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Planned military jet flyover for 9/11 anniversary canceled amid backlash on social media

Posted at 9:58 PM, Sep 11, 2020
and last updated 2020-09-11 21:58:23-04

NEW YORK — A military jet flyover planned on the 19th anniversary of the Sept. 11 has been canceled following widespread backlash on social media.

"As per the US Navy, today's F-18 jet flyover on the Hudson River has been canceled," NYC's official emergency notification system confirmed in a tweet.

The Department of Defense announced Thursday an F-18 jet would be flying over the Hudson River toward the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge on Friday around 3:30 p.m.

Many took to social media, including New York elected officials, expressing outrage, calling for the event to be canceled.

In a tweet, City Councilmember Mark Levine questioned “is someone in the Pentagon deliberately trying to trigger PTSD in NYC??”

Congressman Max Rose called for the event to be canceled "immediately."

Even Brandon Borrman, the vice president of Global Communications at Twitter, called the idea “completely tasteless.”

Others on Twitter called it “cruel,” “the worst idea,” and traumatizing to many.

This article was written by Kristine Garcia for WPIX.