By Illinois Review
Bernard Kerik, the 40th Commissioner of the New York Police Department – the largest department in the United States, headlined a special event to honor the 120th anniversary of the Illinois State Rifle Association on Wednesday evening at Georgios Banquets in Orland Park.
Kerik, who served under then New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, was police commissioner when two planes flew into the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.
Addressing a packed banquet hall room, Kerik opened his speech with a 4-minute video clip taken on the morning of September 11 that included live footage of the planes flying into the World Trade Center and voicemail messages from passengers on the hijacked planes who called family and friends to say their final goodbyes.
Commissioner Kerik offered a recap of the events surrounding that horrific day from his perspective as the New York City Police Commissioner. He also talked about the current events in the Middle East and how the terrorist attack on October 7th in Israel mirrors the terrorist attacks on September 11th.
“It’s the same people,” Kerik told the crowd on Wednesday night. “Call them what you want – Hamas, Hezbollah, Al-Shabaab – they are the same people who planned the terrorist attack on September 11th and on October 7th.”
Kerik then pivoted and talked about the importance of an armed citizenry and that the terrorists prefer to attack people who are unarmed and who have their guards down. He encouraged the crowd of gun advocates not to give up, and to stand up and fight for their rights – warning the crowd that “if you give those who are anti-gun an inch, they’ll take a mile.”
During a brief question and answer session following his remarks, Kerik mentioned that between September 15, 2001 and December 31, 2001, he attended over 400 funerals, wakes and memorials – leaving the crowd stunned as audible gasps were heard around the room.
After the question and answer session, Kerik presented ISRA President Doug Mayhall with a rare, historical gift to honor the gun group’s 120th anniversary – a signed copy of his September 27, 2001 Weekly Report to Mayor Rudy Giuliani that represented the first in depth summary of the attacks in New York on September 11.
