“When I took him to the gate, he turned to me and another immigration officer and said, in English, something to the effect of, ‘I’ll be back.’
Five weeks later, when the first plane hit the first tower, that gut feeling came back. “We were watching as the second plane came crashing, and the first thing that I did was to call the airport. I call them and said, ‘Pull the file from al-Qahtani …and give it to the FBI.’”
Investigators now believe al-Qahtani was supposed to be among the hijackers of United Airlines Flight 93, the one destined for the U.S. Capitol.
Instead of hitting their target, however, the plane crashed into a Pennsylvania field.
While the other planes had five hijackers, Flight 93 only had four.
“That fifth person could have made a difference in power,” Melendez-Perez said, who did not even learn about the role he had played until 2004 when he was asked to testify before the 9/11 Commission.
“Your actions…may well have contributed to saving the Capitol or the White House, and all the people who were in those buildings,” 9/11 Commission member Richard Ben-Veniste said at the time, to applause from the crowd, which included families affected by the 9/11 attacks. “For that, we all owe you a debt of thanks and gratitude.”
20 years later, that moment still makes Melendez-Perez emotional.
“When I was at my deposition, I had no idea that is how the people were going to respond.”
Some might call him a saint. Others may call him a hero or a lifesaver, but Melendez-Perez calls it his purpose. “I was just doing my job.”
Today, when a Customs and Border Patrol employee does something outstanding, like thwarting a terrorist or helping to prevent an attack, they can receive an anti-terrorism award named in part after Inspector Jose Melendez-Perez.
Al-Qahtani was captured in the battle of Tora Bora and later detained at Guantanamo Bay. He has been cited as the first detainee to reveal the name or pseudonym of Osama bin Laden’s courier, who eventually led the CIA to bin Laden’s hideout roughly 10 years after the attacks.
Al-Qahtani was charged with war crimes related to the 9/11 attacks, but his charges were ultimately dropped after it was revealed al-Qahtani’s interrogators tortured the 20th hijacker. Al-Qahtani is still detained at Guantanamo Bay.
https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2021/09/10/orlando-airport-inspector-credited-with-denying-entry-to-the-20th-hijacker-of-911-terrorist-attacks/