9/11 widow calls out government for protecting Saudis at 9/11 ceremony

Terry Strada, the widow of a 9/11 victim, called on the Trump administration Friday to recognize Saudi Arabia’s alleged ties to the terrorist attack — an accusation that the kingdom has repeatedly denied.

Strada’s comments at the 25th anniversary memorial service at Ground Zero in New York City elicited loud applause from the crowd. All former living U.S. presidents and Vice President Vance were in attendance.

“For 25 years, administration after administration, including leaders in front of us here today, chose to protect the Saudis instead of standing with the 9/11 families,” she said.

“They withheld evidence,” Strada continued. “They vetoed JASTA [Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act]. They broke promises, both public and private. It has been one betrayal after another.”

Strada’s husband, bond broker Tom Strada, was killed in the north tower of the World Trade Center during the 2001 attacks.

The widow, who chairs the advocacy organization 9/11 Families United, called on President Trump to “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,” Strada said.

She thanked Vance for attending the event and urged him to “carry that message back” to the president, who spoke at a 9/11 memorial service Friday at the Pentagon.

“Stand with the families. Stand with the survivors. Stand with Americans,” Strada said. “As my husband Tom would have said, that is always the right thing to do.”

A man who identified himself as the nephew of 9/11 victim Lisa Marie Terry called on the president to make documents public that he alleged would prove the country’s ties to these attacks.

“For 25 years, the deep state has hidden the truth about what happened that day 25 years ago,” he said. “President Trump, you’re our last hope. Release the unredacted files that implicate Saudi Arabia while what’s left of the victims’ families are still alive to see it.”

Both comments were made during the ceremony’s annual reading of the names of those killed during the terrorist attacks. Political speeches are traditionally not a part of the service.

The Hill has reached out to the White House for comment.

The president’s relationship with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during his two terms in the White House has drawn public scrutiny. Trump has brushed aside U.S. intelligence reports that found the ruler likely ordered the 2018 killing of Washington Post reporter Jamal Khashoggi.