A striking image of the Twin Towers burning down was a backdrop Thursday to Homeland Security Chairman Peter King’s hearing on the radicalization of Islam.

The framed photograph was shown by C-SPAN cameras just as Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), who is Muslim, broke down in tears while addressing the panel. It also was prominently visible on the wall behind other witnesses who testified.

King told Roll Call that he called for the hearings to highlight what he says is a rising threat of radicalization in Muslim communities. The New York Republican bristled at suggestions that he was politicizing a sensitive topic that has been used in campaigns ever since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks nearly a decade ago.

During the hearing, Rep. Tim Walberg (R-Mich.) thanked King for working to “carry on what this committee was originally established to do.”

“I thank you as well for hanging the pictures in the back of the room again, to remind us of the purpose of this committee, that we would understand that liberty and its price is eternal vigilance,” Walberg said.