PEORIA, Ill. – (25 News) – Peoria Mayor Rita Ali and member of the Peoria City Council hosted a 9/11 remembrance ceremony Saturday outside City Hall near the Sonar Tide sculpture.
A number of speakers, including Ali, Fire Chief James Bachman, Police Chief Eric Echevarria and a number of first responders, remembered where they were on 9/11 and reflected the impact of the terror attacks 20 years later.
“It’s so important for us to remember, to recognize, to honor those who we have lost. The victims, and also the heroes involved,” Ali said. “Peoria remembers. Peoria will never forget.”
Peoria Fire Battalion Chief Lore Baxter said, “We are a family. We need to honor those that were police and fire. Not only those, but everyone in those towers, in the Pentagon, in that airplane – that we’re Americans.”
The Murray Baker Bridge was lit in blue Saturday night as part of a nationwide “Tribute in Light.”
