A 9/11 widow filed a lawsuit against Saudi Arabia on Friday, just two days after Congress overrode the president’s veto of the controversial Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act.
The Act allows 9/11 victims to sue the foreign nation for damages incurred by the attacks.
According to a report by CNN, Stephanie DeSimone was two months pregnant when her husband, Navy Cmdr. Patrick Dunn, was killed at the Pentagon on 9/11. She is asking for unspecified compensation in her lawsuit, and said she and her daughter suffered “severe and permanent personal injuries.”
In court documents, DeSimone alleges that Saudi Arabia was aware of al Qaeda’s plan to attack the United States, and that they supported the group for over a decade.
“Absent the support provided by the Kingdom,” the documents state, “al Qaeda would not have possessed the capacity to conceive, plan, and execute the September 11 attacks.”
Though they have yet to release a statement about DeSimone’s suit, the Saudi Foreign Ministry released a statement earlier this week, reiterating opposition to JASTA.
“The enactment of JASTA is of great concern to the community of nations that object to the erosion of the principle of sovereign immunity,” the statement said. “The erosion of sovereign immunity will have a negative impact on all nations, including the United States.”
