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
American Airlines Flight 77 was a scheduled domestic transcontinental passenger flight from Dulles International Airport in Northern Virginia to Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles. The Boeing 757-200 aircraft serving the flig ...
that was flown into
The Pentagon
The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense, in Arlington County, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. The building was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As ...
during the
September 11 attacks
The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...
by
Al Qaeda
, image = Flag of Jihad.svg
, caption = Jihadist flag, Flag used by various al-Qaeda factions
, founder = Osama bin Laden{{Assassinated, Killing of Osama bin Laden
, leaders = {{Plainlist,
* Osama bin Lad ...
terrorists in 2001.
Burlingame has been criticized for making controversial and anti-Muslim statements.
Early life and career
Burlingame was born in
Saint Paul, Minnesota
Saint Paul (often abbreviated St. Paul) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County, Minnesota, Ramsey County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, ...
, and moved frequently as a daughter of an active duty member of the
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...
. She spent parts of her childhood in
California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
and
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
.
Burlingame is a graduate of
New York University
New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...
and
Cardozo School of Law
The Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law is the Law school in the United States, law school of Yeshiva University in New York City. Founded in 1976 and now located on Fifth Avenue near Union Square, Manhattan, Union Square in Lower Manhattan, the sc ...
.
Before moving to Los Angeles, she was an airline flight attendant for
Trans World Airlines
Trans World Airlines (TWA) was a major airline in the United States that operated from 1930 until it was acquired by American Airlines in 2001. It was formed as Transcontinental & Western Air to operate a route from New York City to Los Angeles ...
,
a lawyer,
a television producer
at Court TV for 5 years (before it became
truTV
TruTV (stylized as truTV) is an American basic cable Television channel, channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The channel primarily broadcasts reruns of Television comedy, comedy, Reality television, docusoaps and reality shows, with a rec ...
).
September 11 attacks
On the morning of the
September 11 attacks
The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...
in 2001, Burlingame was living in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
, where she planned to establish her own production company.
Her brother,
Charles Burlingame
Charles Frank "Chic" Burlingame III (September 12, 1949 – September 11, 2001) was the captain of American Airlines Flight 77, the aircraft that was crashed by terrorists into the Pentagon during the September 11 attacks.
Biography
Burlingame wa ...
, was the pilot of
American Airlines Flight 77
American Airlines Flight 77 was a scheduled domestic transcontinental passenger flight from Dulles International Airport in Northern Virginia to Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles. The Boeing 757-200 aircraft serving the flig ...
, with First Officer David Charlebois, when it was hijacked and flown into the Pentagon.
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.
Activism
Burlingame inspired
blog
A blog (a Clipping (morphology), truncation of "weblog") is an informational website consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries also known as posts. Posts are typically displayed in Reverse chronology, reverse chronologic ...
ger
Robert Shurbet
The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic
Proto-Germanic (abbreviated PGmc; also called Common Germanic) is the linguistic reconstruction, reconstructed proto-language of the Germanic languages, Germanic bran ...
to start
Take Back The Memorial, a nonprofit group that opposed the
International Freedom Center
The International Freedom Center (IFC) was a proposed museum to be located adjacent to the site of Ground Zero at the former World Trade Center in New York City, USA. It was selected in 2004 to comprise a "cultural space" near to the memoria ...
(IFC) being located at the
World Trade Center site
The World Trade Center site, often referred to as " Ground Zero" or "the Pile" immediately after the September 11 attacks, is a 14.6-acre (5.9 ha) area in Lower Manhattan in New York City. The site is bounded by Vesey Street to the north ...
. Burlingame is a columnist, political activist, and board member of the
World Trade Center Memorial Foundation
The National September 11 Memorial & Museum (also known as the 9/11 Memorial & Museum) is a memorial and museum that are part of the World Trade Center complex, in New York City, created for remembering the September 11 attacks in 2001 which k ...
.
Due to the efforts of Burlingame and others,
New York Governor
The governor of New York is the head of government of the U.S. state of New York. The governor is the head of the executive branch of New York's state government and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor ha ...
