New York City is beefing up security ahead of the 20th anniversary of the September 11th Terror Attacks as countless mourners and politicians descend on the Big Apple to honor those killed that day.
“We have developed a robust security overlay for the upcoming ceremony marking the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks,” Martine Materasso, chief of the NYPD’s Counterterrorism Bureau, said Wednesday.
“We will be using all of our counterterrorism resources to ensure a safe event,” she added.
“It’s 20 years later but we still feel it so intensely,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio. “We have a major anniversary coming up and the eyes of the world will be on New York City, which means we have to take extraordinary precautions to protect all New Yorkers.”
“As of this moment there is no specific and credible threat,” added the Mayor.
“We are watching, because we know the ways of the terrorist,” he concluded. “We understand this anniversary is going to be on their minds as well.”
NYC prepares for 'elevated threat environment' on 9/11 20th anniversary https://t.co/xbIjLD4cOU pic.twitter.com/aGPaIG59Uv
— New York Post (@nypost) September 8, 2021
Twenty years ago this Saturday, 19 Islamic Fundamentalists armed with box-cutters and other rudimentary weapons seized control of four commercial passenger jets.
At 8:45 A.M., an American Airlines Boeing 767 loaded with 20-thousand gallons of jet fuel smashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center. 18 minutes later, another plane hit the South Tower.
At 9:45 A.M., a third aircraft crashed into the west side of the Pentagon. The fourth plane descended into a field in rural Pennsylvania after passengers fought to regain control.
Within two hours, the towers were gone and 3,000 people lost their lives.
That figure includes 343 firefighters and paramedics, 23 members of the NYPD, and 37 Port Authority police officers who were working to get people out of the buildings.
Read the full report at the NY Post.
