By Donald Jeffries
This writer attended the recent “Turning the Tide” 9/11 Conference. Organized by Richard Gage, the founder of Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth, the three day event showcased underpublicized witnesses and courageous former members of Congress. The emcee was Jason Bermas, co-producer of Loose Change and other films.
Click the Link Below to Listen to the Audio of this Article
One of the highlights of the conference was the speech by Christopher Gioia, commissioner of the Franklin Square Fire Department. Gioia drafted the first resolution to demand a new investigation into the events of 9/11. Gioia talked about Operation Northwoods, a maniacal plan hatched by the Pentagon and approved by the Joint Chiefs of Staff in 1962, which was only prevented by strong opposition from President John F. Kennedy.
He also related the story of FDNY Battalion Chief Orio Palmer, who made it to the 78th floor, where the plane impacted the South Tower, and described “two pockets of fire,” which could easily be put out, contradicting the official story.
Audio tapes revealed how calm Palmer was, as he noted that the South Tower stairway was clear, and should have been a point of escape for those trapped in the building.
Former Rep. Curt Weldon (R-Pa.) spoke twice. Weldon was the most outspoken member of the official 9/11 Commission.
Matt Campbell provided a heartfelt presentation on his brother Geoff Campbell, one of those who perished in the Twin Towers.
Bill Brinnier spoke about his best friend, engineer Frank De Martini, an engineer who had proclaimed that the World Trade Center could take multiple hits from jetliners, and compared it to a pencil poking through a screen door.
Retired Seattle firefighter Eric Lawyer of Firefighters for 9/11 Truth spoke next. Lawyer talked about his 343 firefighter brothers who died that day, along with all those traumatized by the aftereffects. He also noted all those in other countries who have suffered because of the “war on terror” which sprung from the fabricated official story, and “our military, who have needlessly lost their lives because of the 9/11 lie.”
Lawyer then played video of remarks from retired FDNY Capt. Richard Patterson, who was not on duty that day, but hitched a ride in an ambulance, and described being knocked back by explosions in the North Tower.
Lawyer detailed how the evidence from Building 7, which famously collapsed without being struck by any planes or jet fuel, crucial to any real investigation, was:
… destroyed, shipped off, removed from the scene. … Once that’s removed, it has to be protected so it can be investigated and examined. It was not. It was destroyed and recycled, there’s almost no evidence left for the investigation and, as others have pointed out, the investigation started years later.
Lawyer criticized the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) investigation, and how Building 7 “should have been the most thoroughly examined building ever,” given as how it was the first high rise building to ever collapse from fire.
He chided NIST for “not following standards,” and how:
They claimed there were no witnesses to explosions, no audio recordings, no video recordings. That’s their excuse for not testing for explosives.
In reality, there was testimony from over 150 firefighters who saw or heard explosions. Lawyer noted how video had been shown of other high rise buildings which had not collapsed from fire. He charged that “Tower 7 matches controlled demolition precisely.”
Speaking remotely, Bob McIlvaine, father of 9/11 victim Bobby McIlvaine. McIlvaine gave an emotional remembrance of his son, and declared:
The hurt continues, not only because we lost him, but also because the people of America do not know the full story of his death and the death of others that day.
Elizabeth Murray, a former CIA officer and member of Veterans Intelligence Professionals for Sanity, talked about the intense patriotic, “pro torture” fervor in the CIA, and how anyone who questioned what was happening at Guantanamo Bay or Abu Ghraib was considered suspect themselves. Murray was “banished to the back of the office and given sort of menial jobs.”
Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer talked about Able Danger, an operation designed to “go kill al Qaeda before 9/11.” He also mentioned the “industrial smell” in Manhattan after 9/11, and “that was thermite.”
Turning the Tide was the brainchild of Richard Gage, whom this writer interviewed after he met with Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.). Johnson wanted to help, but recognized that the systemic corruption would prevent any Senate hearings into 9/11. He suggested an investigation with no government involvement, a firefighter and citizen led commission. Tucker Carlson was scheduled to be the keynote speaker of the conference, but cancelled all his public appearances in the wake of the Charlie Kirk shooting, which took place on the first day of the conference.
