‘Feels like yesterday’: 9/11 victim’s daughter says families still fighting for justice 25 years later
DALLAS – Twenty-five years after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Angela Mistrulli said, “It feels like forever, but it also feels like yesterday.” Mistrulli, whose father was killed in the collapse of the World Trade Center twin towers in New York City, is the founder of American Victims of State-Sponsored Terrorism (AVSSTU), which represents victims and families impacted by terrorist attacks. She spoke with Fox News Digital on the sidelines of the Republican midterm convention, where she and other 9/11 family members, Gold Star families, and families of civilian victims were pressing to meet with political leaders on an urgent mission as the clock ticked towards a critical deadline. BROOKLYN TEACHERS WHO WITNESSED 9/11 AS CHILDREN REVEAL WHAT THEY WANT THE NEXT GENERATION TO REMEMBER “Congress created the United States Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism Fund (USVSST Fund). It was supposed to be a place for all victims to be able to go and receive some sort of relief. It was a lifeline to over 22,000 victims,” Mistrulli explained. “Unfortunately, that fund has run dry, and September 30th is the fiscal deadline for Congress to act in order for victims to receive relief.” Established in 2015, the USVSST Fund has provided over $10 billion to victims harmed by international state-sponsored terrorism, including personal representatives for those who lost their lives from acts of terrorism such as the 9/11 attacks. Mistrulli emphasized that 25 years after the 9/11 attacks, “We are still fighting for justice, transparency, recognition, and relief that Congress promised us.” “We’re here not only to memorialize the 25th anniversary of 9/11, but also to try to get some face time with these leaders and these higher ups to be able to discuss this urgent and critical topic,” she added. 9/11 MUSEUM UNVEILS EXHIBITION FOR GENERATION TOO YOUNG TO REMEMBER THE ATTACKS: ‘CALLED EVERYBODY TO LEAD’ With the fiscal-year cutoff approaching Sept. 30, Congress would need to authorize additional funding for victims holding unpaid terrorism judgments to be paid. A bipartisan group of lawmakers from New York introduced a bill in July that would require the U.S. Department of the Treasury to loan $3 billion annually to the fund for fiscal years 2027, 2028 and 2029. The bill, H.R. 9795, was named after Mistrulli’s father — the Never Forget the Victims of Terrorism: Joseph D. Mistrulli and Alan Kleinberg USVSST Fund Solvency Act. The Department of Justice has acknowledged that available USVSST funds remain insufficient to fully compensate victims’ claims that have been and are anticipated to continue to grow. Mistrulli and members of the AVSSTU are at the Republican midterm convention to push to influence members of Congress in voting to authorize continued funding for victims as the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks concludes the week of convention activities in Dallas. GEORGE BUSH WELCOMES TOP OFFICIALS TO HIS HOME STATE FOR 9/11 REMEMBRANCE ON 25TH ANNIVERSARY OF ATTACKS “This is a hard one this year. 25 years. It feels like forever, but it also feels like yesterday, and it’s also disappointing because I feel like our country has come so far away from who we were on September 12th,” Mistrulli said. “It’s also exhausting that it’s been 25 years of us fighting for justice.” “We have now been divided as a nation and my wish to everyone out there as we commemorate this anniversary, memorialize, never forget by coming back together.”
‘Their souls are in that steel’: 9/11 beam makes emotional stop in Indianapolis before return to NYC
A 21-foot, 16,900-pound steel beam recovered from the World Trade Center’s South Tower arrived in Indianapolis last month as part of a nationwide tour commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in a tribute that will ultimately end up back at Ground Zero. The Tunnel to Towers Foundation brought its “Steel Across America” tour to the Indiana War Memorial and Museum on Aug. 19, marking the tour’s 31st stop. The beam is traveling more than 10,500 miles through 21 states and Washington, D.C., before returning to New York City for a Sept. 11 commemoration. The piece of steel recovered from Ground Zero in the days after the attacks by first responders who rushed to the site has since become a symbol of the nearly 3,000 civilians, firefighters, police officers, emergency workers and military personnel who died that day. “For the past four months, communities across the country have welcomed this sacred piece of American history with incredible emotion,” Tunnel to Towers Chairman and CEO Frank Siller said in a press release. “Watching people stand in front of that steel, hugging it, praying over it, weeping, reminds me every single day of why we do this work.” TUNNEL TO TOWERS ANNOUNCES ‘STEEL ACROSS AMERICA’ TOUR TO MARK 25 YEARS SINCE 9/11 ATTACKS The Indianapolis ceremony included a color guard, a pipes and drums procession, the national anthem performed by the Voices of the Indianapolis Fire Department and an invocation from Indianapolis Fire Department Chaplain Mike Gatliff. Indianapolis Fire Division Chief Tom Neal and Timothy Winslow, a retired major general and executive director of the Indiana War Memorial and Museum, also addressed the crowd about the connection between the city’s first responders, veterans and the legacy of 