most-populated city.
&#8220;How the hell did we get here in the 1st place?&#8221; Portnoy asked Monday.
Critics of Mamdani, including Portnoy, haven’t forgotten his previous statements and endorsements, which are mentioned at length in <a href="https://www.change.org/p/please-sign-to-support-honoring-the-memory-of-those-lost-on-september-11th-with-dignity?recruiter=1421960844&amp;recruited_by_id=0999a100-7bbb-11f1-8944-997c0a94f6b3&amp;utm_source=share_petition&amp;utm_campaign=petition_dashboard&amp;utm_medium=copylink&amp;share_id=kbk5YJfjfS">a petition</a> initiated by 9/11 widower Giovanni Galante.
Galante&#8217;s petition has more than 25,000 signatures and counting in support of keeping Mamdani away from the ceremony meant to honor and remember the lives lost to the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001.
&#8220;We felt that having Mamdani there would show a disrespect to our family members because of the people he supports,&#8221; Galante told CBS New York.
&#8220;Mr. Mamdani’s own father, whom he has acknowledged as having shaped his views, penned a book shortly after 9/11 in which he argued that suicide bombers should be &#8216;understood as a feature of modern political violence rather than stigmatized as a mark of barbarism,'&#8221; Galante wrote. &#8220;He also argued that there was a moral equivalence between the United States and al-Qaeda.&#8221;
It’s a question Dave Portnoy and 25,000-plus people are asking as Mamdani defends his right to attend the ceremony.

