Why Sen. Grassley isn’t sure Americans would react today like they did on September 11, 2001
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Gray Media Iowa State Capitol Bureau) — WASHINGTON — Twenty-five years ago, Iowa U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley was rushing out of the U.S. Capitol Building after law enforcement evacuated members of Congress following the second plane crash into the World Trade Center’s South Tower.
Grassley did not yet know the full extent of how terrorists were attacking the United States in multiple places.
Confusion inside the Capitol
Grassley had been doing radio interviews inside the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., when the initial terrorist strike happened in New York City. He thought it was a terrible accident.
Then the second plane hit the World Trade Center.
“Within five minutes, policeman knocks on the door and say, ‘You got to get out of here. You got to get out of here,’” Grassley said.
As people ran away and first responders ran in, Grassley waited with colleagues and staff outside in Washington, D.C. He said they didn’t have a safety plan for the situation at the time.
No evacuation plan at the time
Two other planes crashed that day, one possibly before it could hit the U.S. Capitol Building. Grassley said he realized afterward what could have happened to him and others.
“I reflected on this afterwards that if the if that plane was going to hit the U.S. Capitol building where we were standing was probably going to be just as dead as what we were,” Grassley said. “There was no plans for evacuation. Today we have all sorts of plans to what to do under similar circumstances.”
Grassley said he and his wife later took shelter in a staffer’s home after they left the U.S. Capitol Complex, as he and colleagues worked to learn what had happened to the country.
As he looks back now, Grassley said he was struck by the patriotism and unity that Americans showed following the September 11 attacks. But 25 years later, Grassley said he’s not sure Americans would respond the same way now.
Politics has divided the country.
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