When Terrorist Artwork Is Glorified, There’s Something Wrong

“Once again the Left and the media seem to have more sympathy for the terrorist killers than their victims,” host Laura Ingraham said Monday night on Fox News’ “The Ingraham Angle.”

Her comments were in response to a segment on CBS News Sunday morning about an art exhibit made up of paintings and sculptures from Guantanamo Bay prisoners at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City.

The CBS story focused more on the artwork that’s being created and the terrorists who create it — rather than giving Al and Maureen Santora much opportunity, or other victims’ loved ones and families, to voice opposition to the display.

The Santoras lost their beloved son, Christopher, a firefighter and first responder at the World Trade Center terrorist attack on 9/11 in lower Manhattan that horrible day.

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Ingraham was not happy with the way CBS presented the story, so she had the Santoras on her show to give their side of the story.

“I saw this and my blood boiled,” Ingraham said. “My old producer, Lee Habeeb, brought this to my attention over the weekend,” she said.

It turns out that CBS did leave out key information — and that the Santoras were unhappy with the way the network portrayed the story.

“I was particularly disturbed that when they came to our house and interviewed us, the only thing they showed was that we objected to the art being displayed and possibly being sold,” Maureen Santora said to Ingraham. “We were upset by a number of things. First of all, nobody from the college felt the need to reach out to the families. This is a public institution. We pay taxes in New York City and New York State, so we are funding this art [that is] being shown.”

Al Santora was also not happy with the awful irony of his alma mater hosting such a display.

“This is an insult to all Americans, especially the 343 firefighters and 23 police officers who died at the World Trade Center,” Al Santora said. “Many of the first responders were John Jay alumni, as am I. I got my master’s and bachelor’s at John Jay — and this is a college of criminal justice. To put on a show from the perpetrators of 9/11 is a slap in the face to everyone.”

Related: The Films That Best Honor Those Lost on 9/11

Since both John Jay College and the former site of the World Trade Center are just a few miles apart in Manhattan, Ingraham rightfully asked, “Who in their right mind — especially close to ground zero — would think this is a good idea?”

For a crowd that worries so much about being politically correct and offending people, the Left seems to have no issue in disrespecting New York’s finest and New York’s bravest. If there’s a time for a college and the liberal media to show some sensitivity on a topic — this topic of a little care and thought for the families of the victims of a horrendous terror attack would be it.

Tom Joyce is a freelance writer from the South Shore of Massachusetts.He covers sports, pop culture, and politics and has contributed to The Federalist, Newsday, ESPN, and other outlets.