Debra Burlingame

{{Short description|American lawyer and political activist (born 1954)}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Debra Burlingame

| image = Debra Burlingame wraps herself in the flag.jpg

| caption = Burlingame in 2006

| birthname =

| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1954}}

| birth_place = Saint Paul, Minnesota, U.S.

| spouse = {{marriage|Robert Fraina|2003}}

| children =

| boards = World Trade Center Memorial Foundation

| known_for = {{hlist |Take Back The Memorial|Keep America Safe}}

| relatives = Charles Burlingame (brother)

| alma_mater = New York University
Yeshiva University

| occupation = {{hlist |Flight attendant|Lawyer|Television producer}}

| website = {{URL|www.911familiesforamerica.org}}

}}

Debra Burlingame (born 1954) is an American lawyer and political activist. She is the sister of Charles "Chic" Burlingame III, the pilot of the hijacked American Airlines Flight 77 that was flown into The Pentagon during the September 11 attacks by Al Qaeda terrorists in 2001.{{cite web|url=https://www.911memorial.org/debra-burlingame|title=Debra Burlingame|work=9/11 Memorial|accessdate=27 March 2015}} Burlingame has been criticized for making controversial and anti-Muslim statements.{{Cite news |last=Otterman |first=Sharon |date=2014-06-02 |title=Visitors Fault Sept. 11 Museum's Portrayal of Islam |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/02/nyregion/sept-11-museum.html |access-date=2022-04-23 |issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite web |last=Nestel |first=M.L. |date=2014-05-20 |title=Bigoted Tweets of 9/11 Museum Board Member Spark Calls for Ouster |url=https://www.vocativ.com/culture/society/bigoted-tweets-911-museum-board-member-spark-calls-ouster/ |access-date=2022-04-23 |website=Vocativ |language=en-US}}

Early life and career

Burlingame was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and moved frequently as a daughter of an active duty member of the United States Air Force. She spent parts of her childhood in California and England.{{cite news |title=Twin Citians Mourn, Await News of Victims |newspaper=Saint Paul Pioneer Press|date=September 12, 2001 |author=Nelson, Todd, Phillip Pina}}{{efn|This source claims her brother was the son of an active duty member of the United States Air Force, and spent parts of his childhood in California and England. Since they are siblings, this would be also true for her.}}

Burlingame is a graduate of New York University and Cardozo School of Law. Before moving to Los Angeles, she was an airline flight attendant for Trans World Airlines, a lawyer, a television producer at Court TV for 5 years (before it became truTV).{{cite news|last1=Finn|first1=Robin|title=Fighting for the Underlying Meaning of Ground Zero|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/12/nyregion/12lives.html?_r=0|accessdate=27 March 2015|work=The New York Times|date=12 August 2005}}

September 11 attacks

On the morning of the September 11 attacks in 2001, Burlingame was living in Los Angeles, where she planned to establish her own production company.{{cite web|title=Safe at Home Interviews Debra Burlingame |url=http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/homeland/id.282/default.asp |publisher=Family Security Matters |accessdate=27 March 2015 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402100628/http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/homeland/id.282/default.asp |archivedate=2 April 2015 }} Her brother, Charles Burlingame, was the pilot of American Airlines Flight 77, with First Officer David Charlebois, when it was hijacked and flown into the Pentagon.{{cite book |title=9/11 Commission Report |publisher=Government Printing Office |year=2004 |author=National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States |chapter=Chapter 1 |chapter-url=http://www.9-11commission.gov/report/911Report_Ch1.htm}}

On the second anniversary of the attack, Burlingame launched a nonprofit foundation to provide college scholarships for young men and women wishing to pursue careers as officers in the United States armed services. "We are targeting young people who have demonstrated a wish to be a part of something bigger than themselves," she said.{{citation needed|date=December 2020}}

Activism

Burlingame inspired blogger Robert Shurbet{{cite web|url=http://limeshurbet.com/ |accessdate=April 6, 2006 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20060522193313/http://limeshurbet.com/ |archivedate=May 22, 2006 |title=Lime Shurbet }} to start Take Back The Memorial, a nonprofit group that opposed the International Freedom Center (IFC) being located at the World Trade Center site.{{cite news|last1=Schuerman|first1=Matthew|title=Embattled Libeskind Defends Controversial W.T.C. Museum|url=http://observer.com/2005/08/embattled-libeskind-defends-controversial-wtc-museum/|work=the Observer|date=August 15, 2005}} Burlingame is a columnist, political activist, and board member of the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation. Due to the efforts of Burlingame and others, New York Governor George Pataki barred the IFC from being located at the World Trade Center site,{{cite news|last1=Dunlap|first1=David W.|title=Pataki Bars Museum From World Trade Center Memorial Site|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/28/nyregion/28cnd-freedom.html?hp&ex=1127966400&en=8c05e53d9bc70657&ei=5094&partner=homepage&_r=0|work=The New York Times|date=September 28, 2005}} causing it to be abandoned by its sponsors.{{efn|The International Freedom Center was never built.}}

