U.S. President Donald Trump and other officials paid tribute to right-wing activist Charlie Kirk on Thursday as the country marked the 24th anniversary of the September 11, 2001, attacks.
Kirk was a “giant of his generation” and a “champion of liberty,” Trump said at the beginning of his remarks during a 9/11 ceremony at the Pentagon, which was one of the targets of the Al-Qaeda attacks that sparked two decades of deadly conflict.
Trump announced that he would soon posthumously award Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the country’s highest civilian honor.
Speaking at the same ceremony, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said that “like those on 9/11, you will never be forgotten.”
Kirk, a close ally of Trump, was shot in the neck while speaking at an event at Utah Valley University on Wednesday.
Trump also marked the anniversary at Yankee Stadium, attending the Yankees game against the Detroit Tigers.
On Thursday evening, New York’s professional baseball teams observed the solemn 24th anniversary of September 11, with pregame ceremonies recognizing the victims and heroes.
Memorial events for 9/11 were held at Ground Zero in Manhattan, where the World Trade Center’s twin towers were destroyed in coordinated attacks that also saw a jetliner crash into the Pentagon.
Another jet, Flight 93, crashed into the Pennsylvania countryside after passengers overpowered the hijackers and took control of the aircraft.
New York observed a citywide moment of silence at 8:46 a.m, the time hijacked Flight 11 struck the North Tower of the World Trade Center.
Places of worship across the city then sounded their bells to mark the impact, as families of the victims read the names of those killed at Ground Zero.
The official death toll was 2,977, including the passengers and crew of the four hijacked planes, victims in the twin towers, firefighters and personnel at the Pentagon. The count excludes the 19 Al-Qaeda hijackers.
(With input from AFP, Reuters)
Trump mourns Charlie Kirk amid 9/11 tributes