Credit: Theo Wargo/ Spencer PlattGetty Images

Dave Portnoy Goes Scorched Earth On Mamdani Over 9/11 Controversy

new york

new york city

News

A growing grassroots effort led by families of 9/11 victims is demanding that New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani be banned from attending the upcoming 25th anniversary ceremony at Ground Zero.
The group pointed to his long record of troubling ties, radical associations, and statements regarding Islamic extremism.
A <a href="https://www.change.org/p/please-sign-to-support-honoring-the-memory-of-those-lost-on-september-11th-with-dignity?recruiter=1421960844&amp;recruited_by_id=0999a100-7bbb-11f1-8944-997c0a94f6b3&amp;utm_source=share_petition&amp;utm_campaign=petition_dashboard&amp;utm_medium=copylink&amp;share_id=kbk5YJfjf">petition</a> posted on Change.org has already garnered more than 5,200 signatures, including over 300 from family members of 9/11 victims. It contends that Mamdani’s presence at the Ground Zero event would be an insult to the memory of the nearly 3,000 Americans murdered by al-Qaeda terrorists.
Organizer Giovanni Galante, who lost his 29-year-old wife Grace in the attack, stressed that the silver-anniversary ceremony must remain a sacred space for mourning rather than a platform for figures connected to far-left anti-American rhetoric. &#8220;This day is sacred to us,” he said. &#8220;It is not political, and it is not a platform for those connected to such views. His presence would be deeply hurtful and inappropriate — like an unwelcome guest at a deeply personal ceremony.&#8221;
The petition centers its objection on Mamdani’s public record, citing &#8220;concerns [that] have been raised about Mr. Mamdani’s public positions, associations, and responses to rhetoric that many perceive as hostile to these shared values.&#8221;
Among the key points highlighted in the petition, grieving family members detail a long pattern of radical associations and statements that they say dishonor the victims. The petition notes Mamdani&#8217;s refusal to reject violent anti-Israel incitement, specifically citing a &#8220;perceived reluctance to clearly and unequivocally condemn phrases such as &#8216;globalize the intifada,&#8217; which many interpret as endorsing or normalizing violence.&#8221;
It also notes that Mamdani has openly praised radical Brooklyn Imam Siraj Wahhaj, a figure &#8220;named as an alleged co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing&#8221; who also &#8220;served as a character witness for the &#8216;Blind Sheikh.'&#8221;
The petition points out that Mamdani has previously blamed the U.S. government for radicalizing al-Qaeda propagandist Anwar al-Awlaki, which critics have slammed as blaming the victim rather than the perpetrators.
In addition,it notes that Mamdani appointed Ramzi Kassem, who previously represented an al-Qaeda operative convicted in a tanker bombing plot, as NYC&#8217;s chief counsel. He has also endorsed figures like Aber Kawas, who dismissed 9/11 as an attack where &#8220;a couple of people did in the context of U.S. capitalism, racism, white supremacy, and Islamophobia,&#8221; and recently campaigned alongside DSA primary winner Darializa Aria Chevalier, who boasted on social media about wiping her hands on the American flag.
The petition highlights that Mamdani’s own father, who shaped his worldview, authored a book after 9/11 arguing suicide bombers should be &#8220;understood as a feature of modern political violence rather than stigmatized as a mark of barbarism&#8221; — all while drawing a moral equivalence between America and al-Qaeda.
The New York Post <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/07/25/us-news/families-of-9-11-want-to-ban-mamdani-from-25th-anniversary/">reported</a>:
<blockquote>
Organizer Cheri Sparacio, whose 35-year-old husband Thomas was killed on 9/11, quipped there are  “so many other examples” why it would be “disrespectful” for Mamdani to attend the ceremony that “we couldn’t fit them on the list.” They include Mamdani’s longtime association with <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/09/05/us-news/the-new-yorker-trashed-for-inviting-hasan-piker-to-speak-at-new-yorker-festival/">vile left-wing influencer Hasan Piker</a>, who once said “America deserved” the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks, and Mamdani’s outlandish claim that he and other fellow Muslims were also victims of 9/11 because it supposedly <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/10/26/opinion/zohran-mamdanis-new-low-pretending-hes-a-victim-of-9-11/">triggered a horrible wave of “Islamophobia,”</a> added Sparacio, of Staten Island.
</blockquote>
&#8220;For 9/11 families, this is not simply a public ceremony — it is a deeply personal day of mourning,&#8221; the petition states. &#8220;The presence of individuals whose words or associations are perceived as conflicting with the solemn purpose of the event risks detracting from that focus and causing additional pain. &#8230; The 25th anniversary should remain centered on remembrance, unity, and an unambiguous rejection of the violence and extremism that defined that day. Ensuring that all participants reflect these principles is essential to preserving the integrity of the commemoration.&#8221;
City Hall signaled that Mamdani has no intention of stepping aside, with a spokesman confirming Mamdani still intends to attend.

Family Members Of 9/11 Victims Want Mamdani Barred From 25th Anniversary Ceremonies