Relatives of 9-11 victims were invited to submit their names for a lottery for invitations to attend the hearings and trials of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and the four other most senior captors.

{{cite news

|url=http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/282edaea364941fd93106376d8a06d02/US--Sept-11-Trial-Families/

|title=Anger, frustration as 9/11 victims' families watch terror defendants try to undermine hearing

|date=2012-05-06

|accessdate=2012-05-06

|publisher=The Republic

|quote=Six victims' families chosen by lottery traveled to Guantanamo to see the arraignment in person.

|url-status=dead

|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120517185808/http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/282edaea364941fd93106376d8a06d02/US--Sept-11-Trial-Families/

|archivedate=2012-05-17

}}

Burlingame's name was one of six families chosen.

The Wall Street Journal has published numerous opinion columns by Burlingame.{{cite news|last1=Burlingame|first1=Debra|title=The 9/11 Memorial Museum Held Hostage: The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey demands more money from a charitable foundation before it will finish construction.|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303674004577430752882373034|work=The Wall Street Journal|date=May 30, 2012}} Her columns have also appeared in the New York Daily News.{{cite news|last1=Burlingame|first1=Debra|title=We must always remember: Terror attacks were an act of war, not simply a tragedy to be mourned|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/remember-article-1.244975|accessdate=27 March 2015|work=New York Daily News|date=11 September 2007}}

In October 2009, Burlingame co-founded, with Liz Cheney, a non-profit 501(c)4 organization called Keep America Safe.{{cite web|title=Keep America Safe|url=http://www.rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/keep_america_safe|publisher=Right Web|accessdate=April 12, 2013}} It drew strong criticism from conservative lawyers, many of whom worked for the Bush administration,{{cite news|last1=Smith|first1=Ben|title=Republicans scold Liz Cheney|url=http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0310/34050.html|accessdate=28 March 2015|work=Politico|date=March 8, 2010}} and information about the organization was removed from Internet shortly thereafter.{{cite news|last1=Brown|first1=Hayes|title=Liz Cheney, Degra Burlingame-Founded Neocon Group Quietly Scrubbed From The Internet|url=http://thinkprogress.org/security/2013/07/17/2317311/liz-cheney-keep-america-safe/|accessdate=28 March 2015|work=ThinkProgress|date=17 July 2013}} Burlingame then founded 9/11 Families for a Safe & Strong America with Tim Sumner,{{cite web|title=Author: Debra Burlingame |url=http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/authors/detail/debra-burlingame |publisher=Family Security Matters |accessdate=27 March 2015 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402103603/http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/authors/detail/debra-burlingame |archivedate=2 April 2015 }} an organization about 9/11 family members who consider national security the country’s top priority.{{cite web|title=About: 9/11 Families for a Safe and Strong America|url=http://911familiesforamerica.org/about/|accessdate=28 March 2015}}

=Political views=

Burlingame considers herself to be a critic of radical Islam. In 2010, she issued a press release denouncing President Barack Obama’s support of the Park51 community center.{{cite news|title=Burlingame After Meeting With Obama: He Turned His Back On Me|url=http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2011/05/05/burlingame_after_meeting_with_obama_he_turned_his_back_on_me.html|accessdate=27 March 2015|work=Real Clear Politics}} She wrote: "Demolishing a building that was damaged by wreckage from one of the hijacked planes in order to build a mosque and Islamic Center will further energize those who regard it as a ratification of their violent and divinely ordered mission: the spread of shariah law and its subjugation of all free people, including secular Muslims who come to this country fleeing that medieval ideology, which destroys lives and crushes the human spirit."{{cite news|last1=Sumner|first1=Timothy "Tim"|title=Debra Burlingame: 9/11 Families Stunned by President's Support of Mosque at Ground Zero|url=http://911familiesforamerica.org/debra-burlingame-911-families-stunned-by-presidents-support-of-mosque-at-ground-zero/|accessdate=27 March 2015|work=9/11 Families for a Safe and Strong America|date=14 August 2010}}

