NEW YORK (AP) - The Latest news surrounding observances marking the 16th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks (all times local):
7:30 p.m.
Two giant towers of light have lit up the lower Manhattan skyline as a visual memorial to those who lost their lives on 9/11.
The September 11 Memorial & Museum’s “Tribute in Light” art installation switched on just after sundown Monday.
The light beams reach up to four miles into the sky and are comprised of 88 searchlights positioned into two squares that represent the twin towers.
The Memorial Plaza will be open to the public until midnight Monday to view the lights, which were first installed six months after the attack and are now a yearly tradition.
They’ll stay lit until dawn.
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3:15 p.m.
Some Americans are marking the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks by volunteering on service projects.
In New York City, shifts of volunteers gathered at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum to put together meals to be distributed to people in need locally, as well as those affected by hurricanes in Texas and Florida.
The co-founder of 9/11 Day, which pushed for Sept. 11 to become recognized as a national day of service, said, “We simply wanted something good to come from this day.”
Among the volunteers was 16-year-old Hillary O’Neill of Norwalk, Connecticut, who was born the day of the attacks. She said volunteering was a way to bring something positive to the day.
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11:45 a.m.
A 10-year-old boy who helped pull an unconscious kayaker to safety has posthumously been given an award named for a flight attendant aboard a hijacked jetliner that was flown into the World Trade Center.
Jaydon Dancy was named recipient of the Madeline Amy Sweeney Award for Civilian Bravery on Monday at a Massachusetts Statehouse ceremony marking the 16th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Jaydon’s mother, Michelle, accepted the award.
Jaydon was playing on the Salem waterfront in August 2016 when he saw the kayaker capsize. He and an older woman swam out to pull the unconscious man from of the water.
Jaydon was struck and killed by a train in June.
Sweeney quietly provided ground crews with critical information about the terrorists aboard American Airlines Flight 11.
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11:40 a.m.
A Fox News Channel host, in an interview with Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke (ZINK’-ee), appeared to equate a memorial to victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks to the controversy over statues of Confederate soldiers.
Zinke was a guest on “Fox & Friends” Monday. He was talking about his appearance with Vice President Mike Pence at the memorial to passengers on hijacked United Flight 93 that crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, on Sept. 11, 2001.
Host Brian Kilmeade asked if Zinke worried that 100 years from now, “someone’s going to try and take that memorial down like they’re trying to remake our memorials today.”
It was an apparent reference to debates over the future of memorials to Confederate figures from the Civil War.
After a brief pause, Zinke replied: “I’m one that believes we should learn from history.”
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10:55 a.m.
Vice President Mike Pence is addressing the family and friends of the victims of United Flight 93 and the hundreds of citizens attending the somber service in Pennsylvania.
Pence tells the crowd he was in Washington as a member of Congress on 9/11. That’s where he learned a hijacked plane was heading to the U.S. Capitol and was only 12 minutes away. He says that was the longest 12 minutes of his life, but he soon learned the plane went down in a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
Thirty-three passengers and seven crew members were killed.
The ceremony started at 9:45 a.m., the time that federal investigators determined passengers decided to revolt against their four al-Qaeda hijackers, who ended up crashing the plane in a field 60 miles (96 kilometers) southeast of Pittsburgh.
Pence says those passengers might well have save his life.
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10:29 a.m.
A bell is tolling to mark the moment when the north tower of the World Trade Center collapsed on Sept. 11, 2001.
The U.S. on Monday is marking the 16th anniversary of the terrorist attack that killed nearly 3,000. Four hijacked planes hit the trade center towers and the Pentagon, and crashed in a Pennsylvania field. A moment of silence followed the bells.
The commemoration began with a moment of silence at tolling bells at 8:46 a.m., when the first terrorist-piloted plane slammed into the World Trade Center’s north tower.
Victims’ relatives are reading the names of those killed.
At a Pentagon ceremony, President Donald Trump said the nation grieves for the victims, and when America is united “no force on earth can break us apart.”
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10:10 a.m.
President Donald Trump says during a 9/11 ceremony at the Pentagon that the nation grieves for the people “who were murdered by terrorists” 16 years ago.
The president and first lady Melania Trump joined with Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, members of his Cabinet and military personnel at the Pentagon to observe the anniversary of the attacks on the nation’s defense headquarters.
The president is issuing a warning to extremists, saying “America cannot be intimidated” and those who try will join the list of enemies “who dared to test our mettle.”
He says when America is united, “no force on earth can break us apart.”
The native New Yorker is observing the 9/11 anniversary for the first time as president. Nearly 3,000 people were killed when four hijacked planes hit the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and at a Pennsylvania field.
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10:04 a.m.
Moments of silence have been held to observe when the south World Trade Center tower collapsed on Sept. 11, 2001, and when United Airlines Flight 93 crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
The fourth and fifth bells tolled to mark the moments: 9:59 a.m. for the tower and 10:03 a.m. for the United flight on the 16th anniversary of the terror attack.
Monday’s commemoration began with a moment of silence and tolling bells at 8:46 a.m. It’s the time when a terrorist-piloted plane slammed into the World Trade Center’s north tower. Other bells tolled when a second plane struck the south tower, and when a plane struck the Pentagon.
