The Detroit City Council met on September 11, 2025, starting at 6:02 PM. The meeting began with a special 9/11 remembrance video from the Troy Fire Department, followed by a moment of silence. The council approved the previous meeting's minutes, heard public comments from five residents, discussed unfinished business including a contract for the city's parking ticket system, received member reports, and issued a statement condemning political violence and gun violence.
Councilmember Scott Benson. Mr. Chair, you have a corn present. Okay, excellent. Now, before we begin, uh, since this is uh nine eleven, we I have a very special video that's been sent to me by the Troy Fire Department that I would like to play for anyone that's here, so we will get that started. It's about a five minute video. So we'll play that and then we'll go into our normal agenda. A deadly attack. We are experiencing technical difficulties. We're gonna have a two-minute recess. Two minute recess. The administration is ready to play the video. Councilmember Scott Benza. I better say I. Mr. Washington played a video. Twenty-four years ago, a deadly attack on the United States shifted the nation. After four planes were hijacked by terrorists. It changed how people travel, how people think, and snatched away so many innocent lives. But for two Detroit first responders who were there in the aftermath, the 9-11 attacks changed how they see life forever. Life at 25 years of age, 26 years of age became very real. And as a firefighter, even more real that I could be directly impacted by this terrorism. She was killed. And that really hit you. After a total of four planes were hijacked by Al Qaeda terrorists and crashed into an open field in Pennsylvania, the Pentagon and the North and South Towers of the World Trade Center. Came in like a missile, like a fireball missile across from the New York harbic side. I guess from the Newark direction. It came in like a spear. It just speared through the building like a fireball. And across the river was the first we when I first put eyes on ground zero. And I could see that area of Manhattan lit up with lights, the smoke billowing still from the pile. And I'll I'll never forget that. Jeremy is one of 20 firefighters from Engine 23 who drove from Detroit to New York after the 9-11 attack to answer the call to help their fellow firefighters. Yeah, this is the van load of guys that we are in front of the rescue three, where we just like I said, went in to do whatever. There wasn't a plan. Our own money, our own effort to get there. Jeremy's squad arrived at the tragedy a few days after the attack. But he says upon arrival to ground zero, there was no doubt that the stench of death was in the air. Tell me about that smell. Aside from the distinctive smell that Jeremy says covered ground zero, there was one other telltale for him that he says he will never ever let go of. If you stop moving for a minute, there's a chirp that will not stop. Being a young firefighter, I recognize those bells and those pass alarms going off after the towers had fell. And I knew how many firefighters were in that pile. Two of those persons in that pile, George says was a father's only sons. When you got there, what did it look like? It was looking like we having some technical difficulties again. I don't know if that's on our side or is that on Mr. Mr. Washington. Around the clock.