Burlingame also wrote a letter attacking the Liam Neeson film Non-Stop (2014), which portrays a 9/11 family member and military combat veteran as a vengeful murderer—and, in Burlingame's words: “Worse, the flight’s quiet hero who comes to the aid of the protagonist, thereby saving the day, is a Muslim doctor.”{{cite news|title=Universal Studio's new release Non stop demeans 9/11 families, degrades combat veterans and advances Islam.|url=http://www.floridafamily.org/full_article.php?article_no=328|accessdate=27 March 2015|work=Florida Family Association}} She said that this was "ironic" given the fact that the leader of Al Qaeda, Ayman Al Zawahiri, was a doctor – a "complete [reversal] of the roles [of] victim and victimizer [in] 9/11".{{cite news |last1=Obeidallah |first1=Dean |date=28 April 2014 |title=The 9/11 Museum's Muslim Problem |work=The Daily Beast |url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/04/29/the-9-11-museum-s-muslim-problem.html |accessdate=27 March 2015}} In a tweet, Burlingame wrote "Liam Neeson and Universal have produced a liberal wet dream. 9/11 family member = terrorist hijacker, Muslim = peace".

In 2014, Burlingame made several tweets attacking Islam and Barack Obama, calling the latter a "drug addict" in response to Obama's reaction to Trayvon Martin's death. She also tweeted that "If someone calls U 'Islamophobe' for speaking truth, chances are they are [a] member of [the] Muslim Brotherhood, or an Obama's [sic] national security team."

In 2017, Burlingame expressed support for Donald Trump's "Muslim travel ban" that prevented refugees from several Muslim-majority countries to enter the United States.{{Cite web |date=2017-02-01 |title=The Latest: Hundreds rally against order in New Jersey |url=https://apnews.com/article/bbd28eccb89943f6b5e5d2163c24df4b |access-date=2022-04-23 |website=AP NEWS |language=en}}

= Views on Islam and Muslims =

Burlingame has been criticized for making controversial and anti-Muslim views which includes stereotyping and generalizing Islam.{{Cite news |last=Kilgannon |first=Corey |date=2021-09-11 |title=At 9/11 museum, site of today's memorial, controversies past and present. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/11/us/9-11-museum.html |access-date=2022-04-23 |issn=0362-4331}} In a 2014 Twitter post, Burlingame wrote "When are citizens going to rise up and demand the govt acknowledge that Islam is a transnational threat."

In a 2014 interview on Fox News, Burlingame was asked by the host whether she was a Islamophobe according to accusations from critics. Burlingame responded by saying "I am hard pressed to deny it. There's no such thing as an irrational fear of Islam or Muslims when we know that virtually 80% of terrorist attacks are committed by radical muslims who are motivated by what they deem to be an imperative from their sacred religious texts."{{Cite web |last=Robbins |first=Christopher |date=2014-06-02 |title=Tourists Agree: 9/11 Museum "Gives Islam A Bad Vibe" |url=https://gothamist.com/news/tourists-agree-911-museum-gives-islam-a-bad-vibe |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112031454/https://gothamist.com/news/tourists-agree-911-museum-gives-islam-a-bad-vibe |archive-date=12 November 2020 |access-date=2024-05-16 |website=Gothamist |language=en}} This statement is contradicted by government collected data on terrorism statistics.

In a 2010 interview, Burlingame claimed that Islamic law allows violence to fester when practiced "in extremes".{{Cite web |last=Haberman |first=Maggie |date=August 15, 2010 |title=Burlingame on symbol and reality |url=https://www.politico.com/blogs/maggiehaberman/0810/Burlingame_on_symbol_and_reality_.html |access-date=2022-04-23 |website=Politico}} Burlingame also stated that the enemy of America is the "Muslim world" and has accused them as being a place where "the enlightenment hasn't even happened yet". She then stated that Americans are "light years ahead in terms of our consciousness."

In a 2014, Burlingame said that Islamism is a "supremacist ideology which is very much a threat to Western ideology."{{Cite web |date=2014-05-22 |title='Anti-Islam' 9/11 Memorial film: more anguish for NY Muslims |url=https://www.france24.com/en/20140522-911-museum-anti-islam-film-salman-hamdani-ny-muslims |access-date=2022-04-23 |website=France 24 |language=en}}