Hank Berrien

Robert De Niro appeared to invoke President Donald Trump's second term Wednesday while warning that Americans risk repeating history if they forget

UCLA's approach to memorializing 9/11 is on full display as the elite West Coast university turns the 25th anniversary of America's darkest day into

Self-proclaimed “alpha male” influencer Andrew Tate and his sidekick brother Tristan aren't trading their Miami federal jail cells for luxury penthouses anytime soon.

Top AI researchers at powerhouse labs OpenAI and Anthropic are publicly blowing the whistle on their own companies, warning that the race to build

Texas GOP Sen. Ted Cruz didn't hold back Thursday night, delivering a high-octane address at Day 2 of the RNC midterm convention that blew the roof

Before the towers fell and the world changed forever, the horror of September 11 began near seat 9B of American Airlines Flight 11.

Before the towers fell and the world changed forever, the horror of September 11 began near seat 9B of American Airlines Flight 11.Danny Lewin, a 31-year-old American-Israeli mathematician, tech tycoon, and former officer in Israel’s most elite military unit, is widely believed to have been the very first person killed in the terrorist attacks.Lewin was seated in business class one row behind hijacking ringleader Mohamed Atta and hijacker Abdulaziz al-Omari. Satam al-Suqami, another member of the five-man terrorist team, was seated directly behind Lewin in seat 10B.The 9/11 Commission determined that Lewin was stabbed during the takeover, probably by al-Suqami. Fluent in Arabic and hardened by years of counterterrorism training, Lewin didn’t wait to see how the hijacking would play out. He rose from his seat and moved to confront Atta and al-Omari as they pushed toward the cockpit. He never saw the threat behind him: the commission concluded he had no idea al-Suqami, seated one row back, was about to strike. According to the 9/11 Commission, flight attendant Amy Sweeney “reported on her line that the plane had been hijacked; a man in first class had his throat slashed.” She and flight attendant Betty Ong contacted American Airlines from the air with the grim news that a passenger in seat 9B had been slashed and was dead.Twenty-five minutes later, Flight 11 crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center.Shahar Azran/Getty ImagesBorn in Denver in 1970 and spending his teenage years in Jerusalem, Lewin was never just like everyone else. As a teenager in Israel, he skipped class to hit the gym and eventually won the title of Mr. Teenage Israel in a bodybuilding competition. When it came time for military service, he pushed his way into Sayeret Matkal, the ultra-secretive special forces unit whose ranks also included Yoni Netanyahu, who later commanded it, and his younger brother, future prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.Foreign-born recruits were almost unheard of in the unit, but Lewin defied the odds. He survived two years of brutal selection, rose to captain, and led dangerous covert missions.When he hung up his uniform, he traded guns for algorithms. Lewin studied at Israel’s elite Technion before heading to MIT, where he teamed up with applied math professor Tom Leighton. Together, they founded Akamai Technologies, inventing algorithms that eliminated web congestion and practically built the modern fast internet.“He was an incredible titan,” Leighton remembered. “Danny loved really hard challenges, loved to solve problems people thought were impossible.”By his late twenties, Lewin was a dot-com billionaire with a wife, Anne, and two young sons. He was known for his relentless drive, once famously walking into workrooms to bark at engineers: “You’re behind!”On the night of September 10, 2001, Lewin stayed up agonizing over company layoffs brought on by the dot-com crash. He got just one hour of sleep before boarding Flight 11 in Boston for a business trip to Los Angeles.He never made it. But even in his final moments, the warrior inside the mathematician refused to back down.“I’m sure at some point it became clear to him what was going on,” said early Akamai investor Todd Dagres. “And I’m sure he acted. … But he couldn’t get them all.”Today, Lewin is buried in Sharon, Massachusetts. In Israel, his name is etched into a 9/11 memorial made of Ground Zero steel, the only memorial outside the U.S. listing every single victim.Danny Lewin was a titan in life, and in his final seconds, a true American and Israeli hero.The first victim of 9/11 was Danny Lewin. Born in Denver, raised in Jerusalem. Captain in Sayeret Matkal. Mathematician. Co-founder of Akamai – the company that still carries a huge share of the internet.On the morning of September 11, 2001 he boarded American Airlines Flight… pic.twitter/e4Eawv9IcT— Michael Dickson (@michaeldickson) September 10, 2026

Leftist Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) are peddling claims of a “modern-day lynching” epidemic, ignoring official police reports and state autopsies that show some of the tragic deaths were actually suicides.Pressley kick-started the panic on social media, writing that “black folks are being found hanged” and comparing the deaths to Jim Crow-era “strange fruit hanging from trees.”Black folks are being found hanged in America.This is a national crisis and we CANNOT stand by while strange fruit hangs from trees across the country.We're demanding a federal investigation NOW so we can stop modern-day lynchings. https://t.co/IfiRiYOMNC— Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (@RepPressley) September 10, 2026AOC quickly jumped on the bandwagon, boasting about backing Pressley’s demand for a federal probe while writing: “This year, there have already been 10 reported hangings of Black people in the U.S. I’m proud to have signed onto @RepPressley’s letter to address these widespread modern-day lynchings and put a stop to this racial terror.”This year, there have already been 10 reported hangings of Black people in the U.S.I’m proud to have signed onto @RepPressley ‘s letter to address these widespread modern-day lynchings and put a stop to this racial terror. https://t.co/ISo20mbLyg— Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@RepAOC) September 10, 2026There’s just one glaring problem: law enforcement, medical examiners, and independent tracking data say it’s simply not true. And the Democratic lawmakers’ posts were hit with brutal community notes on X.“Most high-profile cases of Black people found hanging in 2025-26 were ruled suicides by medical examiners and police, with no evidence of foul play. One remains a homicide probe. Framing as modern-day lynchings is not supported by official findings,” the X community note reads.In many cases cited by activists and online rumor mills, authorities have consistently found zero evidence of foul play. Medical examiners, local police, and even the FBI have repeatedly ruled the tragic deaths as self-inflicted suicides rather than hate-fueled homicides.Following the 2020 death of Robert Fuller in California, investigators confirmed suicide. Subsequent deaths, including a Delta State University student in late 2025 and 2026 incidents in Georgia and Florida, led to the same conclusion.Following the death of 21-year-old Kyle Bassinga in Georgia, Cobb County Police Chief Dan Ferrell urged the public to stick to facts over social media hysteria, confirming there were “no indicators” anyone else was involved.To’Nea Nicole Miller was found dead near Gwen Cherry Park in Miami on June 18. Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office ruled it an apparent suicide with no evidence of foul play. Jerard “Jay” Jackson was found dead in Michigan on June 30. Michigan State police said it appeared he died by suicide with no indication of foul play.Public health data shows that hanging is tragically the leading method in suicides among black youth.While independent trackers count anywhere from seven to 10 public hanging deaths over the past year, police and coroners note the majority were clear-cut suicides. But that hasn’t stopped AOC and the Squad from ignoring the cold, hard facts to push a narrative.

When hell rained down on Lower Manhattan on September 11, 2001, most people were desperately running for their lives.