Joe Biden to visit all three sites of September 11 hijacking attacks to mark 20th anniversary
- On Saturday, Biden and first lady Jill Biden will visit New York City, where two airliners destroyed the World Trade Centre and killed 2,753 people in 2001
- Biden on Friday ordered the Department of Justice to review documents from the FBI’s investigation into the attacks for declassification and release
On Saturday, Biden and first lady Jill Biden will visit New York City, where two airliners destroyed the World Trade Centre and killed 2,753 people; the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, where a third airliner crashed; and Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where passengers forced down a fourth aircraft believed to have been headed to the US Capitol or White House.
Vice-President Kamala Harris and her husband Douglas Emhoff will travel to Shanksville for a separate event, then join the Bidens at the Pentagon, the White House said.
Biden on Friday ordered the Department of Justice to review documents from the FBI’s investigation into the attacks for declassification and release.
The order requires US Attorney General Merrick Garland to make the declassified documents public over the next six months as it oversees “a declassification review of documents” related to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) review.
Family members of victims of the September 11 attacks asked a US government watchdog on Thursday to investigate their suspicions that the FBI lied about or destroyed evidence linking Saudi Arabia to the hijackers.
Saudi Arabia has said it had no role in the hijacked plane attacks.
Last month, many families asked Biden to skip 20-year memorial events unless he declassified documents they contend will show Saudi Arabian leaders supported the attacks.
