9/11 Families United Statement on Phil Mickelson Comments at U.S. Open Press Conference

If you are reporting on golfer Phil Mickelson’s comments at the U.S. Open press conference a short time ago in which he offered his “deep empathy” for the families and survivors of the 9/11 attacks, but refused to comment beyond that, please see the following statement from Terry Strada, 9/11 Families United National Chair Terry Strada, whose husband Tom died in the World Trade Center’s North Tower:

• “Phil knows exactly what he’s doing, and he and his fellow LIV golfers should be ashamed.  They are helping the Saudi regime ‘sportswash’ their reputation in return for tens of millions of dollars, at the very same time our government is rolling out more damning evidence of Saudi culpability in the 9/11 attacks.  As the PGA Tour commissioner said Sunday ‘you’d have to be living under a rock’ to not understand the implications of involving yourself with the Saudis.” 

– Terry Strada

Background:

On Friday, 9/11 Families United sent a letter to the agents of Patrick Reed – Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau, and Kevin Na – expressing the 9/11 community’s outrage at the betrayal by the American golfers who chose to participate in the Saudi-funded LIV Golf tour. 

This just comes just weeks after thousands of pages of new evidence against the Kingdom have been released as the result of President Biden’s declassification order last year, after being kept secret by the U.S. government for years.  The majority of these documents were not available to the 9/11 Commission.  CBS News, for example, reported in late April that the documents reveal how a Saudi intelligence operative – who was on the payroll of then-Ambassador Prince Bandar bin Sultan and who is still living freely in the Kingdom – was a key part of the hijackers’ U.S-based support network.

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About 9/11 Families United:

9/11 Families United is an organization of family members of those murdered in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, as well as many of those who survived, were injured in, or sickened from the attacks—a community of more than 10,000 people. More background and contact information can be found at www.911familiesunited.org.