World Trade Center Health Program
On September 11, 2001, 19 terrorists associated with the Islamist militant group al-Qaeda hijacked four passenger jets in a series of suicide attacks on the United States, killing 2,996 people and injuring more than 6,000 others. Hijackers flew planes into two main towers of the World Trade Center, resulting in the collapse of three buildings of the World Trade Center complex, and the Pentagon, resulting in the partial destruction of the western side in the building. The resulting dust cloud due to the collapse of the World Trade Center covered Manhattan for days and contained thousands of tons of toxic debris, including asbestos and other known carcinogens. Another hijacked plane crashed into a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania following an attempt by the passengers to retake control of the plane. No one in the airliners survived.
As of 2011, approximately 18,000 people have received medical treatment for illnesses related to toxic dust from the World Trade Center site. A study of rescue workers released in April 2010 found that all those studied had impaired lung functions, and that 30–40% were reporting little or no improvement in persistent symptoms that started within the first year of the attack. In 2011 a major research study showed significant long term medical and psychological effects among first responders to the World Trade Center site. These effects include elevated levels of asthma, sinusitis, Gastroesophageal reflux disease and posttraumatic stress disorder.
Hostage Rescue Team
Some higher-profile cases include the Waco siege; Ruby Ridge; the capture of the suspected masterminds of the 1998 bombings of the US embassies in Africa; the rescue following the 2013 abduction of a five-year-old boy in Alabama; the hostage rescue operations of prison guards at Talladega, Alabama, and St. Martinville, Louisiana; and the January 29, 2016 confrontation with militants involved in the occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. On April 19, 2013, the Hostage Rescue Team arrested a man in Watertown, Massachusetts, after a manhunt for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, one of two perpetrators of the Boston Marathon bombing of April 15. HRT rescued a teenager by killing her abductor on August 10, 2013. HRT rescued kidnap victim Frank Arthur Janssen. The HRT assisted in the capture of Eric Frein, the sole suspect in the 2014 Pennsylvania State Police barracks attack. The FBI HRT was deployed to the 2016 Republican National Convention and the 2016 Democratic National Convention