9/11 Relatives Use Memorial Ceremony to Demand Justice: ‘President Trump, You’re Our Last Hope’

Relatives of the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, al-Qaeda attacks spoke out at the Ground Zero ceremony Friday marking the 25th anniversary of the terror strikes.

Terry Strada, the widow of Tom Strada, who was one of 658 Cantor Fitzgerald employees killed after a plane struck the North Tower of the World Trade Center, urged President Donald Trump to declassify and release 9/11 documents.

Victims’ families are currently suing the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, alleging its government was at least complicit and may have played an active role in the attacks. Fifteen of the 19 hijackers on 9/11 were citizens of Saudi Arabia, according to History.com.

“[H]ow can it be 25 years and still we have no justice for the role that Saudi Arabia played in your murder?” Terry Strada asked, referring to her husband, which drew strong applause and cheers from those attending Friday’s ceremony.

“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,” Strada continued.

“But, 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. They withheld evidence … they broke promises, both public and private; it has been one betrayal after another. President Trump can still change that. Tell the Saudis to stop lying,” she said.

Terry Strada: “My husband, Tom Strada. You are missed more with each year that passes. But, how can it be 25 years and still we have no justice for the role that Saudi Arabia played in your murder. Yes, we finally made it into a court and have proved that the kingdom of Saudi… pic.twitter.com/Tpx27eYWZE

— CSPAN (@cspan) September 11, 2026

Former presidents George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Joe Biden and Vice President JD Vance, all attended Friday’s ceremony.

Strada continued, “Tell [the Saudis] 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.”

The widow concluded, “Vice President Vance, thank you for being here today. Please carry that message back. Stand with the families. Stand with the survivors. Stand with Americans.”

In addition to Strada, another participant in the ceremony, who identified himself as the nephew of 9/11 victim Lisa Marie Terry, said, “For 25 years, the Deep State has hidden the truth about what happened that day 25 years ago. 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.”

“My aunt, Lisa Marie Terry. For 25 years the Deep State has hidden the truth about what happened that day 25 years ago. President Trump, you’re our last hope. Released the unredacted files that implicate Saudi Arabia while what’s left of the victim’s families are still alive to… pic.twitter.com/oFEjEoUJln

— CSPAN (@cspan) September 11, 2026

ABC News reported last week, “Twenty-five years after Sept. 11, a trove of newly obtained records is offering what families of the victims characterize in court as compelling evidence of deep Saudi complicity in the attacks. Now, as their decade-old lawsuit against the Saudi kingdom marches toward trial, the families are pressing the Trump administration to declassify more government records they believe could finally deliver justice.”

Brett Eagleson, whose father Bruce was killed in the World Trade Center’s South Tower, told the news outlet, “We’ve seen [Trump] do it for the [President John F. Kennedy] files. Why not the 9/11 files?”

Eagleson and other 9/11 families want key records that include phone logs released related to two hijackers, as well as Omar al-Bayoumi, who the families allege is a Saudi intelligence asset.

The families assert in their suit that al-Bayoumi, who lived in the U.S. for the better part of a decade, provided “essential support” to two hijackers when they arrived in California in early 2000.

The assistance included finding them an apartment and “providing funds just below the suspicious activity reporting threshold to help them open a bank account.”

“He was the man,” Eagleson said. “Omar al-Bayoumi is coordinating and directing logistical and financial support to the hijackers.”

The Saudi citizen also traveled to Washington, D.C., in 1999, where he allegedly engaged in “casing the U.S. Capitol for an attack,” according to the 9/11 families.

In a video obtained by them, Al-Bayoumi describes, “to an unidentified audience the security posture inside and outside the Capitol building, highlights its proximity to the nearby Reagan National Airport, and opaquely references a ‘plan.’”

Al-Bayoumi, who lives in Saudi Arabia, denies any connections to his country’s intelligence service.

White House spokesperson Anna Kelly told ABC News, “President Trump is leading the most transparent administration in history, and his team is working diligently to identify records that are responsive to these families’ request.”

The news outlet noted, “The Saudis have repeatedly denied having any role in facilitating the attacks and replied in court that they remain ‘an ally of the United States [and] a sworn enemy of Al Qaeda.’”

Additionally, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, during a visit to the White House in November, said when questioned about his nation’s alleged involvement in the attacks, “I feel painful about families of 9/11 in America, but we have to focus on reality.” He pointed to now-deceased al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden as the perpetrator of 9/11.

Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton said in a video posted on social media Friday that his organization was able to obtain records proving the FBI let Saudis, including members of Bin Laden’s family, out of the U.S. in the immediate aftermath of 9/11.

Heavy lifting @JudicialWatch smashed through stonewalls to uncover 9/11 FBI and other gov’t cover-ups. I’m still furious about what we found. pic.twitter.com/HOPLs55ojs

— Tom Fitton (@TomFitton) September 11, 2026

Fitton wrote, “I’m still furious about what we found.”

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