9/11. FIRST RESPONDERS HONOR WORLD TRADE CENTER BEAM ARRIVING AT BOSTON FALLEN HEROES MEMORIAL “Bringing this steel to Indianapolis, and to a museum that has stood for over a century as a tribute to American sacrifice, is deeply moving,” FDNY Lt. Jack Kielty, a Tunnel to Towers board member, said. “Indiana veterans and first responders understand what it means to serve.” The event also highlighted Indiana’s own connection to the attacks. Nine Hoosiers died on Sept. 11, while Indianapolis Task Force One sent rescuers to Ground Zero. Six members of the team later died from illnesses linked to their work in the toxic environment, according to the Indiana War Memorial. Scott Nokes, a Marine Corps veteran and Tunnel to Towers recipient, spoke to attendees about the significance of allowing people to see the steel in person. “Out of the 2,977 lives that were lost, there’s over 1,000 bodies that were never recovered specifically from Ground Zero in New York,” Nokes said. “Their souls are in that steel, and if you touch it, you feel it.” The foundation’s tour is designed in part to connect younger Americans with an event that many were too young to remember or were not alive to witness. Nokes said seeing the artifact firsthand offers a connection that cannot be replicated by books or documentaries. The Indianapolis stop was followed by an appearance at the Cincinnati Fire Museum. The tour’s final stops include West Point, Boston and Washington, D.C., before the steel returns to New York City. When the steel returns to New York City on Sept. 11, Frank Siller and members of the Siller family will carry it through the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel, retracing the route Stephen Siller took 25 years earlier after strapping 60 pounds of gear to his back and running toward the World Trade Center. The steel will accompany the procession through the tunnel but will not enter or stop at the World Trade Center site.
Top House chairman warns Congress against ‘complacency’ 25 years after 9/11
House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Andrew Garbarino, R-N.Y., remembers exactly where he was when the World Trade Center was attacked on Sept. 11, 2001. “I was a senior in high school. I was in Mr. Ponzi’s government class. And that’s when the first plane hit. And one of the other teachers came in and was telling Mr. Ponzi about it,” he told Fox News Digital. “We all thought it was a little plane. And then we went to the next class. And then the second plane hit, and everybody realized that stuff was wrong.” Twenty-five years later, Garbarino leads a congressional committee that oversees a Cabinet department created explicitly after the terror attack. He’s warning that Congress needs to change how it deals with potential threats to avoid another tragedy of that scale. “Being chairman of the committee, being a New Yorker, it’s one of those things you focus on, and you want to make sure another 9/11 doesn’t happen, and doesn’t ever happen again. And that’s my goal. That’s my priority,” he said. 9/11 IS BECOMING HISTORY. MY GENERATION MUST MAKE SURE AMERICA NEVER FORGETS “Congress is very good at being reactive… We don’t want another 9/11. So if I could leave my fingerprints on something here, it’s the fact that the focus, Congress’ focus on national security, Congress’ focus on homeland security or safety, is that we address an issue before something happens.” HOW 9/11 TRANSFORMED SYNAGOGUE SECURITY INTO A NEW REALITY FOR THE JEWISH COMMUNITY He said Congress needed to get into the habit of passing laws ahead of time, “instead of being like, ‘Oh my God I can’t believe this happened, how did this happen, let’s fix it now.’” “That’s why 9/11 happened. 9/11 happened because our intelligence agencies, they were siloed, they were not sharing information. I don’t know if it was a complacency or whatever, but there were a lot of problems,” Garbarino said. “I don’t want to fall into that same complacency.” Garbarino represents New York’s 2nd Congressional District, part of Long Island’s south shore. As a suburb of New York City, its residents are deeply attuned to that tragedy 25 years ago. “We have people that lost loved ones that day that are still dealing with it 25 years later,” Garbarino said. “So the scar is still there.” His district and others are also still dealing with illnesses stemming from that day, including first responders who bravely rushed to the collapsing twin towers. “There are now more people that have died from 9/11-related illnesses than died on the actual day. So it’s a day that keeps taking people away from us,” Garbarino said. “You have firemen who, 9/11 was their first call. They were 21, 22 years old. They’re now 47… And a lot of these, some of these cancers, they take a while to take hold, and they’re now just getting sick.” SCIENTISTS DISCOVER POSSIBLE LINK BETWEEN 9/11 AND ACCELERATED AGING Earlier this year, President Donald Trump signed legislation led by Garbarino and others to address a projected funding shortfall for the World Trade Center Health Program, which helps survivors pay for their medical treatment. He said nearly all congressional districts across the country have at least one person participating in the program, a testament to how widespread the tragedy’s effects are. “People moved out of New York, people who came from all over the country after 9/11 to help, they all went back home, they also got sick. So this does affect the entire country,” Garbarino said.
