US Secret Service accidentally honours 9/11 terrorists in social media post

The blunder comes at a time when the agency is facing intense scrutiny over an assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump in July.

A U.S. national flag and flowers are placed at the 9/11 Memorial and Museum pool on the day of the 23rd anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center, in the Manhattan borough of New York City, U.S., September 11, 2024. (REUTERS)

In a major blunder by the US Secret Service, the agency accidentally included the terrorists in the 9/11 honouring post which was meant to be for the victims.

The US Secret Service in a post on X shared a clip wherein it showed a US flag in its New York headquarters which got damaged in the aftermath of the attacks on September 11.

A caption which accompanied the post said that the flag “honors all 2,996 lives lost” in the 9/11 attack.

The flag hanging in our headquarters is a solemn reminder of 9/11 and our mission’s purpose. A testament to freedom and sacrifice, it honors all 2,977 lives lost, including our own Master Special Officer Craig T. Miller & Special Agent in Charge Charles L. Friend.#NeverForget pic.twitter.com/OQ1lKPpNJh

— U.S. Secret Service (@SecretService) September 11, 2024

The catch in the death toll is that the figure mentioned by the agency was 2,996 which was 19 more than the actual death count of 2,997 victims. The figure of 2,996 included the 19 terrorists who were killed in the attacks.

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The revised post on X by the US Secret Service read, “The flag hanging in our headquarters is a solemn reminder of 9/11 and our mission’s purpose. A testament to freedom and sacrifice, it honors all 2,977 lives lost, including our own Master Special Officer Craig T. Miller & Special Agent in Charge Charles L. Friend.”

This is a correction of an earlier version of this post. In the original post, we erroneously included the total number of deceased from the Sept 11 attacks, which included the hijackers. Our intent was to only honor the victims of that tragic day and we deeply apologize for the…

— U.S. Secret Service (@SecretService) September 11, 2024

The blunder comes at a time when the agency is facing intense scrutiny over an assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump in July and a subsequent resignation of the US Secret Service chief Kimberly Cheatle amid intense pressure.

The secret service later on posted an apology on X and stated that they didn’t intend to hurt anyone and it was an error.

“This is a correction of an earlier version of this post. In the original post, we erroneously included the total number of deceased from the Sept 11 attacks, which included the hijackers. Our intent was to only honor the victims of that tragic day and we deeply apologize for the error.”

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