From the outside, the building at 99 W. 12th Avenue in Denver doesn’t look like much, but its importance becomes clear once inside.
“We can’t leave it up to the Government alone to create safe communities,” said James Hippensteel, manager of Education and Programs at the Counterterrorism Education Learning Lab, or CELL.
Developed with the help of national security experts and Emmy Award-winning artists, CELL has been a nonpartisan, nonprofit institute since 2008. According to its website, it “has provided a comprehensive look at the threat of terrorism and violent extremism and how individuals can play a role in preventing it.”
Upon entering the new Counterterrorism Exhibit, which reopened this past May, participants are introduced to the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center. Guests hear recorded accounts and are encouraged to participate at a kiosk near the front desk. A large piece of World Trade Center steel is displayed.
“This is from south tower six,” Hippensteel said. “The CELL is honored to be the guardians of two dozen pieces of World Trade Center steel.”
Debris from the attack, which killed almost 3,000 people, is displayed all over the world. More than 2,600 artifacts collected from the site were distributed by the Port Authority as part of its archive program that ended in 2016. Pieces were sent to all 50 states, with requests from fire and police departments, libraries, small-town museums, local governments and military and veteran organizations. Fragments also became the centerpieces of memorials in cities around the world, including Beijing, Pompeii, London, Berlin, Sao Paolo and on military bases in South Korea and Afghanistan.
“We also try to widen the circle of compassion to include other global citizens who have suffered due to terrorism,” Hippensteel said.
Hippensteel showed a kiosk with up-to-date information on the most recent terrorist groups and attacks around the world, like the stabbings in Australia, the Q Nightclub shooting, terrorist groups in Africa, the war in Ukraine, and the Israel-Hamas conflict.
The exhibit moves to discuss a few important questions: What is terrorism, and where does it stem from?
“We call this the ‘Forest of Hate,’” Hippensteel said in regard to a room with projected video recordings of historical hate speech. “It’s heartbreaking; often, we have to mute this part of the exhibit during the day when there’s nobody here.”
Most of the CELL’s visitors are students who have little knowledge of the world before the Sept. 11 attack. The information can often be overwhelming. The center provides scaffolds for visitors to sit, take a break, and discuss what they see. Hippensteel acknowledged the difficulty of the topic and emphasized its importance.
“Many people, especially younger people, don’t understand what terrorism is. Many of them were too young to remember 9/11.”
But even younger students are likely aware of the discriminatory backlash against Muslims, Sikhs and people of Arab and South-Asian descent faced after the attack.
“I grew up hearing about how tough it was for friends and relatives right after it all happened,” said Naama Banaja, an international student from Saudi Arabia studying at the University of Colorado Boulder. ”
The new exhibit features 12 sections, each explaining how ideologies are bred, the evolution of terrorism and its effect on global security. They cover topics like the Jan. 6 insurrection, the Israel-Hamas conflict and online movements like the incel community and Stormfront. CELL takes its time to adequately discuss all sides of the attacks and impartially educate. Following the educational sections, the exhibit becomes more interactive and encourages participants to think and reason. It addresses how to prevent terrorism at a community level, encouraging visitors to work together.
“What differentiates this exhibit from the previous ones is that it is made to be a lot more updatable. We can update digital and physical content as we need to.”
In addition to the exhibit, CELL also hosts and streams national security forums multiple times a year. This ensures a widespread perspective and allows for education to extend beyond Denver to the rest of the country and world.
Tickets to the CELL exhibit are $16 for adults, and $12 for students, seniors, and government employees. General admission hours are from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. Ticket information can be found here. The counterterrorism institute is mainly government and grant-funded and aims to be affordable for all interested parties.
“The biggest problem right now is unity,” Hippensteel said. “Regardless of our backgrounds we do have common ground if we can take the time to find it. The biggest takeaway is kindness. Kindness has the potential to save lives.”