‘Trump-level’ smackdown earns Vance roaring praise as 2028 buzz builds at GOP convention
Republicans reached a consensus that Vice President JD Vance solidified his position as the presumptive 2028 presidential candidate with his “Trump-level” smackdown of a foreign flag-waving protester who disrupted his speech at the Republican National Convention. Vance did not hesitate after a protester interrupted his primetime speech in Dallas on Thursday by waving the flags of the Palestinian Authority and Mexico. He recalled to those watching his speech on TV: “What the people at home missed is that we just had a protester interrupting us and waving the Mexican flag.” “Well, my friend, if you love Mexico so much, get your a– over there. I’ll buy you the plane ticket,” the VP said, to which the crowd erupted into applause. “JD Vance just MIC DROPPED a leftist heckler who interrupted him waving a Mexican flag…this place is DEAFENING,” conservative commentator Eric Daugherty wrote on X, adding, “TOTAL PANDEMONIUM.” CROWD ERUPTS AS VANCE SMACKS DOWN PROTESTER WAVING MEXICAN FLAG: ‘GET YOUR A– OVER THERE’ Popular conservative pundit Benny Johnson called Vance’s quick wit an “epic response.” President Donald Trump supporter and activist Scott Pressler similarly praised Vance for reacting “without missing a beat,” and called it “an iconic moment.” “This was masterful. A Trump-level move from JD Vance,” wrote Overton, a conservative commentary and news account. “Vice President Vance perfectly handled a protestor waving a Mexican flag at the RNC in Dallas. Then he fired back with a savage one-liner that sent the American Airlines Center into absolute bedlam.” The moment was capped off with a “USA!” chant from those in the crowd at the GOP Midterm Convention. Students for Trump co-founder Ryan Fournier wrote, “JD Vance just absolute [sic] WIPED THE FLOOR with a leftist heckler who interrupted his rally waving a Mexican flag.” “The crowd went completely WILD. Unbelievable energy,” wrote Fournier. VANCE DECLARES DEMOCRATS ‘PARTY OF HATRED,’ SAYS PARTY HAS MOVED BEYOND BIG GOVERNMENT, CENSORSHIP “JD Vance just notched the most iconic moment of the RNC when he told a protester waving a Mexican flag exactly what all red blooded Americans were thinking,” wrote Turning Point USA spokesman Andrew Kolvet. Commentator Brilyn Hollyhand put it simply, posting on X, “Yea JD for President after this.” Vance recovered from the interruption quickly, telling the crowd, “Ladies and gentlemen, I had a whole speech written. But I think I’ve got to change it because we just discovered the symbol of the far left — an idiot waving … a Mexican flag at a protest when he should be waving the flag of the United States of America.” “Now, we all know, of course, that as much as that person might wave around a foreign flag, he’d much rather live in Dallas, or in Cincinnati, or in any one of our great cities than Mexico,” President Donald Trump’s No. 2 continued. “But while we wave the American flag and fight for the American dream, we have to remind ourselves tonight that the good life that is the foundation of this country’s promise is not guaranteed.” CHARLIE KIRK HONORED AT GOP CONVENTION WITH CALL TO REJECT ‘COMFORTABLE LOSING’ “Every generation of Americans has had to fight for these things when it’s our turn,” he went on. “And this fall, the Democrats are running candidates who will tell your children what they’re allowed to say, how they’re allowed to live, and importantly, who they ought to hate, because that’s what the Democrat Party is about in 2026,” Vance continued. “It’s not about you, it’s about foreign fraudsters, and it’s about who they hate. And we got to send their a–es back in November.” Speculation has swirled over who will be the heir to Trump’s MAGA throne in 2028. The consensus so far among Republicans appears to be split between Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio — but a lot could change before the next presidential election.