George Pataki
George Elmer Pataki (; born June 24, 1945) is an American politician who served as the 53rd governor of New York from 1995 to 2006. He previously served in the State Legislature from 1985 to 1994, and as the mayor of Peekskill from 1981 to 1984 ...
barred the IFC from being located at the
World Trade Center site
The World Trade Center site, often referred to as " Ground Zero" or "the Pile" immediately after the September 11 attacks, is a 14.6-acre (5.9 ha) area in Lower Manhattan in New York City. The site is bounded by Vesey Street to the north ...
, causing it to be abandoned by its sponsors.
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
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (sometimes also spelled Shaykh; also known by at least 50 pseudonyms; born 14 April 1965), often known by his initials KSM, is a terrorist, and the former head of propaganda for the pan-Islamist militant group al-Qaeda. He ...
and the four other most senior captors.
[
] Burlingame's name was one of six families chosen.
''
The Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...
'' has published numerous opinion columns by Burlingame.
Her columns have also appeared in the ''
New York Daily News
The ''Daily News'' is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, New Jersey. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson in New York City as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in Tabloid (newspaper format ...
''.
In October 2009, Burlingame co-founded, with
Liz Cheney
Elizabeth Lynne Cheney (; born July 28, 1966) is an American attorney and politician. She represented in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2017 to 2023, and served as chair of the House Republican Conference from 2019 to 2021. Cheney i ...
, a non-profit
501(c)4
A 501(c) organization is a nonprofit organization in the federal law of the United States according to Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. § 501(c)). Such organizations are exempt from some federal income taxes. Sections 503 through 505 set out ...
organization called
Keep America Safe
Elizabeth Lynne Cheney (; born July 28, 1966) is an American attorney and politician. She represented in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2017 to 2023, and served as chair of the House Republican Conference from 2019 to 2021. Cheney is ...
.
It drew strong criticism from conservative lawyers, many of whom worked for the
Bush administration, and information about the organization was removed from Internet shortly thereafter. Burlingame then founded 9/11 Families for a Safe & Strong America with Tim Sumner,
an organization about 9/11 family members who consider national security the country’s top priority.
Political views
Burlingame considers herself to be a critic of radical Islam. In 2010, she issued a press release denouncing President
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
’s support of the
Park51
Park51 (originally named Cordoba House) was a development originally envisioned as a 13-story Islamic community center and mosque in Lower Manhattan, New York City, United States. The developers hoped to promote interfaith dialogue. Due to i ...
community center. 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."
Burlingame also wrote a letter attacking the
Liam Neeson
William John Neeson (born 7 June 1952) is an actor from Northern Ireland. He has received List of awards and nominations received by Liam Neeson, several accolades, including nominations for an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, BAFT ...
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.” She said that this was "ironic" given the fact that the leader of Al Qaeda,
Ayman Al Zawahiri, was a doctor – a "complete
eversalof the roles
fvictim and victimizer
n9/11".
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
Trayvon Benjamin Martin (February 5, 1995 – February 26, 2012) was a 17-year-old African-American from Miami Gardens, Florida, who was killing of Trayvon Martin, fatally shot in Sanford, Florida, by George Zimmerman, a 28-year-old Hispanic an ...
's death.
She also tweeted that "If someone calls U 'Islamophobe' for speaking truth, chances are they are
member of
heMuslim Brotherhood, or an Obama's
icnational security team."
In 2017, Burlingame expressed support for
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
's "
Muslim travel ban" that prevented refugees from several Muslim-majority countries to enter the United States.
Views on Islam and Muslims
Burlingame has been criticized for making controversial and anti-Muslim views which includes stereotyping and generalizing Islam.
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
The Fox News Channel (FNC), commonly known as Fox News, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conservatism in the United States, conservative List of news television channels, news and political commentary Television stati ...
, 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."
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".
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."
Notes
References
External links
*
9/11 Families for a Safe & Strong America
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burlingame, Deborah
1954 births
Living people
American columnists
American women columnists
Critics of Islamism
Flight attendants
New York (state) lawyers
Minnesota lawyers
New York Daily News people
New York University alumni
21st-century American women lawyers
21st-century American lawyers
21st-century American women writers
Activists from Saint Paul, Minnesota
Lawyers from Saint Paul, Minnesota
The Wall Street Journal people
Trans World Airlines people