WLRN is marking 25 years since the 9/11 terror attacks and how South Florida remains deeply connected to one of the darkest days in American history.
Several of the 9/11 hijackers lived here, trained here, and went about their lives here as they prepared for the deadly operation that would change the country forever.
The terrorists pulled off a series of coordinated attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people in New York City, Washington DC and Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
This WLRN Special Presentation unfolds in two conversations and one audio postcard that shows how the region is still connected to what happened 25 years ago, and what we can learn from the tragedy.
How South Florida is connected to September 11, 2001.
The history of what happened leading up to that day has been the subject of extensive reporting by investigative journalist Dan Christensen, editor and founder of the Florida Bulldog.
Christensen reported on a prominent Saudi family fleeing Sarasota weeks before the 9/11 attack,
WLRN Reporter Danny Rivero recently spoke with Dan to look back at what South Florida knew — and didn’t know — in the months leading up to 9/11, what we’ve learned in the 25 years since, and the questions that still remain.
The aftermath of 9/11 on Muslim Americans in South Florida
For many Muslims in South Florida, the days, weeks and years that followed 9/11 brought fear, suspicion and discrimination. Those feelings of Islamophobia have only been heightened by recent world events.
Mohamed Ghumrawi is the assistant director at Florida International University’s Jaffer Center for Muslim World Studies.
Ghumrawi was 11 years old on 9/11 — old enough to feel the Islamophobia following the attacks. He was called a terrorist at school, and saw the Muslims around him start to shorten their names: Mohamad became “Mo," Bilal became “Bil,l” and his uncle named Osama began going by “Sam."
He says that today, there’s a resurgence of Islamophobia — fueled by war in Gaza, the rise of prominent Islamic politicians like New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar, and more.
WLRN Americas Editor, Tim Padgett, spoke with Ghumrawi about those feelings of Islamophobia then and now.
In the classroom
For young South Florida students, September 11, 2001, is a chapter in their history textbooks — not a distant memory from a quarter century ago.
Beginning in the 2023-2024 school year, middle school and high school students in Florida have been required to receive at least 45 minutes of instruction on “9/11 Heroes’ Day” topics including remembering the sacrifice of military personnel, government employees, civilians and emergency responders who were killed, wounded or suffered sickness due to the terrorist attacks.
WLRN’s Education Reporter Natalie La Roche Pietri was at Palm Beach Central High School on September 11, 2026, for the lesson.
Veteran teacher John Dalman played a video showing the planes hitting the towers and some of the aftermath in New York City.
"I tell the kids, 'History is a big story.' I'm teaching. They have to figure out where they fit in in the story," he said. "Although they weren't alive, the consequences and repercussions are felt today."
This history shaped the world these students have grown up in and — now learn about.