Trump admin’s fraud crackdown targets foreigners accused of infiltrating US federal programs
The Trump administration is intensifying its efforts to target foreign nationals accused of defrauding the U.S. government, as the FBI and other federal agencies pursue suspects operating from overseas. Last week, the FBI released a “Most Wanted” list highlighting alleged fraud suspects as the administration continues its broader crackdown on fraud. Officials say the involvement of foreign nationals in multiple schemes has heightened concerns about overseas actors exploiting U.S. government programs. Among those named is Onur Simsek, a Turkish national whom the FBI believes is living in Turkey. Prosecutors accuse Simsek of leading a defense procurement fraud scheme that secured U.S. military contracts by falsely certifying Turkish-made parts as tested and qualified, potentially rendering critical military equipment inoperable. FBI LAUNCHES ‘MOST WANTED FRAUDSTERS’ LIST AS DOJ CHARGES OHIO DEFENDANTS IN $30M MEDICAID SCHEME FOR KIDS Federal authorities allege Simsek is one of a number of foreign nationals who have infiltrated and exploited U.S. federal funds to obtain taxpayer funds. In a statement, General Services Administration Administrator Ed Forst pointed to Simsek’s alleged conduct while discussing the administration’s efforts to combat fraud. “Simsek’s alleged procurement fraud deprived taxpayers of value, denied honest businesses fair opportunity, and diverted critical resources from American warfighters,” Forst said. “Under President Trump and Vice President Vance, GSA will continue working relentlessly to identify and hold accountable those who try to cheat the federal marketplace and steal from the American people.” The General Services Administration Office of Inspector General has assisted in the investigation, according to the agency. WHITE HOUSE LAUNCHES INTERACTIVE MAP TRACKING BILLIONS IN SUSPECTED FRAUD Foreign nationals have become a focus of the administration’s broader fraud investigations, including scrutiny of an alleged Medicaid and child care fraud scheme involving members of Minnesota’s Somali community that sparked clashes between federal agents and protesters earlier this year. In an interview with Fox News Digital last month, Vice President JD Vance said authorities have observed what he described as a “clear pattern” in some fraud cases involving immigrant communities. “You definitely see patterns in certain communities,” Vance said. “It’ll start as maybe one Somali person takes advantage of the system, or realizes you don’t even have to have children to get money from these programs. You could just claim that you have children, there’s no verification. Then, word spreads like wildfire, and that program gets tapped into by the same members of that community.” EXCLUSIVE: FBI ADDS ALLEGED COVID FRAUDSTER ACCUSED OF TAKING $5M FROM KIDS’ MEAL PROGRAM TO MOST WANTED LIST According to the Justice Department, Simsek and his co-conspirators used a U.S.-based front company between April 2019 and February 2022 to obtain contracts to supply parts for Navy submarines, Marine Corps armored vehicles, Army M-60 tanks and other military equipment. Prosecutors allege the parts were manufactured in Turkey, then repackaged to conceal their country of origin before being sold to the U.S. government. The “War Dogs” -style scheme was also allegedly in collaboration with Yuksel Senbol, who was sentenced to prison for conspiracy to defraud in 2024. An arrest warrant for Simsek was ordered in Tampa, Florida in October 2023. The FBI is offering a reward of up to $150,000 for information leading to Simsek’s arrest and conviction. WHITE HOUSE EXPOSES ‘TRANSSHIPMENT SCAM’ COSTING US UP TO $26B, POINTS FINGER AT CHINA In late July, the FBI arrested Khalid Ahmed Satary, who FBI Director Kash Patel said participated in a conspiracy that fraudulently billed Medicare more than $547 million for medically unnecessary genetic tests between 2016 and 2019. “The arrest of Khalid Ahmed Satary and return to the U.S. is the third Most Wanted Fraudster capture from this FBI and our partners in just five weeks — continuing the historic run of success for this new initiative,” Patel told Fox News Digital.
Giuliani blasts Mamdani’s 9/11 toxic air blame as buried city records come to light
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s team is firing back at Mayor Zohran Mamdani after Mamdani accused past city officials of misleading New Yorkers about toxic air following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Giuliani spokesperson Ted Goodman accused Mamdani of seeking to “score cheap partisan political points” by directing blame toward local officials who rushed to the scene of the attacks while overlooking the radical Islamic terrorists responsible for killing nearly 3,000 people. “Now would be a good time to remind Mayor Mamdani that cowardly terrorists acting in the name of Islam are 100 percent responsible for all of the death and destruction on September 11, 2001, and for all of the suffering and illness that have continued since that day,” Goodman said in a statement to Fox News Digital. MAMDANI FACES GROWING 9/11 BACKLASH AS OLD POST RESURFACES AHEAD OF GROUND ZERO CEREMONY: ‘IS THIS REAL?’ The records released by Mamdani’s administration include more than 170,000 pages documenting the city’s response to the Sept. 11 attacks and their aftermath. The initial release includes 68 boxes of records from the Department of Environmental Protection that were not located until 2025, and records related to 7 World Trade Center. The records include documents from Giuliani’s administration, including a memo sent to Deputy Mayor Robert Harding that warned the city faced potentially multimillion-dollar lawsuits from New Yorkers who claimed health advisories failed to protect them from toxic exposure and that the sites were inadequately cleaned up. MAMDANI UNDER FIRE AFTER SYMBOLIC 9/11 PEN GOES TO FORMER AL QAEDA DEFENSE LAWYER At a news conference announcing the release, Mamdani said the documents showed that officials across multiple administrations had information about hazardous conditions but failed to adequately inform the public. “I wish there was a limited number of people who misled the public that I could describe them in just a few names,” Mamdani said during a Tuesday news conference. “But the truth is that, as we have heard, this goes across a multitude of those that New Yorkers have trusted, and we are here to release these documents today because, for a long time, New Yorkers have known the truth, and yet they have been unable to see the truth in any document that’s been presented to them.” Mamdani said the release was intended to give New Yorkers access to records that had been difficult to obtain for years. His administration said the city had settled two lawsuits brought by 9/11 Health Watch as part of the release and created a public portal containing the documents. “People got sick because the leaders they trusted lied and told them they were safe to breathe in toxic air. And then, when they began to contend with the symptoms of the illnesses that followed, the government that had not hesitated to send them into harm’s way was nowhere to be found,” Mamdani said. NYPD CHIEF: 9/11 HEROES’ LEGACY LIVES ON IN EVERY GENERATION OF OFFICERS Thousands of first responders, residents, workers and others exposed to the World Trade Center site have since developed illnesses recognized by the World Trade Center Health Program as related to 9/11 exposure. The program continues to provide treatment and monitoring for people suffering from certified 9/11-related conditions. Former Republican New York Gov. George Pataki, who was governor at the time of the attacks, said in an interview with the New York Post this week that he had been diagnosed with restrictive airway disease, which he attributed to his exposure to toxins at Ground Zero. The newly released records provide additional detail about environmental hazards found in the years after the attacks, including asbestos detected at 15 John Street in Lower Manhattan. The records document asbestos findings at multiple locations and provide additional detail about the city’s environmental response. The records show that asbestos was detected at some locations at levels below applicable cleanup or exposure benchmarks and at others at levels that appeared to exceed them. Health authorities have said there is no known safe level of asbestos exposure. Then-EPA Administrator Christie Todd Whitman said in a Sept. 18, 2001, press release that air monitoring results indicated the air near the World Trade Center was safe to breathe, days after the EPA first issued assurances about environmental hazards on Sept. 13. MAMDANI, NYPD GIVE SECURITY UPDATE AHEAD OF JEWISH HIGH HOLY DAYS, 9/11 25TH ANNIVERSARY Goodman pointed to the federal government’s role in communicating about air quality after the attacks, noting that the EPA issued public assurances about conditions near Ground Zero. An EPA Inspector General review later concluded that the data available at the time did not fully support the agency’s broad assurances about air safety. “The EPA, a federal agency, issued press releases and public statements declaring that air samples showed the air quality near Ground Zero was safe,” Goodman said, referring to Giuliani’s response. “The agency later apologized for those statements, saying it did the best it could with the knowledge available at the time.” Whitman later apologized for the assurances in a 2016 interview, saying she was sorry for people who became sick or died and that she and the EPA had done the best they could with the information available at the time. The release of the documents follows a petition with more than 100,000 signatures from 9/11 victims’ family members requesting that Mamdani not attend the memorial ceremony at Ground Zero Friday. “This mayor is not serving us,” Charles Wolf, who lost his wife on 9/11, said at a noon news conference. “He’s serving himself. We are asking respectfully that he not show up.” “Even though there is going to be other politicians there, these are the politicians that helped us push beneficial laws through and literally held our hand during that time,” Wolf continued. “Mayor Mamdani has not shown any of that, none of it. He just wants to be there because he wants to be there.” SIGN UP TO GET THE POLITICS NEWSLETTER The mayor’s office said the initial
SEAL who killed bin Laden recalls 9/11 moment that changed his life: ‘Welcome to my world’
Rob O’Neill, the Navy SEAL credited with killing Usama bin Laden, had just returned from a 40-day deployment to Kosovo when the world changed forever. The former Navy SEAL told Fox News Digital in an interview ahead of the 25th anniversary of 9/11 that he was stationed in Stuttgart, Germany, on Sept. 11, 2001, preparing equipment and catching up on emails when every television channel switched to breaking news. “At first, there was a hole in the North Tower,” O’Neill recalled. “No one even knew what the North Tower of the World Trade Center was that day.” O’Neill and his fellow service members initially wondered whether a small plane had accidentally crashed into the building. But after the second plane struck the South Tower shortly after 9 a.m. Eastern time, they immediately understood the significance of what they were watching. AMERICA’S HEARTLAND COMES FACE-TO-FACE WITH 9/11 HISTORY AS 25TH ANNIVERSARY NEARS “I’m in an operations center with intel analysts and Navy SEALs, and we all collectively knew that our lives just changed,” O’Neill said. The names of Usama bin Laden and al Qaeda were soon mentioned in the room. “We’re on a deployment to Germany, we’re probably going to Sudan. We don’t know where,” he said. “The name Usama bin Laden was said in that room, al Qaeda. And we just knew our lives were going to change.” O’Neill eventually re-enlisted in the Navy in the aftermath of the attacks and went on to serve with SEAL Team Six, the elite special operations unit that ultimately carried out the raid that killed bin Laden in Pakistan in 2011. But in the immediate aftermath of 9/11, he did not know he would play a role in hunting down the mastermind of the attacks. “I knew, for me, the Navy was never going to be a career,” O’Neill said. “I joined because I thought it was cool, re-enlisted because of the guys, re-enlisted because of 9/11, go to SEAL Team Six.” As the reality of the attacks set in, O’Neill briefly left the secure operations area and called his brother in Montana, who worked in morning radio. AS AMERICAN PRIDE HITS A 25-YEAR LOW, A NEW 9/11 EDUCATION PLATFORM URGES THE NATION TO NEVER FORGET “I said, ‘Hey man, I don’t know if you’re up. Turn the TV on,’” O’Neill recalled. “He said, ‘Which channel?’ I said, ‘Doesn’t matter.’ And then he turned it on and all I said to him was, ‘Welcome to my world.’” Looking back on the 25 years that have passed since the tragedy that took the lives of 2,977 people, O’Neill says he was moved by the way the country came together after the terrorist attacks and while he hopes there is never another 9/11, he does wish Americans could recapture the spirit of unity that followed. He recalled the image of lawmakers from both parties standing together on the steps of the Capitol and singing “God Bless America.” “It was about America first, not foreign interests,” O’Neill said. “It was a time of unity.” Roughly a third of the U.S. population was not alive on 9/11 and O’Neill told Fox News Digital what his message for them about the tragedy would be. “No matter what, at night, don’t go to bed angry with anyone in your family,” he said. “Hug everyone that’s there and tell them you love them.” “You remember on Monday, September 10, some people didn’t do that, and they were jumping out of skyscrapers the next day,” O’Neill said. He urged Americans to focus on their families, neighbors, communities and first responders. “If you can take care of each other, and you master those basics, then the world around you is going to be fine,” he said. “Sometimes it’s better just to put the phone down and go outside and look at the sun.” O’Neill said that spending time outside can provide perspective in an increasingly chaotic world. “You’ll know that you’re not random,” he said. “You’re here by design. God loves you. He puts you here on purpose.” O’Neill said the legacy of the attacks and his path from Butte, Montana to the elite SEAL Team 6 is a reminder of the opportunities available to Americans, particularly young people. “If you want to do something, leave the house,” O’Neill said. “You can do anything you want.” “Don’t let the negativity get to you,” he added. “At any moment you decide, you can do that.”
Massachusetts’ highest court publicly reprimands judge accused of enabling immigrant to escape ICE
The highest court in Massachusetts has publicly rebuked a district court judge over her role in a case involving an illegal immigrant who evaded arrest by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. For Judge Shelley Joseph, the decision brings to a close a legal saga that began on April 2, 2018, when Jose Medina-Perez left the Newton District Court through a rear courthouse exit all while an ICE officer was waiting in the lobby to take him into custody. The Supreme Judicial Court’s ruling centered on a sidebar with Medina-Perez’s attorney and the prosecutor during which Joseph instructed her clerk to shut off the courtroom’s recording system. “The respondent’s statements during that conversation, including her proposal to detain Medina-Perez overnight in State custody, and her conduct in instructing the clerk to turn off the courtroom audio recording system, created an appearance of impropriety in violation of her duties,” according to the Thursday ruling from the Supreme Judicial Court. FORMER WISCONSIN JUDGE HANNAH DUGAN AVOIDS JAIL TIME FOR OBSTRUCTING ARREST OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT The Supreme Judicial Court’s reprimand came after a hearing officer for the Commission on Judicial Conduct recommended such an action. However, the high court ruled that Joseph was unaware Medina-Perez’s attorney, David Jellinek, had devised a plan to help his client evade ICE by escorting him to the courthouse lockup, where the court officer would release him through a rear sally port exit. The court also found that Joseph neither explicitly nor implicitly approved of that plan. Medina-Perez, of the Dominican Republic, had been in Joseph’s courtroom to be arraigned on a fugitive-from-justice charge that originated in Pennsylvania. Joseph found there wasn’t enough evidence to tie Medina-Perez to the Pennsylvania warrant, and prosecutor Shannon Jurgens recommended he be released without bail on two drug charges he was facing. FEDERAL JUDGE IN NEW YORK TIES TRUMP ADMIN HANDS ON ARRESTS AT IMMIGRATION COURTS Joseph then released Medina-Perez on his own personal recognizance and set a pre-trial conference date for the drug possession case. In April 2019, roughly a year later, Joseph and the court officer who let Medina-Perez out through the back door were indicted on charges of obstruction of justice. That case was dropped in 2022 after Joseph agreed to refer herself to the Commission on Judicial Conduct, the agency that investigates allegations of misconduct by Massachusetts judges. The commission concluded that Joseph “engaged in willful judicial misconduct that brought the judicial office into disrepute, as well as conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice and unbecoming a judicial officer.” After her federal indictment, Joseph was suspended from the bench and unable to work for three years. Joseph’s attorney, Elizabeth Mulvey, said last year during a commission hearing that the case had been distorted in the media, with many coming to believe that her client “let an illegal immigrant out of the door,” according to The Associated Press. In a statement to the AP on Thursday, Mulvey said it has been an “incredibly long and difficult eight years for Judge Joseph.” “We are grateful to the hearing officer who undertook this monumental task and pleased that his efforts have shown that this was a baseless federal prosecution from the beginning and solely the work of the defense lawyer involved,” Mulvey said in a statement. “Judge Joseph is thankful for everyone who stood by her and looks forward to rejoining her colleagues.” Joseph, who remains a judge, was assigned in December to administrative duties in the Boston Municipal Court.
