9/11 live updates: Wife of FDNY chief killed in terror attack slams Biden’s ‘do 9/11’ comment in speech during memorial service Post Staff

Wife of FDNY chief killed in terror attack slams Biden’s ‘do 9/11’ comment in speech during memorial service

By Olivia Land

The wife of an FDNY chief who was killed on 9/11 slammed President Joe Biden for his “do 9/11” comment yesterday – and called out the government over the “outrageous” plea deal offered to terrorists involved in the attacks.

Joanne Barbara spoke at the ceremony to honor her late husband, Gerard A. Barbara.

“The elected officials here today show their respect and reverence to the families on Sept. 11, or – in our president’s words – ’do 9/11,’ quite a flippant remark,” Barbara said, referring to Biden’s comment to a reporter earlier this week regarding his upcoming scheduled.

“Please remember that the 9/11 families live it every day,” Barbara said of the grief experienced by the loved ones of the 2,977 people who were killed in the terror attack on Sept. 11, 2001.

Barbara also criticized the “outrageous” plea deal that was nearly allowed for the alleged mastermind of the 9/11 attacks and two terrorist accomplices.

Joanne Barbara slammed Joe Biden at the 9/11 memorial service.
Joanne Barbara slammed Joe Biden at the 9/11 memorial service. Derek French/Shutterstock

The controversial deal reached this summer sparked a massive wave of outcry, and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin revoked the agreement on Aug. 2.

“If not for the 9/11 families, who knows what would have transpired?” Barbara said.

“It has been 23 years and the families deserve justice and accountability,” she added, to the sound of applause and cheers from the crowd.

NYC transplant honors 9/11 near scene of attacks: ‘Solemn and sorrowful’

By Jack Morphet and Olivia Land

A New York City resident who was just a preteen on Sept. 11, 2001, reflected on the 9/11 attacks near the downtown memorial ceremony Wednesday morning.

Anthony Flesher, now 35, was 12 years old and living in Iowa 23 years ago.

He spoke to The Post today from the Oculus, just steps from where the World Trade Center stood.

“It’s a good idea for anyone who wasn’t alive on 9/11 or doesn’t have a clear memory of the day to reflect on it and try to imagine what it would have been like to be down here on the street and especially for the firefighters and police officers running towards the towers,” Flesher said.

The names of the victims of the 9/11 terror attack are read during a remembrance ceremony on the 23rd anniversary of the September 11 terror attack on the World Trade Center at Ground Zero.
The names of the victims of the 9/11 terror attack are read during a remembrance ceremony on the 23rd anniversary of the September 11 terror attack on the World Trade Center at Ground Zero. AFP via Getty Images

He encouraged those who were not near one of the scenes on 9/11 or was too young to remember to watch videos about the attacks.

“I’ve never been here on the anniversary. I didn’t realize the families had the memorial to themselves but it makes sense because this is when they lost their loved ones,” he added.

“It’s hard to imagine being here in 2001, all the chaos right here where we’re standing. Hearing the bells ring out and seeing the families mourn, it’s solemn and sorrowful.”

Bronx resident born on Sept. 11 honors victims every year, recalls horrors of 9/11

By Jack Morphet and Olivia Land

A Bronx resident who was born on Sept. 11 honors the victims of the terror attacks each time he marks a new year.

Spiridon Argeros, who turned 69 on Wednesday, recalled thinking that all the television channels were playing the same terrible action film when the attacks started 23 years ago.

“Oh my god, it was a terrible day,” he told The Post from the Oculus, near the site of the World Trade Center in downtown Manhattan.

“I thought it was a movie when I saw the towers fall…I went outside and it felt like war. My mother called from Greece crying, asking about my children.”

Argeros’ son walked all the way from class at John Jay College of Criminal Justice on West 59th Street to Astoria in a desperate bid to flee the scene of the attacks, he said.

A firefighter from Atlantic Beach places flowers on the South Tower reflecting pool.
A firefighter from Atlantic Beach places flowers on the South Tower reflecting pool. Peter Foley/UPI/Shutterstock

“He walked all the way from West 59th Street to Astoria, he didn’t know where he was going, he was just walking away from Manhattan,” Argeros said.

“It looked an atomic bomb had gone off, he had to get away from Manhattan.”

Argeros also remembered how the city united in the aftermath of the attacks, which killed 2,977 people.

“New York City helped each other like nowhere else could,” he said.

“God bless America.”

9/11 ceremony honors fourth, fifth moments of silence marking collapse of South Tower

By Olivia Land

The attendees at the 9/11 memorial ceremony in downtown New York City honored a moment of silence at 9:59 a.m. to mark the moment the South Tower of the World Trade Center collapsed 23 years earlier.

The South Tower was struck by United Airlines Flight 175 shortly after 9:00, and burned for 56 minutes before it fell.

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani reflects during the remembrance ceremony.
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani reflects during the remembrance ceremony. AFP via Getty Images

A few minutes later, at 10:03, the ceremony paused a second time to observe when United Airlines Flight 93 crashed into an empty field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

Donald Trump, Joe Biden seen shaking hands at 9/11 memorial ceremony in NYC

By Post Staff Report

Joe Biden and Donald Trump shake hands at the 9/11 ceremony.
Joe Biden and Donald Trump shake hands at the 9/11 ceremony. AP

9/11 ceremony honors third moment of silence

By Olivia Land

The moving 9/11 memorial ceremony at the site of the World Trade Center paused at 9:37 a.m. to acknowledge the moment American Airlines Flight 77 crashed was flown into the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001.

