In the wake of Sept. 11, the United States began a war in Afghanistan and then Iraq; sanctioned torture; perpetrated extrajudicial killings of foreign nationals and American citizens; dramatically expanded the military powers of the executive office; launched a massive wiretapping and surveillance agency; and has steadily accelerated use of drone strikes without official declaration of war.
Sept. 11 left the country in shock, raw, reeling, and devastated from the scale of terror and the overwhelming loss of life. The 15-year anniversary of Sept. 11 provided occasion for mourning, weeping, and sitting with the grieved. But on Sept. 12, many took to Twitter to express the catastrophic effects of the U.S. acting out of its trauma and grief for the past 15 years.
The result is a tragic compilation of stories and experiences, from children facing discrimination in school to families and entire countries being torn apart. The tragedy that began on Sept. 11 lives on, in millions of lives and across much of the world.
Read more at the hashtag #AfterSeptember11.
#afterseptember11 My Yoga instructor had rocks thrown through their office and home based on looks (Sikh). They moved away in fear.
— Neolucky (@_Yewon_) September 11, 2016
#afterseptember11 my great grandfather was murdered walking to a mosque as he was going to pray for the family members he lost...
— Barak (@nohoesbarak) September 12, 2016
#AfterSeptember11 My older brother was pressured to change his name from Osama to Sammy. He was in kindergarten.
— عمر (@OmaarSyed) September 11, 2016
#afterseptember11 I got falsely accused, humilated, and fingerprinted at age of 14. pic.twitter.com/PHqF8fBgPW
— Ahmed Mohamed (@IStandWithAhmed) September 11, 2016
#afterseptember11 my dad was held at gun point while leaving work and was forced to apologize for a crime he didn't commit
— - (@sincerelyaneeza) September 11, 2016
#AfterSeptember11 my uncle and cousin were killed by Americans, because 'muslims did 9/11'
— aya | pinned if unf (@whonhoe) September 11, 2016
2 kinds of 9/11 victims. Ones that died that day, and ones still being attacked for something they weren't responsible for #afterseptember11
— kayla milligan (@kaylajmilligan) September 12, 2016
#Afterseptember11 we killed 2 million innocent civilians in Iraq. While the US watched and cheered the Night bombings like a Superbowl.
— Resistant culture (@ResistantCultur) September 11, 2016
#afterseptember11 my family has had to endure merciless war as punishment for something our country wasn't even responsible for
— { dt } (@tvrkiraq) September 11, 2016
#afterseptember11 my teachers found it funny that my name meant peace in the language of the country we go to war with. i was 9
— sal :) #BLM (@g00dvibesalll) September 12, 2016
#afterseptember11 my father was killed in Iraq on my 11th birthday because of the war and destruction the U.S decided to bring upon us
— Ak Alrawi (@TheAK47_) September 12, 2015
#AfterSeptember11 a country founded on and maintained by terrorism went on a so-called war on terrorism. What about that makes sense?
— 冷凍光の王 (@Titan_Gh0ul) September 13, 2015
#AfterSeptember11 a lot of my family had to flee their homeland because of the chaos that erupted as a result of America's "war on terror"
— نسمه☾ (@nizmerz) September 11, 2016
The #afterSeptember11 hashtag really opened my eyes to those who suffered after the attacks due to the prejudice of others. Heartbreaking.
— Logan Cramer (@LoganCramer3) September 13, 2016
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