25 years later, 9/11 memories endure as nation gathers to honor nearly 3,000 lives lost
Ceremonies at the 9/11 Memorial in New York, the Pentagon and the Flight 93 National Memorial in Pennsylvania will take place Friday as the nation marks the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, when 19 al Qaeda terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners and attacked the United States. Officials and others with memories of that day reflected on what they witnessed and what they lost in some cases as the nation mourns anew. Retired Maj. Gen. Bert Mizusawa, who served in senior Army positions at the Pentagon before 9/11, worked as a senior Pentagon official in the time leading up to 9/11 and knew several colleagues who perished that day. On that Tuesday, Mizusawa said he was watching coverage of the attack on the Twin Towers from his office when reporters broke in to say the Pentagon had been targeted. FIRST ON FOX: TRUMP’S 9/11 TRIBUTE TO FEATURE MASSIVE PIECE OF GROUND ZERO HISTORY AT WHITE HOUSE “I looked out my window and was able to observe the plume of smoke rising from the attack on the Pentagon,” Mizusawa said. “My normal commute took me directly past the section that was destroyed, and the smoke lingered for days.” Mizusawa, the GOP nominee for Senate against Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., said he also played a role in hiring Army Lt. Gen. Timothy Maude, the highest-ranking military officer killed in the Pentagon attack. He added he just recently met with the lone survivor of the Pentagon’s staff section that took a direct hit from American Airlines Flight 77 that day. “I reflected that, as tragic as the attack on the Pentagon was, the low-rise multi-ringed structure saved many lives as it was the virtual opposite form of structure compared to the World Trade Center buildings,” he said. Warner similarly recalled watching the attacks unfold and seeing smoke rise from the Pentagon that day. “I vividly remember the September 11 attacks, and I watched the smoke rise above the Pentagon…,” he said. “On the 25th anniversary of these tragic attacks, we remember the lives lost at the Pentagon, in Pennsylvania, and in New York City, and our brave first responders whose heroic actions saved countless lives.” Also in Virginia, President Donald Trump is expected to attend the Pentagon’s ceremony. Trump has attended 9/11 observances at each of the three attack sites in different years. GOP SENATORS RALLY BEHIND 9/11 FAMILIES IN PUSH TO BAN MAMDANI FROM ANNIVERSARY CEREMONY: ‘HE’S A DISGRACE’ In New York, Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Zohran Mamdani are expected to attend the solemn ceremony and reading-of-names at the World Trade Center site. Hochul’s opponent, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, told Fox News Digital that that day changed his home state and his family forever. “The pain has never completely gone away,” Blakeman said. “My nephew Tommy was murdered while he was giving first aid to a severely burned woman. I lost many colleagues and friends on that day. We must never forget the danger facing our country from those with anti-American values.” Tommy, a New York State Courts officer, was reportedly rendering aid to a victim when Tower Two collapsed on him. 9/11 FAMILIES PUSH TO BAN MAMDANI FROM 25TH ANNIVERSARY REMEMBRANCE OVER ‘HOSTILE’ RECORD “The terrorist attacks on September 11 forever reshaped our city and state, and every year on the anniversary, New Yorkers feel the weight of unimaginable tragedy and honor the lives lost,” Hochul said, reflecting on the day. “In the aftermath of 9/11, New Yorkers showed the world what courage, sacrifice and bravery looked like,” she added. Fox News Digital also reached out to Mamdani for comment. Former presidents George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and Joe Biden are expected to attend the 25th anniversary ceremony at the 9/11 Memorial in New York. Hillary Clinton, then a New York senator, is remembered from a photo with then-Gov. George Pataki and then-Mayor Rudolph Giuliani walking through the rubble after the attacks. Additional Trump administration officials will attend the third ceremony in Somerset County, Pennsylvania. Last year, Veterans Affairs Secretary Douglas Collins represented the administration there. The memorial is managed by the Department of the Interior, which said it will hold a reading of the names at 10:03 a.m. ET, the time United Flight 93 crashed into a field near U.S. Route 30 after passengers fought back against the hijackers. Fox News Digital reached out to Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Pennsylvania State Treasurer Stacy Garrity — Shapiro’s GOP opponent this fall — for information on their plans for the day