Chuck Schumer, Kamala Harris, Joe Biden, Michael Bloomberg, and Donald Trump seen at the ceremony.
Chuck Schumer, Kamala Harris, Joe Biden, Michael Bloomberg, and Donald Trump seen at the ceremony. Getty Images

It was the third of six moments of silence planned for the morning.

The fourth, at 9:59 a.m., will mark the collapse of the South Tower of the WTC.

Several 9/11 ceremony readers honor fallen loved ones they never met

By Olivia Land

Several of the readers participating in the 9/11 memorial ceremony were young people honoring loved ones they never met.

The younger readers ended their turn reading the names of the World Trade Center victims with moving tributes to grandparents, aunts, uncles, and other relatives who were killed in the terror attack.

A girl speaks during a ceremony marking the 23rd anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center at the 9/11 Memorial and Museum.
A girl speaks during a ceremony marking the 23rd anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center at the 9/11 Memorial and Museum. REUTERS

The mourners often mentioned how they were not yet born on Sept. 11, 2001, but that they felt the impact of that day through their families’ loss.

Photos from the 9/11 memorial at Ground Zero

By Post Staff

Timeline of terror: How the 9/11 attacks unfolded 23 years ago

By Olivia Land

Hundreds of mourners gathered at the 9/11 Memorial in downtown New York City Wednesday morning to mark the 23rd anniversary of the terror attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

Nearly 3,000 people were killed on Sept. 11, 2001, when al-Qaeda hijackers crashed four planes into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and a field in southern Pennsylvania.

A woman places flags on the South Tower reflecting pool before the start of the 911 Commemoration Ceremony at the National September 11th Memorial and Museum in New York City on Wednesday, September 11, 2024.
A woman places flags on the South Tower reflecting pool before the start of the 911 Commemoration Ceremony at the National September 11th Memorial and Museum in New York City on Wednesday, September 11, 2024. Peter Foley/UPI/Shutterstock

8:46 a.m.: American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center

9:03 a.m.: United Airlines Flight 175 flown into the South Tower

9:37 a.m.: American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon in Arlington County, Virginia, outside of Washington, D.C.

9:59 a.m.: The South Tower collapsed

10:03 a.m.: United Airlines Flight 93 crashed into an empty field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, as passengers attempted to regain control of the aircraft from the hijackers.

10:28 a.m.: The North Tower collapsed.

Stoic members of FDNY Engine 4 Ladder 15 observe first moment of silence

By Kevin Sheehan and Olivia Land

The members of FDNY Engine 4 Ladder 15 lined up in uniform to observe the first of six moments of silence of the annual 9/11 memorial ceremony on Wednesday morning.

The first pause took place at 8:46 a.m., the moment American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center.

Members of FDNY Engine 4 Ladder 15 observe a moment of silence.
Members of FDNY Engine 4 Ladder 15 observe a moment of silence.
A moment of silence at FDNY Engine 4 Ladder 15 ahead of Former President Donald Trump and Senator JD Vance visit on Wednesday, September 11, 2024.
A moment of silence at FDNY Engine 4 Ladder 15 ahead of Former President Donald Trump and Senator JD Vance visit on Wednesday, September 11, 2024. Michael Nagle

A second moment of silence took place at 9:03 a.m., when United Airlines Flight 175 hit the South Tower.

Grieving 9/11 loved one warns crowd to ‘learn more about’ terror orgs that still threaten US

By Olivia Land

A grieving relative who lost his cousin in the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center cautioned the ceremony attendees to “learn more about” the terror groups that continue to threaten the US.

“Please learn more about these organizations…that still chant ‘death to America,’” said the cousin of firefighter Stephen E. Belson, who was last heard from climbing the South Tower on Sept. 11, 2001.

The impassioned relative was one of the speakers who will read the names of the nearly 3,000 victims killed in the terror attack at the Wednesday morning ceremony.

9/11 ceremony attendees hold up photos of loved ones killed in terror attack

By Olivia Land

Dozens of attendees at the annual 9/11 memorial ceremony at the site of the World Trade Center Wednesday morning help up photos and posters of their loved ones who were killed in the terror attack 23 years ago.

Nearly 3,000 people were killed on Sept. 11, 2001, when al-Qaeda hijackers crashed two planes into the North and South Towers of the World Trade Center.

People hold up photos of victims killed on 9/11.
People hold up photos of victims killed on 9/11. AFP via Getty Images

A third place crashed into the Pentagon, and a fourth went down in a field in Pennsylvania.

Kamala Harris smiles, shakes hands with Trump after tense debate night

By Olivia Land

Vice President Kamala Harris shook hands with her political rival Donald Trump at the site of the World Trade Center just hours after they both left the heated debate stage.

Harris, 59, smiled as she greeted the crowd alongside President Biden. She then leaned across her boss and shook hands with Trump, who arrived at the memorial about 10 minutes earlier with his running mate, JD Vance.

Donald Trump and Kamala Harris shaking hands at Ground Zero.
Donald Trump and Kamala Harris shaking hands at Ground Zero. Getty Images

Harris, Biden, Trump and Vance then posed for a photograph together with former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who stood between Trump and Biden.

Harris chatted with Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) as they waited for the ceremony to get underway.

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