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The September 11 attacks, known as 9/11, were a series of coordinated suicide attacks carried out by 19 al-Qaeda terrorists in the United States on September 11, 2001.
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Holly Ratchford, who managed the Parkwood Apartments complex in San Diego, California, spoke about her interactions with Omar al-Bayoumi, a Saudi national later accused of helping two men who became 9/11 hijackers. Ratchford said Bayoumi appeared friendly and welcoming when he moved into the complex in 1999. Months later, he introduced her to Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khalid al-Mihdhar, who lived nearby before hijacking American Airlines Flight 77 and crashing it into the Pentagon. More than two decades later, Ratchford remains haunted by her connection to the three men, said a BBC report.
‘He Was Always So Bubbly’
Bayoumi moved into number 152 at Parkwood Apartments with his family in September 1999. Ratchford, then 27, was the property manager and also lived at the complex. She said he soon became a regular at her pool parties and appeared to be a friendly family man.
“He was always so bubbly and smiling,” she recalled, describing him as “very, very friendly”, said the BBC report.
Bayoumi’s family also invited Ratchford to their home for food. “I enjoyed going over,” she said.
Ratchford said she believed everything Bayoumi told her and thought she knew the person he presented himself as.
How Two Future Hijackers Got An Apartment
According to the BBC report, on February 3, 2000, Bayoumi brought two young men to Ratchford’s rental office. He told her they were from his mosque and needed a place to stay.
The men, Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khalid al-Mihdhar, did not meet the income or bank-account requirements for an apartment. However, they had several thousand dollars in cash.
Bank records showed that Bayoumi took them to a bank the next day and helped them open an account. He then agreed to co-sign their lease.
The rental agreement listed Bayoumi as their guarantor, friend and emergency contact, with his Parkwood address also listed as their current address.
Hazmi and Mihdhar moved into number 150, only a few doors away from Bayoumi’s townhouse.
Ratchford said she saw them repeatedly over the following months. “I would have cookies and tea with them,” she said, as quoted by the BBC report.
They remained at the apartment until the end of May 2000.
The Moment She Learned They Were Terrorists
After the September 11 attacks, a woman contacted Ratchford asking for a rental reference for the two men. Ratchford gave their details before discovering the caller was a reporter.
“Did you know that they were two of the terrorists that flew their plane into the Pentagon?” the reporter asked.
“And I went, ‘What?’” Ratchford recalled.
Two days later, on September 14, 2001, FBI agents interviewed her at the Parkwood office. She handed over Bayoumi’s guarantor form.
Richard Lambert, who led the FBI’s San Diego investigation after 9/11, said investigators found a network around Bayoumi that helped the two men obtain driving licences, apply to flight schools, receive money transfers and arrange dental treatment.
FBI Evidence And The Saudi Link
The FBI later discovered that Bayoumi received about $90,000 a year from two companies linked to Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Defence, although investigators found he did not go to work.
His pay increased after the two hijackers arrived in San Diego and fell after they left the area.
Declassified documents also included material that investigators believed showed anti-American and potentially jihadist views.
However, Bayoumi was never indicted or prosecuted. The 9/11 Commission later described him as an unlikely candidate for clandestine involvement with extremists.
A New York judge last year found a “reasonable inference” that Bayoumi’s assistance to the hijackers may have followed instructions from the Saudi government. Saudi Arabia denies involvement and says Bayoumi was not a Saudi agent.
The case, involving 9/11 families and a $1 trillion lawsuit against Saudi Arabia, is now before the US Court of Appeal, with oral arguments due in October.
‘9/11 Made Me Afraid Of People’
Ratchford has since left Parkwood and moved away from the big city. She said the experience changed her outlook completely.
“I felt so stupid. I trusted and I cared about people that did bad things,” she said, as quoted by BBC. “9/11 made me afraid of people,” Ratchford added.
She now prefers living in a small community where she feels people cannot easily keep secrets.
Yet questions about Parkwood continue to trouble her. “Part of me wonders if there’s something I could have done if I was more strict,” she said.
The September 11 attacks, known as 9/11, were a series of coordinated suicide attacks carried out by 19 al-Qaeda terrorists in the United States on September 11, 2001. Four commercial planes were hijacked. American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175 crashed into the World Trade Center’s North and South Towers in New York, which later collapsed.
American Airlines Flight 77 struck the Pentagon in Virginia, while United Airlines Flight 93 crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, after passengers attempted to regain control. The attacks killed 2,977 people, excluding the 19 hijackers, and became the deadliest terrorist attack in US history.
About the Author
Shuddhanta Patra is an Indian journalist with about nine years of experience in covering national politics, geopolitics, defence, diplomacy and international affairs. Her reporting focuses on South As…Read More
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