Then, victims’ relatives began reading the names of the nearly 3,000 people killed when four hijacked planes hit the trade center, the Pentagon and at the Pennsylvania field.
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9:50 a.m.
A somber ritual that includes the tolling of bells and a reading of the victims’ names is underway in Pennsylvania, honoring the 33 passengers and seven crew members killed in the terror attack on United Flight 93.
Vice President Mike Pence is at ceremony outside the park’s visitor center in Shanksville. It began at 9:45 a.m., the time that federal investigators determined passengers decided to revolt against their four al-Qaeda hijackers, who ended up crashing the plane in a field 60 miles (96 kilometers) southeast of Pittsburgh 16 years ago.
On Sunday, ground was broken at the national memorial on the last element of the park, a 93-foot (28-meter) Tower of Voices with 40 tubular wind chimes, one for each victim. It should be completed in time for the 17th anniversary of 9/11.
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9:38 a.m.
A third bell has tolled at 9:37 a.m. at ground zero to mark the moment a plane slammed into the Pentagon on 9/11.
Monday marked the 16th anniversary of the terror attacks.
Then victims’ relatives then resumed reading the names of the nearly 3,000 people killed when four hijacked planes hit the trade center, the Pentagon and a Pennsylvania field on Sept. 11, 2001.
Republican President Donald Trump, a native New Yorker, observed a moment of silence at the White House. He will also be participating in the observance at the Pentagon. It’s his first time observing the anniversary as president.
There is also a ceremony at the Flight 93 National Memorial near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
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9:03 a.m.
A second bell has tolled at 9:03 a.m. at ground zero to mark the moment a second terrorist-piloted plane slammed into the World Trade Center’s south tower.
Monday marked the 16th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks.
Then victims’ relatives again began reading the names of the nearly 3,000 people killed when four hijacked planes hit the trade center, the Pentagon and a Pennsylvania field on Sept. 11, 2001.
Republican President Donald Trump, a native New Yorker, observed a moment of silence at the White House and then participating in an observance at the Pentagon. It’s his first time observing the anniversary as president.
There is also a ceremony at the Flight 93 National Memorial near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
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8:47 a.m.
President Donald Trump is leading a national moment of silence on the anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks.
The president and first lady Melania Trump joined with staffers on the South Lawn of the White House on Monday morning to mark the moment when the first plane struck the World Trade Center 16 years ago.
The president and first lady bowed their heads as bells tolled and then placed their hands over their hearts as taps played.
This is Trump’s first 9/11 commemoration ceremony as president.
Trump was in New York during the 2001 attacks. He has offered unverified accounts of friends he lost that day and reports of Muslims celebrating when the World Trade Center towers collapsed.
Trump will participate in a 9/11 observance at the Pentagon later Wednesday morning.
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8:47 a.m.
Victims’ relatives, survivors and rescuers are observing the 16th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks at ground zero.
Monday’s commemoration began with a moment of silence and tolling bells at 8:46 a.m. It’s the time when a terrorist-piloted plane slammed into the World Trade Center’s north tower.
Then victims’ relatives began reading the names of the nearly 3,000 people killed when four hijacked planes hit the trade center, the Pentagon and a Pennsylvania field on Sept. 11, 2001.
Republican President Donald Trump, a native New Yorker, is observing a moment of silence at the White House and then participating in an observance at the Pentagon. It’s his first time observing the anniversary as president.
There is also a ceremony at the Flight 93 National Memorial near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
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5:45 a.m.
Police officers are on hand after a threat referencing Sept. 11 was found written in a bathroom stall in a Pennsylvania school.
Officers are patrolling Central Bucks West High School in Doylestown as a precaution Monday.
It’s not clear what the threat said. But principal Timothy Donovan told parents the situation was promptly addressed to ensure the safety of students and teachers.
The school will excuse the absences of any students if parents decide to keep their children home.
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2 a.m.
A series of paintings, sculpture and illustrations depicting the New York City Police department’s actions during Sept. 11 is part of a new exhibit at John Jay College.
NYPD Commissioner James O’Neill says the works are from both the department’s headquarters and the Russell Senate Office Building in Washington. The New York Post reports the exhibit opened Friday and will run for four months.
O’Neill was present at the ribbon cutting and says the exhibit will uphold the legacies of those who died on 9/11.
The exhibit is titled “Bravery & Sacrifice” and is on display in John Jay’s Memorial Hall.
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12:15 a.m.
While the U.S. contends with the destruction caused by two ferocious hurricanes in three weeks, Americans also are marking the 16th anniversary of one of the nation’s most scarring days.
Thousands of 9/11 victims’ relatives, survivors, rescuers and others are expected to gather Monday at the World Trade Center to remember the deadliest terror attack on American soil.
Observances also are planned at the Pentagon and the Flight 93 National Memorial near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
Nearly 3,000 people died when hijacked planes slammed into the trade center, the Pentagon and a field near Shanksville on Sept. 11, 2001.
Republican President Donald Trump, a native New Yorker, is observing the anniversary for the first time as the nation’s leader. The White House says he’ll observe a moment of silence and also participate in an observance at the Pentagon.
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