9/11 victims ask Biden to declassify evidence or skip memorials

Aug. 6 (UPI) -- Hundreds of survivors, first responders and victims' family members from the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks sent a letter to President Joe Biden on Friday asking him not to attend any memorial events this year unless he declassifies government documents related to the incident.

The letter, signed by 1,800 people, calls on Biden to uphold his promise to release the evidence, which many believe shows Saudi leaders are linked to the attack.

The attacks killed nearly 3,000 victims at the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon, in Arlington, Va., and a plane crash site in Shanksville, Pa. Events to mark the 20th anniversary of the terror attacks are expected to take place in all three locations next month.

"Six month ago, the 9/11 community had great hopes that President Joe Biden would be the long lost champion of those directly affected by this murderous attack on our nation," the letter, viewed by The Independent and NBC News, reads.

"We cannot in good faith, and with veneration to those lost, sick and injured, welcome the president to our hallowed grounds until he fulfills his commitment."

Biden pledged to release as much information as possible during his 2020 presidential campaign, but victims groups said he's ignored their requests since he took office.

U.S. Sens. Bob Menenedez, D-N.J., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., also called for the Biden administration to declassify the documents during a news conference outside the Capitol on Thursday. The two senators co-sponsored the September 11th Transparency Act of 2021.

"If the United States government is sitting on any documents that may implicate Saudi Arabia or any individual or any country in the events of Sept. 11, these families and the American people have a right to know," Menendez said.