Relatives of those killed in the 9/11 attacks on Friday called out Saudi Arabia for alleged complicity in the carnage – and chided past US presidents in attendance at a remembrance ceremony for failing to call Riyadh to account.
Strada was referring to a lawsuit brought against Saudi Arabia’s authorities by 9/11 Families United that alleges the kingdom supported the attackers.
“Yes, we finally made it into a court and have proved that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia fomented a rancid culture of anti-American terrorism around the globe, and then sent its agents to support the radical Islamist hijackers so they could attack you and all of our loved ones,” she said, to applause from the audience.
“For 25 years, administration after administration – including leaders in front of us here today – chose to protect the Saudis instead of standing with a 9/11 family,” Strada said, calling for action from President Donald Trump, who skipped the event. After Strada’s remarks, another of those reading names of the fallen, the nephew of victim Lisa Marie Terry, accused “the deep state” of having “hidden the truth about what happened that day 25 years ago. Release the unredacted files that implicate Saudi Arabia, while what’s left of the victims’ families are still alive to see it,” he said.
She then took aim at US leadership, as former presidents George W Bush, Barack Obama and Joe Biden looked on, along with current Vice President JD Vance. “President Trump can still change that. Tell the Saudis to stop lying. Tell them that if they want to be friends with the USA, they cannot continue to deny all of this, all of the pain, all of the destruction that we have all been suffering through,” she added. Please carry that message back. “President Trump, you’re our last hope.
“Vice President Vance, thank you for being here today.