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Patriot Day, 25th anniversary remembrance

newsSep 11, 202647779

On Patriot Day, the United States observed the 25th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks with flags at half-staff and memorial ceremonies honoring the 2,977 victims and the first responders who answered that day. ACLU Executive Director Anthony D. Romero reflected on how the government’s response to 9/11 affected civil rights and liberties over the past quarter century. Michael Massaroli’s son urged that his father’s legacy not be used to spread hate against Muslim Americans. Commentary from Coyote Media and others recalled the longer aftermath of 9/11, citing subsequent wars, drone strikes, secret detention sites, and the Patriot Act as part of the national reckoning. Families, survivors, former service members, and recovery workers shared personal remembrances of where they were on that morning and of loved ones lost, including Pentagon and flight survivors. Communities also paid tribute to search and rescue dogs and to first responders with local vigils and symbolic gestures such as the twin beams of light visible from Mount Washington, New Hampshire. The day combined private grief, public ceremony, and critical reflection on the policies and consequences that followed 9/11.