A somber weekend underway: 9/11 remembrance events mark 20 years

Ahead of the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks Saturday, officials in New York and Washington, D.C. began holding remembrance events Friday morning. The video above shows clips from some of those events.

In D.C., Secretary of State Antony Blinken reflected on the mark the attacks left on the State Department. “Thousands of diplomats served in Afghanistan and Iraq and elsewhere in support of the war against al Qaida and other terrorist groups. Thousands more served in new bureaus and roles that didn’t exist before the attacks, like counterterrorism, conflict and stabilization,” Blinken said. “Virtually every part of the department was mobilized in some way to play a role in preventing another 9/11. Critical work that many of us continue to this day.”

Attorney General Merrick Garland also marked the 20 year anniversary in front of the “survivor tree” on the northeast side of the courtyard at the Department of Justice. He announced the installation of a plaque at the tree.

“The plaque reminds us that the threats from foreign terrorists like those involved in September 11th is one we must constantly guard against,” Garland said. “What we must do, what we have done is to learn from the past to better anticipate and prepare for the next threat and to seek to disrupt it.”

And in New York City, family members of Thomas Sullivan and Robert Sutcliffe, who both died on 9/11, rang the New York Stock Exchange Opening Bell after a moment of silence. NYPD Police Commissioner Dermot Shea, FDNY First Deputy Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh, FDNY EMS Division Chief Marie Villani, and PAPD Superintendent of Police Edward T. Cetnar are expected to be on hand to ring the closing bell Friday afternoon.