Politics & Government
Investigation Offers New Revelations About Donald Trump's 9-11 N.J. 'Celebrations' Claim
A new examination backs up Donald Trump's claim that groups of Muslims cheered the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in New Jersey.

A new examination backs up Donald Trump’s claim that groups of Muslims cheered the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in New Jersey right after the tragedy occurred.
An examination by NJ Advance Media, which included interviews with a police officer who worked on 9/11 and residents on the outskirts of Journal Square in Jersey City, reveals that witnesses say they saw small pockets of people celebrating before the groups dispersed or were broken up by authorities.
The inquiry, involving more than two dozen interviews conducted since Nov. 25, found Trump’s broad assertion that thousands of people cheered to be baseless. The inquiry, however, provides the first credible indication of at least two modest celebrations, as described by on-the-record sources who say they witnessed the behavior, as the report noted.
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“When I saw they were happy, I was pissed,” Ron Knight, 56, a Tonnele Avenue resident who said he heard cries of “Allahu Akbar” as he shouldered his way through a crowd of 15 to 20 people on John F. Kennedy Boulevard that morning, told the news organization.
The gatherings amounted to dozens of people at the two locations, the witnesses said, and callers also flooded the 911 system with accounts of “jubilant Muslims on a rooftop” at a third location, according to the report.
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The report also notes:
- Two Tonnele Avenue residents who said they witnessed a crowd celebrating on John F. Kennedy Boulevard not far from Masjid Al-Salam, the mosque where Omar Abdel-Rahman preached before the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
- Numerous people called police to report an exuberant crowd on the roof of 2801 John F. Kennedy Blvd., a five-story apartment building at the intersection of Sip Avenue.
Trump has also pointed to the below video that actually references the celebrations that the presidential candidate and billionaire was talking about when he said ”thousands of thousands” of Muslims and others in Jersey City were celebrating the deadly attack that killed nearly 3,000 people.
Trump has taken a lot of heat for that reference, but he has stood defiant, insisting that he saw the celebrations on television.
Here is a video of a WCBS-TV news report shortly after the attacks that talks about “eight people” who were allegedly celebrating on the rooftops in Jersey City:
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