Muslim-American 9/11 First Responder Overlooked by Memorial

For his bravery on 9/11, first-responder Mohammad Salman Hamdani was cited in the Patriot Act as an example of Muslim-American valor. After the body of the 23-year-old police cadet was found in the wreckage of the north tower, the New York City Police Department declared him a hero and buried him with full honors. But visitors to the September 11th Memorial in lower Manhattan will not find his name among the list of first-responders. Instead, Hamdani’s name appears in a section of the memorial for people who only had a lose connection to the tragic events of that day. Talat Hamdani, Mohammad Salman Hamdani’s mother, believes her son’s name was excluded from the first-responder section of the memorial because of his Muslim faith and Pakistani heritage.