MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

New York marks 25 years since 9/11 with a seventh moment of silence

The ceremony held Friday at Ground Zero in New York for the 25th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks included a seventh moment of silence for the first time, dedicated to those who died later from illnesses and injuries linked to the attacks. Organizers said it will become a permanent part of the annual event.

The six preceding moments correspond to the key points of that day: the impact of a plane into each of the Twin Towers, the collapse of both, the attack on the Pentagon and the crash of United Airlines Flight 93 in a Pennsylvania field. The first was observed at 8:46 a.m., the time the first aircraft struck the North Tower.

The attacks, carried out by al Qaeda using four hijacked commercial airliners, killed 2,977 people: 2,753 in New York, including 343 members of the city fire department; 184 at the Pentagon; and 40 at Shanksville. During the ceremony, relatives read out one by one the 2,983 names inscribed at the memorial, which include the six people killed in the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center. The reading ended shortly before 1 p.m.

Vice President J. D. Vance attended along with the four living former presidents: Republican George W. Bush, who was in the White House in 2001, and Democrats Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and Joe Biden, together with state and city officials. Under the organizers' rules, public officials do not deliver speeches.

President Donald Trump took part in the commemoration at the Pentagon, in Arlington, as he had done the previous year. There he described the attacks as an episode of immense evil that led the country to unite against terrorism, and linked the date to the ongoing military campaign against Iran, saying the United States would ensure Tehran never obtains a nuclear weapon. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, a post until recently titled secretary of defense, spoke in similar terms.

Several relatives used the reading of names to press the government to review its relationship with Saudi Arabia. Terry Strada, national chair of the group 9/11 Families United, said successive administrations “chose to protect the Saudis instead of standing with the families,” an allegation that forms part of ongoing litigation and has not been established in court.

The anniversary was preceded by a controversy over New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, the first Muslim to hold the post, whom a group of relatives asked not to attend through a signature campaign. Former mayor Rudolph Giuliani, who led the city in 2001, questioned his presence in terms that included a comparison with those who carried out the attacks. The two were both at the ceremony and shook hands. Mamdani told a US network that they exchanged pleasantries.