Brewer vetoes bill proposing changes to Sept. 11 memorial

Lorena Luna, of Phoenix, reads the messages at the Sept. 11 Memorial in Wesley Bolin Plaza. More panels with controversial messages will be removed from the memorial under new legislation passed by the Legislature on April 19. Some of the 5-year-old memorial’s inscriptions have been criticized as unpatriotic or antimilitary. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Gov. Jan Brewer has vetoed a bill that would have required removal of some inscription panels from Arizona’s Sept. 11 memorial.

Brewer said the bill she vetoed Friday was well-intentioned but would have caused unintended consequences hurtful to some.

The bill’s sponsor, Republican Rep. John Kavanagh of Fountain Hills, has said he wanted to remove inscriptions that are offensive or detract from the memorial’s intended purpose of honoring those killed and injured in the 2001 terrorist attacks in New York.

The 11 inscriptions that would be removed included ones that say “Foreign-born Americans afraid,” ”Must bomb back” and “You don’t win battles of terrorism with more battles.”

The state commission that raised private funding for the memorial and chose its design previously replaced two inscriptions in response to criticism.