Happy Friday, folks.
Let’s check in on our favorite socialist mayor’s city. Shall we?
In the span of 24 hours, the terror sympathizing, Ugandan native took to X to proclaim that if landlords stepped out of line he&#8217;d seize their property, that his &#8220;talk with the people&#8221; (more like Hugo Chávez&#8217;s rambling Aló, Presidente) is dropping soon, that anyone sitting on a second home worth over five million dollars in New York City should expect a little love letter in the mail about their new pied-a-terre tax, and that HE HAS BEEN BRIEFED on the terror attack on the Upper West Side, where an Asian man and a Jewish man were stabbed with a screwdriver by a Muslim screaming &#8220;Allahu Akbar.&#8221;
Be careful subscribing to his social media pages. You might get whiplash. Or have a heart attack.
But of course all of this comes as a shock to no one. This is a man who ran for office promising to come for pesky landlords’ buildings and squeeze every last penny from New York&#8217;s most successful residents. He is, by his own design, a communist cosplayer whose favorite new hobby is announcing “he has been briefed.”
The only shocking thing about a shocking week is that we&#8217;ve all stopped being shocked.
He <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DbLNFpFhBaP/?hl=en">spent</a> time at a a mosque earlier this year that has documented ties to an Iranian-government front, where the imam sang about &#8220;the killing of the infidels by your sword.&#8221; (Infidels, for those keeping score at home, means anyone who isn&#8217;t Muslim. So, most of his subjects.) He says, often and loudly, that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is a war criminal, and that he&#8217;ll use his vast and terrifying mayoral power to have him arrested for &#8220;genocidal actions.&#8221; (He has no such power, and appears equally unclear on what &#8220;genocide&#8221; means.) This week he posted a moody little video branding the Jewish state as evil incarnate and urging New Yorkers to use &#8220;every tool they have&#8221; against it. He also declined to condemn the call to &#8220;globalize the intifada,&#8221; a rallying cry for violence against Jews and Israelis.
So no, my jaw did not hit the floor when a man took his wisdom to heart and stabbed a man on his way to synagogue.
Jewish New Yorkers are furious, and rightly frightened. City leaders used a press conference to accuse the mayor of &#8220;fanning the flames of hatred and division.&#8221; Which is exactly what he&#8217;s done. Even Hedge Hero Bill Ackman suggested the mayor take a little field trip to the Holocaust Museum, presumably so someone can finally explain to him what the word he keeps butchering actually means.
The <a href="https://x.com/Bubblebathgirl/status/2080641750058639606/video/1">NYPD</a> has had it with the smarmball, too. Their relationship soured the moment the internet unearthed a video of Mamdani claiming the department&#8217;s boots are &#8220;laced by the IDF,&#8221; and they&#8217;ve been in full breakup mode ever since. President of the New York City Police Benevolent Association Patrick Hendry warned that the mayor&#8217;s rhetoric is pushing things too far: &#8220;When the mayor of the city is actively calling for demonstrations, violent agitators will assume they have permission to cause as much havoc as possible.&#8221; NYPD Detectives Endowment Association President Scott Munro put it more bluntly, saying Mamdani &#8220;acts like he&#8217;s leading a protest movement instead of running the largest city in America.&#8221;
Yep. And boy has havoc ensued. Because for the Left, violent protest is encouraged, excused, and practically canonized, so long as it&#8217;s done in the name of the almighty omnicause.
And Zohran, ever the multitasker, tries to hold every banner at once. He&#8217;s pro-trans, throwing pride parties at Town Hall and announcing a $15 million investment in gender-mutilative care (one imagines the imam was thrilled). He&#8217;s pro-&#8220;underprivileged,&#8221; except his rent freeze is quietly crushing the immigrants and working-class renters he claims to champion, who are now staring down record-high payments. He&#8217;s pro-Palestine, a cause whose governing authority executes gay people for the crime of existing, and he&#8217;s decidedly anti-America, a country he insists is starving its children while oligarchs run wild.
He’s doing cartwheels around these ideologies. It’s exhausting to try and follow.
But that&#8217;s who he is, and how he clawed his way to the top. A theater kid turned failed rapper who talked his way into Gracie Mansion and started acting like a warm and fuzzy dictator instead of what he actually is: the overseer of a five-borough sanitation budget.
None of his promises have landed. Bus fares are more expensive. Rents are up, not down; the city isn’t safer, it’s louder. But he will keep pretending to fix these problems after being duly “briefed.”
He’s a walking contradiction in a suit and keffiyeh.
Twenty-five years after this country buried nearly 3,000 people killed in the name of the very rhetoric Mamdani can’t bring himself to condemn, New York elected a mayor who sat through a call to kill the infidels and called it a privilege to be there. History does not usually repeat itself so quickly, or so loudly, but here we are. Ahlan.
Happy Friday, indeed.

