The son of a man killed in the September 11 attacks said it’s “hard to see” TikTok users gushing over Osama Bin Laden’s letter to America calling for the “re-education” of Americans.
Brett Eagleson was just fifteen when his father, Bruce Eagleson, died in the World Trade Center. He has since dedicated his life to campaigning for justice in the aftermath of the terror attacks.
The 37-year-old has become the latest high-profile figure to condemn online users who are re-sharing the Al Qaeda leader’s letter, which he used to justify the September 11 attack.
In the letter, first published in 2002, bin Laden says one of the reasons September 11 was carried out was US support for Israel, expressing anti-American, anti-Semitic and homophobic views.
The document has resurfaced in recent days in the wake of the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, with many TikTokers drawing parallels between bin Laden’s justification and Hamas’s.
Brett Eagleson, whose father Bruce died in the September 11 terrorist attacks, has condemned TikTokers for re-sharing Osama bin Laden’s ‘Letter to America’.
The letter has resurfaced in recent days, with TikTok users drawing parallels between bin Laden’s justification for the September 11 attacks and Hamas’s on October 7.
“It’s hard to watch and hard to believe that these TikTokers can be taken seriously,” Eaglelson said.
“What they may not realize is that the radical terrorists to whom they give credibility would not hesitate for a second to take them hostage or kill them based solely on their skin color, religion, nationality or gender preference. We can never tolerate that.’
A TikToker named Lynette Adkins appears to be the one who started the Gen-Z-led trend, posting a video on November 14 in which he tells his followers, “I want everyone to stop what they’re doing right now and go read – it’s literally two pages – go read ‘A Letter to America.’
Since then, the letter has gained popularity in the online community, with many young people praising it as insightful.
But Eagleson rejected this view and called for more education about the circumstances surrounding the devastating 2001 attack that killed almost 3,000 people.
“It is time to re-inform Americans about what happened to us on September 11, the role the Saudi government played in the attacks, and that we must hold those accountable so that such an attack can never occur on our soil again.” take place,” he added.
“We must send a strong message that terrorism can never be normalized, justified or whitewashed.”
His comments come after the White House condemned those who reposted the letter.
“There is never any justification for spreading the disgusting, evil and anti-Semitic lies that the leader of Al Qaeda issued shortly after committing the worst terrorist attack in American history – highlighting them as his direct motivation for killing 2,977 innocent Americans,” White said. Deputy Press Secretary of the House of Representatives Andrew Bates said in a statement to DailyMail.com.
September 11 victim Bruce Eagleson, with his children Kyle, Tim and Brett at a wedding in 1993
The trend appears to have started with TikToker Lynette Adkins who posted a video on November 14 telling her followers to read the Al Qaeda leader’s manifesto
Eagleson’s conviction came after similar comments from the White House, which said: “There has never been a justification for spreading the disgusting, malicious and anti-Semitic lies that the leader of Al Qaeda issued shortly after committing the worst terrorist attack in American history’
Eagleson called on Americans to ‘re-educate’ themselves on the context of the September 11 attacks
“And no one should ever insult the 2,977 American families who continue to mourn their loved ones by associating themselves with the vile words of Osama bin Laden.”
Megyn Kelly also slammed the parents of young people who recently “discovered” the letter, saying they had failed to educate their children.
“To the parents of all these losers, suddenly convinced by the twisted musings of the man who murdered three thousand American innocents: you failed,” she wrote on X.
“You were probably drinking, marching for some L-wing cause, and/or simply ignoring your kids.
“You have failed to teach the wrong from the right, a good moral code, love of country and perspective on America’s role in the world.”
TikTok has since said it is working to remove the videos from its platform, which has been viewed more than 14 million times.
The social media site said it would remove any posts that “violate our rules about supporting any form of terrorism.”
But it claimed the number of videos on TikTok is “small” and “reports that it is popular (on the) platform are inaccurate.”