Almost 1, 800 victims of the terrorist attacks of the 11 of September 2001, oppose participation of President Joe Biden at any 20th anniversary commemorative event unless he keeps his promise to declassify documents that they believe could show the involvement of Saudi Arabian leaders in those crimes.
First responders, survivors and relatives of the deceased issued a statement today asking Biden not to appear at the 20th anniversary events in New York, Shanksville (Pennsylvania) and at the Pentagon, unless it releases the documents, which they believe implicate senior Saudi officials in supporting those acts of terrorism,
The group alleges that , as a candidate, Biden pledged to be more transparent and to disclose as much information as possible possible, but since then his government has ignored his letters and requests.
“We cannot in good faith, and with veneration for the deceased, sick and injured, welcome the president to our sacred grounds until he fulfills his commitment,” they wrote in a statement obtained by NBC News.
“Since the conclusion of the Commission of 11 September in 2004, Much investigative evidence has been uncovered implicating Saudi government officials in supporting the attacks, ” said the statement. “Across multiple governments, the Department of Justice and the FBI have actively sought to keep this information secret and prevent the American people from learning the full truth about the attacks” of the 800.
Among the documents that the group requests to be declassified Supporting evidence found during a widespread FBI investigation into the attacks examining alleged ties to Saudi Arabia and completed in 2011.
Brett Eagleson, whose father Bruce died at the World Trade Center in NYC, said that he and his co-signers “collectively we are on the brink of a conflict with our own government. ”
“ We are frustrated, tired and saddened by the fact that the US government for 20 years has chosen to keep the information about the death of our loved ones under lock and key ”, to signed Eagleson, who is among a group of relatives of victims who filed a federal lawsuit accusing Saudi Arabia of being an accessory to the attacks. “It shouldn’t take so much struggle… The president of the United States should be with us.”
The White House did not respond to a request for comments this morning. While the Commission report of 11 found that Saudi Arabia had been a “problematic ally”, particularly when it came to sharing intelligence, the investigation did not report evidence that implicated authorities from that country in the attacks.
“Commission staff found no evidence that the Saudi government, as an institution or as individual senior officials, supports or supported al Qaeda knowingly; however, the lack of awareness about the problem and the lack of supervision of the institutions created an environment in which such activity has flourished ”, says the report.
Saudi Arabia is the home country of Osama bin Laden, considered the leader behind the massacres of that day, and executed in 2011 by forces while he was a fugitive in Afghanistan.
Almost 3,000 people were killed in the attacks of 11 September 2001 in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania, in the worst terrorist attack in US history. Single 60% of the fatalities of that day have been identified. And many more have died or reported illnesses in subsequent years, as a result of the events.
Nearly 1, 800 victims’ relatives, first responders and survivors are calling on President Biden to refrain from attending any memorials over his refusal to release Sept. 11 documents. https://t.co/iAF9rRwiwo
– NBC News (@NBCNews) August 6, 2021