Mayor Mamdani Commemorates America’s 250th Anniversary

NYC Suffers Under Theater Kid Commie Rule And No One Should Be Surprised

benjamin netanyahu

DW Opinion

Israel Defense Forces (IDF)

Patrick Hendry

Scott Munro

The brother of a man killed in the 9/11 World Trade Center attacks has a blunt message for New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani: Don&#8217;t bother showing up at the Ground Zero memorial.
Dennis McGinley, whose brother Daniel Francis McGinley died on the 89th floor when terrorists struck the World Trade Center in 2001, tore into Mamdani during a fiery sit-down with NewsNation anchor Katie Pavlich, accusing the socialist mayor and his political peers of hijacking the tragedy&#8217;s legacy for their own narratives.
Daniel, then 40, was a senior vice president at Keefe, Bruyette &amp; Woods when he was murdered alongside nearly 3,000 others that morning. His brother has since become one of the most outspoken advocates for victims&#8217; families, frequently sparring with leftist politicians he believes have lost sight of who actually suffered that day.
Asked by Pavlich how to confront a younger generation that seems increasingly willing to rationalize the atrocity, McGinley didn&#8217;t pull punches. He suggested the critics in question lack real-world experience, saying, “These people, they don&#8217;t seem very bright to me. From what I&#8217;ve read, I don&#8217;t think they&#8217;ve ever had a job. They just go to like an Ivy League school for like 10 years.&#8221;
He wondered aloud whether their tune would change if someone they loved had faced the horrifying choice so many victims confronted that day.
“I do think that if one of their relatives or loved ones had shown up to work, and within an hour after arriving at work, they had to decide, do I jump from the 100th floor of this building or do I burn alive?” he added.
McGinley said he wouldn&#8217;t wish the past quarter-century of grief on anyone — but argued that anyone seeking public office, especially in New York, owes the city&#8217;s residents more compassion than he believes has been shown.
Then he tore into politicians, noting that they traditionally pose for photos behind the rope line at the annual Ground Zero ceremony before vanishing.
“Being that it&#8217;s a political season and campaign season, and that&#8217;s usually when the politicians show up down at Ground Zero for the memorial every year — you know, they&#8217;re behind their ropes and they&#8217;re laughing, smiling, taking their photo ops, and then they take off,&#8221; McGinley said. &#8220;We certainly hope that none of these politicians show up down there for their photo op. We do not want them there, and that goes for Mayor Mamdani as well.”
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&quot;We certainly hope that none of these politicians show up down there for their photo op &#8211; we do not want them there &#8211; and that goes for Mayor Mamdani as well.&quot;
WATCH: Dennis McGinley &#8211; whose brother Daniel was murdered in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 &#8211; joins Katie… <a href="https://t.co/DS46Q65hvG">pic.twitter.com/DS46Q65hvG</a>
&mdash; Katie Pavlich Tonight (@KatiePavlichNN) <a href="https://x.com/KatiePavlichNN/status/2070699201827143859?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 27, 2026</a></blockquote>
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This follows months of controversy surrounding how Mamdani discusses the terror attack. Speaking last September, he focused on Islamophobia, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/10/nyregion/mamdani-sept-11-muslim.html">saying</a>, “It became a fact of life. It was this horrific day that was also for many New Yorkers the moment at which they were marked an ‘other.’”
A month later, he invoked an aunt he said stopped riding the subway after the attacks out of fear for wearing a hijab.
Conservative commentators bitterly criticized Mamdani. CNN contributor Scott Jennings blasted the remarks online, writing, “There was one big thing missing from Zohran Mamdani&#8217;s emotional remarks about 9/11: Any mention of the VICTIMS of the worst terror attack on U.S. soil. What are we to infer from this?”
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There was one big thing missing from Zohran Mamdani&#39;s emotional remarks about 9/11:
Any mention of the VICTIMS of the worst terror attack on U.S. soil.
What are we to infer from this? <a href="https://t.co/qNXxR03a0m">pic.twitter.com/qNXxR03a0m</a>
&mdash; Scott Jennings (@ScottJenningsKY) <a href="https://x.com/ScottJenningsKY/status/1982158038388621789?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 25, 2025</a></blockquote>
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On air, Jennings doubled down, declaring:
<blockquote>
I think if you&#8217;re going to run for mayor of New York City, have any position in New York City and you&#8217;re going to talk about 9/11 or invoke 9/11, you darn sure better start with the people who died in the Twin Towers. That&#8217;s what I think. And he didn&#8217;t do that and he made it about his experience and his aunt and all this. &#8230; That moment in our history, you cannot lose sight of what happened. People died in those Twin Towers. They did not deserve to die. We did suffer a terrorist attack and we can&#8217;t really forget the moment, making it about him and his family. There were almost 3,000 people that died there. It&#8217;s a big deal.
</blockquote>
For McGinley and other grieving relatives, the message is simple: 9/11 remembrance belongs to the dead and those who loved them, not to politicians chasing a sympathetic storyline.

