Danny Lewin, first victim of 9/11, would be incensed by political divisiveness, says friend

Marco Greenberg, CEO of Thunder11, has shared reflections on the life and death of his childhood friend Danny Lewin, the first confirmed victim of the September 11 terrorist attacks. Lewin, an American-Israeli tech billionaire and co-founder of Akamai Technologies, was a Ph.D. candidate at MIT and a former captain in the Israel Defense Forces' elite counterterrorism unit.

On the morning of September 11, 2001, Lewin was a passenger on American Airlines Flight 11. According to the 9/11 Commission Report, Lewin may have attempted to resist the hijackers. Greenberg noted that Lewin, described as a highly trained commando, likely fought back against the terrorists before being killed on the aircraft.

Greenberg expressed that Lewin would be “incensed” by contemporary political divisiveness and the prevalence of conspiracy theories regarding the attacks, noting that the tragedy, which once served as a unifying moment, has since become a source of social and political friction.