United States invasion of Afghanistan
On the morning of 11 September 2001, al-Qaeda carried out four coordinated attacks on the United States. Four commercial passenger jet airliners were hijacked. The hijackers – members of al-Qaeda's Hamburg cell – intentionally crashed two of the airliners into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City. Both buildings collapsed within two hours from fire damage related to the crashes, destroying nearby buildings and damaging others. The hijackers crashed a third airliner into the Pentagon in Arlington County, Virginia. The fourth plane crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, after some of its passengers and flight crew attempted to retake control of the plane, which the hijackers had redirected toward Washington, D.C., to target the White House or the United States Capitol. No flights had survivors. In total, 2,996 people, including the 19 hijackers, died and more than 6,000 others injured in the attacks. According to the New York State Health Department, 836 first responders, including firefighters and police personnel, had died as of June 2009.
Bowling Green massacre
On January 29–30, 2017, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer stated that Islamist terrorists perpetrated a terrorist attack in Atlanta, even though Atlanta has never had a terrorist attack carried out by Islamists. The initial comment was made on ABC's "This Week", and then Spicer repeated the claim on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" the following day. Spicer later said that he meant Orlando, referring to the 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting, which was carried out by U.S.–born Omar Mateen. There have been two terrorist attacks in Atlanta: the 1996 Centennial Olympic Park bombing, which was carried by domestic terrorist Eric Rudolph, and the 1958 Hebrew Benevolent Congregation Temple bombing.