9/11 Victim’s Brother To Mamdani: Stay Away From Ground Zero

New York Democrats nominated a leftist activist for a state Senate seat who once said 9/11 was the manifestation of “white supremacy” and Western colonialism. 
Aber Kawas, a democratic socialist backed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, won the nomination for New York’s 12th Senate District with 60% of the vote on Tuesday. Kawas, who has a degree in &#8220;Islamic Liberation Theology,&#8221; previously <a href="https://freebeacon.com/latest-news/socialists-unite-mamdani-throws-support-behind-behind-state-assembly-candidate-who-blamed-9-11-on-america/">faced criticism</a> for her comments on 9/11 that appeared to downplay the terrorist attack and blame it on the policies of the United States. 
&#8220;Finding that the system of capitalism and racism, and white supremacy, etc, have all, and Islamophobia, have all been used, you know, to colonize lands, right, to take resources from other people, and so this is, like, a long trajectory. And we&#8217;re just seeing the manifestations of that continuation, right, with 9/11,” she <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URdAAEwyI_Q">said</a> in 2017 at an Asian American Writers’ Workshop. 
Kawas is expected to win in November to represent the heavily Democratic district located in Queens.
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Mamdani-endorsed Aber Kwas won the Democrat Primary tonight for a State Senate seat in New York.
Here she is saying that 9-11 was America&#8217;s fault because of our &#8220;system of capitalism, racism, white supremacy and islamophobia.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/ouSUB44nz3">pic.twitter.com/ouSUB44nz3</a>
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) <a href="https://x.com/greg_price11/status/2069615344956612991?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 24, 2026</a></blockquote>
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She added during the workshop that she did not appreciate people &#8220;asking us to respond about, you know, an attack” because “historically, right, you know, a lot of us come from lands that were colonized, lands where wars are being waged, right, and a lot of times because of U.S. policy or the policies in Europe.”
“The idea that we have to apologize for, like, a terror attack that, like, a couple people did, and then there is no apologies or reparations for genocides and for slavery, etc., is something that I kind of find like reprehensible,” she said. 
Kawas describes herself as the “daughter of Palestinian refugees” and says that her father was deported by ICE. Her <a href="https://aberforsenate.com/platform/">platform</a> includes “free” healthcare for illegal immigrants, funding legal services for illegal immigrants, and ending any cooperation between New York law enforcement and ICE.
It was previously <a href="https://x.com/DrewPavlou/status/1990759743640777030">reported</a> that she wrote in a now-deleted Tumblr account that a man <a href="https://archives.fbi.gov/archives/newyork/press-releases/2010/nyfo042710b.htm">convicted</a> of providing material support to al Qaeda named Fahad Hashmi was one of her “imprisoned heroes.” 
&#8220;Therefore each day they are locked up is a day that our hearts cannot be at ease. We cannot rest until each and everyone is free,&#8221; she wrote, according to posts saved by Drew Pavlou. &#8220;Their lives are a sources of inspiration to us for they are living martyrs, teaching us lessons in patience, sacrifice, and integrity. We must strive to keep them in our remembrance and work for their sake, continuing on with the freedom we have, that has unjustly been taken awat [sic] from them.&#8221;
Mamdani-backed democratic socialists swept their primary elections on Tuesday, defeating candidates backed by the Democrat Party establishment.

New Yorkers demonstrate for a rent freeze

Democrats Chose Candidate Who Links 9/11 To ‘White Supremacy’

Radical Islamic Terror

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