| Mohammad Salman Hamdani | |
|---|---|
| Born | December 28, 1977 |
| Died | September 11, 2001 (aged 23) |
Mohammad Salman Hamdani (December 28, 1977 – September 11, 2001) was a Muslim American who died at the World Trade Center in the immediate aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks.
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Hamdani was born in Karachi, Pakistan and moved to America with his parents when he was only 13 months old. He had two younger brothers, Adnaan and Zeshan, who were born in the US. His mother Talat taught English at a middle school in Queens and his father Saleem was the owner and operator of a convenience store in Brooklyn.[1]
He was on his high school's football team in Bayside, Queens where he lived.[2] He majored in chemistry at Queens College and graduated in June 2001.[Note 1] In July he started employment as a research technician at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute of Rockefeller University in the Protein/DNA Technology Center, and additionally had a part time job driving an ambulance.[2][3] He was an NYFD-certified Emergency Medical Technician (EMT)[4] and a New York City Police Department cadet.[5] The night before 9/11 he was working on an application for medical school and helping his father cope with heart disease.[1]
It was believed that on the morning of September 11, 2001, while on the way to work at Rockefeller University, Hamdani witnessed the smoke coming from the Twin Towers and hurried to the scene to aid victims, using his police and EMT identification to get a ride through the restricted traffic.[Note 2] He died in the World Trade Center and his remains were found in the rubble of the North Tower.[1]
At first Hamdani was listed as missing and there were media reports that he was under investigation as being possibly involved in the attack.[4][6][7][8][9] In October 2001 an unidentified body along with Hamdani's medical bag and identification were found at Ground Zero, the site of the destroyed World Trade Center. His body was not yet positively identified by DNA profiling.[5] He was declared a hero by Congress that October, 45 days after the attacks.[6] Specifically, he is mentioned in the USA PATRIOT Act, Title 1 in section 102 (titled "Sense of Congress condemning discrimination against Arab and Muslim Americans"), which states that:
Months later in March 2002, his remains were identified[3] and shortly afterwards on April 5, 2002 at the Islamic Cultural Center of New York, he was memorialized as a hero by Mayor Bloomberg, Police Commissioner Kelly, Congressman Ackerman and 500 others.[5][6][11] A memorial scholarship fund in his name, for outstanding Pakistani-American students, was created at Rockefeller University in 2002 by his mother Talat Hamdani.[3] The 2002 film 11'9"01 September 11 has an 11 minute segment India that is a docu-drama based on Mohammed Salman Hamdani and his family.[12]
On March 10, 2011, Minnesota Congressman Keith Ellison, in his testimony before the House of Representatives’ Committee on Homeland Security for its hearing on “The Extent of Radicalization in the American Muslim Community and That Community’s Response”, cited Mr. Hamdani as being falsely accused of being involved in the WTC attacks only because he was a Muslim.[13][14]
At the National 9/11 Memorial, Hamdani is memorialized at the South Pool, on Panel S-66.[15]
Media related to [//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Mohammad_Salman_Hamdani Mohammad Salman Hamdani] at Wikimedia Commons