and comment on the 25th anniversary remembrance. SIGN UP TO GET THE POLITICS NEWSLETTER Garrity will be in attendance at the Flight 93 Memorial in her official capacity as Pennsylvania State Treasurer, her campaign said. Speaking as the GOP’s gubernatorial nominee, Garrity told Fox News Digital she recalls September 11, 2001, as a bright September morning in the commonwealth that she and others thought would be a run-of-the-mill weekday. “But in the blink of an eye, in the skies over Lower Manhattan, along the shores of the Potomac, and in the fields of western Pennsylvania, our world was forever changed,” Garrity said. “Twenty-five years later, may God bless the heroes of Flight 93, the first responders to the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and every American who answered the call to serve that day and in the years to follow: Let’s roll,” Garrity added, quoting Flight 93 victim Todd Beamer of Cranbury, N.J., who was recorded calling out that phrase as he led an unsuccessful effort to retake control of the plane from the terrorists.
Ontario premier wants Republicans to lose House and Senate over Trump’s trade war
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said on Thursday that he hopes Republicans in the U.S. lose both the House and Senate in the upcoming midterm elections, suggesting that voters should punish President Donald Trump for his moves to escalate the ongoing trade war with Canada. “Hopefully, he’s going to lose the Senate. He’s going to lose Congress. I hope so, and hold him accountable,” Ford said. “But we’ll see how that goes. We aren’t going to interfere in the U.S. election,” he continued. Ford has become one of Trump’s most outspoken critics in Canada, accusing the president of attempting to move Ontario’s businesses and jobs across the border to the U.S. CANADIAN PM TELLS TRUMP TO ‘STOP TRYING TO BE TOUGH’ IN TRADE FIGHT “He’s not reliable at all,” Ford said. “He could make a deal today and then change his mind. And we’ve seen that over and over again.” Ford said he still believes Trump would like to reach a deal before the midterms and that Canada should return to the negotiation table as soon as possible. “I truly believe President Trump wants a deal before the midterms,” Ford said. “I could be wrong, but I think it’s best that we sit down and get a deal.” Ford’s comments come just days after the U.S. escalated the trade dispute by banning some Canadian dairy products and motorcycles as well most alcoholic beverages after Canada’s retaliatory tariffs took effect on about $20 billion in U.S. goods. Trump also took efforts to remove Canadian products from large, long-term U.S. government contracts. Last year, Trump abruptly ended trade talks with Canada after the Ontario government broadcast an anti-tariff TV ad in the U.S., using quotes from former Republican President Ronald Reagan’s criticism of tariffs. Trump and Ford have repeatedly exchanged personal jabs over the trade war. NEW YORK GOV HOCHUL REJECTS TRUMP’S ‘LAKE AMERICA’ RENAMING WITH BLUNT MESSAGE Ford mocked Trump for keeping a portrait of Reagan near his desk while pushing for tariffs the former president had opposed, telling The Associated Press that Reagan would be “throwing up on him from the picture if he knew what was going on.” Trump, meanwhile, has criticized Ford as “the less charismatic, intelligent, and overall unimpressive brother of the late, great, Rob Ford.” The U.S. president further escalated tensions with Canada when he signed an executive order to rename Lake Ontario as “Lake America,” a rebranding that Canada does not recognize. Canada, other international bodies and U.S. states are not forced to follow the renaming, but the order adds to the ongoing tensions between the two countries. Ford said on Thursday that Trump had unintentionally strengthened Canada by forcing it to cut its dependence on the U.S. “The only two good things Donald Trump has ever done for Canada” were that “he woke us up” and “he united the country like I’ve never seen before,” Ford said. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney suggested on Thursday that his country may hold off on further retaliation against Trump’s latest trade measures, describing them as “relatively modest” compared to earlier U.S. moves. He said his government was still studying the U.S. measures and acknowledged they could have significant consequences for companies and industries, but he said that some of the new U.S. tariffs replaced others that the Trump administration had removed. “We also recognize that, in the context of other things that the U.S. administration has done … that these are relatively modest measures,” Carney said at a cabinet retreat in Banff, Alberta. The Associated Press contributed to this report.