BEDMINSTER, NJ — A gloomy and tearful group of protesters stood between two American flags behind a public library, in stark contrast to the festivities at a golf tournament three miles away. They made their statements and promoted their cause, but refused to take the fight to the gates of Trump National Golf Club Bedminster.
“We are pleased that people are drawing attention to this issue again,” said Jay Winuk, one of the organizers of the protest. “There is no reason to go to the place where another atrocity is taking place.”
The group, a group of relatives of victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, spoke out strongly against the Saudi Arabia-backed LIV Golf tournament being held this weekend at the club owned by former president, Donald J. Trump.
The group, 9/11 Justice, wants to bring to justice Saudi Arabian government officials they believe support the terrorists. They are furious that Trump once agreed that the Saudi government was responsible, but he has changed his tone, they said, to cash in on Saudi efforts to purify the nation’s global image through sports.
“How much money does it cost to turn your back on your country, the American people?” said Juliette Scauso, who was 4 years old when her father, firefighter Dennis Scauso, was killed in the attacks.
For days, the LIV golfers and Trump have defended their decisions to join the breakaway tour and accept millions of dollars from the Saudi sovereign wealth fund, which is overseen by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Critics of the tour say it is another example of the Saudi “sportwashing” atrocities attributed to them — supporting the 9/11 terrorists, killing journalist Jamal Khashoggi and oppressing women and members of the LGBTQ community.
Trump, who blamed the Saudis for the 9/11 attacks as a 2016 presidential candidate, said on Thursday that “unfortunately no one got to the bottom of 9/11.”
On Friday, protesters were given a chance to respond to both Trump and the golfers. Many accused the golfers of cowardice for expressing sympathy with their cause while still accepting the money from LIV Golf.
“You take a position that you agree with Saudi Arabia’s actions or, just as much, that you are so incredibly greedy and unfeeling that you really don’t care about these atrocities,” Scauso said.
Organizers came to the protest armed with copies of declassified FBI documents, which they say clearly link 12 Saudi government officials to the terrorists in the months leading up to the attacks.
“It’s simple,” said Tim Frolich, who was in the South Tower on 9/11. “The Saudis did it. They plotted it, they funded it, and now they’re trying to divert all those things with a golf tournament 50 miles from Ground Zero. It’s unfortunate.”
The group urged golf fans to boycott LIV Golf and asked golfers and anyone doing business with the Saudis, including broadcasters, to reconsider. On Friday morning, members of the group approached David Feherty, the former CBS and NBC golf analyst who has defected to join the tour, although it does not have a US television contract, at a nearby Marriott that serves as the tour’s headquarters. yet.
Brett Eagleson, the president of 9/11 Justice, asked Feherty to listen and perhaps talk to the golfers about the choices they are making.
“He was actually very receptive,” Eagleson said. “He was really open to working with us and partnering with us, rather than being combative. I’m hopeful.”
But Eagleson was much less conciliatory about Trump, who he said was more culpable than the golfers, because as a former commander in chief, he should know better. Eagleson was part of a group that met Trump at the White House on September 11, 2019. They say Trump urged them to continue their work, which they did with vigor on Friday.
Eagleson said Trump’s claim that “no one got to the bottom of 9/11” outraged the victims’ relatives in addition to their already simmering anger.
“Our loved ones are the heroes,” he said, “and the golfers and the former president are cowards.”
As the protesters spoke, several passing cars honked in support, but a few drivers yelled in support of Trump and one yelled at family members to go home.
Winuk, whose brother, Glenn Winuk, a volunteer firefighter, died in the attacks, called the Saudi funds “blood money” and warned that anyone who took it would carry its “stench” forever.
“LIV wave?” he said. “For me and so many of us, it’s more like death golf.”
Several members of the group, including former Trump supporters, took turns sitting behind the lectern, criticizing the Saudis, the golfers and the former president. When asked what else the group was up to, Eagleson collapsed while explaining the exhaustion he and others in the organization were feeling.
“I’m tired of fighting,” he said through the tears.