New York, NY (October 28, 2004) - On behalf of New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, Chief Investigator William Casey today accepted a Complaint and Petition from a group of New York City citizens including 9/11 family members, survivors and a Ground Zero triage physician. The Complaint demands that the AG open a criminal inquiry and/or grand jury investigation into the many still unsolved crimes of September 11, 2001 over which he has jurisdiction.
The complainants first held a press conference to explain the reasoning and desperation behind their unique Citizens' Complaint and Petition, which calls for criminal and civil probes into previously suppressed or ignored areas of inquiry identified by the 9/11 Family Steering Committee, 9/11 CitizensWatch and many independent researchers.
The lead complainants currently include Bob McIlvaine, who lost his son Robert in the World Trade Center collapse; Patricia Perry, who lost her son John, a New York City Police officer; William Rodriguez, a WTC maintenance worker and rescue effort hero; Jenna Orkin, Chairwoman of the World Trade Center Environmental Organization; Dr. Faiz Khan, Ground
Zero triage physician; and ambulance first responder,. Megan Bartlett, founder of Ground Zero for Peace (who was recently hospitalized with malignant reactions to toxic WTC dust and unable to attend).
In brief statements prior to signing the 20-page Citizens' Complaint,
the complainants voiced their hope that the public would strongly support their call to Attorney General Spitzer and also urge him to finally investigate the victim families' questions that the 9/11 Commission would not touch. Explaining the timing of the action, organizers cited the very recent Zogby 9/11 Poll (
http://www.zogby.com/search/ReadNews.dbm?ID=855) which showed that nearly half of New Yorkers believe officials in this government "consciously" allowed the 9/11 attacks to succeed, and that 66% wanted a new and deeper investigation. They further noted steadily accumulating evidence that belies the "official narrative" such as this week's breaking story on the "black box" recorders recovered from the WTC site, the existence of which the FBI and Kean Commission had both insistently denied. ( http://tinyurl.com/4drr3)
Bob McIlvaine reported that during one of the 9/11 Commission hearings, Commissioner Richard Ben-Veniste said, "This is not an investigation. This is an exposition". Justice for 9/11 Steering Committee member, Kyle F. Hence, who opened the event and introduced the Complainants, said that during recent Congressional hearings Commission Vice-Chairman, Lee Hamilton, openly admitted, "We did not answer all of the questions posed by victim family members."
Jenna Orkin stated there was strong evidence suggesting that the Executive Office of the President was responsible for last minute changes to an EPA press release that confirmed the safety of the air in lower Manhattan, clearing the way for the re-opening of Wall Street. "Here it appears that the government was willing to sacrifice the lives of Americans for purely economic ends." She opened her remarks by predicting that those who will die of exposure to toxic dust from the destroyed twin towers will ultimately far exceed those who died on the day of the attacks. Yet this painful story was relegated to a minor footnote in the 9/11 Commission Report.
After signing the Complaint, members of the Steering Committee and several Complainants walked to 120 Broadway and presented the signed document and several evidentiary books to Chief Investigator William Casey in the office of the New York State Attorney General.
The group cited The Terror Timeline by Paul Thompson, The New Pearl Harbor by David Ray Griffin, The War on Freedom by Nafeez Ahmed, and Crossing the Rubicon by Michael C. Ruppert as key resources that would be useful in any Grand Jury probe convened by the Attorney General.
Attorney Carolyn Betts, legal consultant for the Complaint, noted this was the first Citizens' Complaint filed with a State's Attorney General that would become what she called a "living document" -- in other words, an evolving compilation of argument and evidence posted on the Internet in full public view. Organizers also noted that Americans could view the Complaint at justicefor911.org ( http://www.justicefor911.org) and those
who wish to support it can sign a petition on the site.
The group vowed to press their case regardless of upcoming election results, insisting that the search for 9/11 truth, justice and accountability is hardly a partisan concern, as witnessed by the Tuesday release of the 9/11 Truth Statement ( http://tinyurl.com/3jg4x). The 9/11 Truth Statement also demands deeper new investigations and is signed by 100 prominent Americans spanning every faith and party, including former Republican officials, military officers, and three presidential candidates. The Justice for 9/11 Steering Committee includes representatives from 9/11 CitizensWatch ( http://www.911citizenwatch.org), 911truth.org ( http://www.911truth.org) and the World Trade Center Environmental Organization ( http://www.wtceo.org) and was organized
this month in New York City.
The lead complainants currently include Bob McIlvaine, who lost his son Robert in the World Trade Center collapse; Patricia Perry, who lost her son John, a New York City Police officer; William Rodriguez, a WTC maintenance worker and rescue effort hero; Jenna Orkin, Chairwoman of the World Trade Center Environmental Organization; Dr. Faiz Khan, Ground
Zero triage physician; and ambulance first responder,. Megan Bartlett, founder of Ground Zero for Peace (who was recently hospitalized with malignant reactions to toxic WTC dust and unable to attend).
In brief statements prior to signing the 20-page Citizens' Complaint,
the complainants voiced their hope that the public would strongly support their call to Attorney General Spitzer and also urge him to finally investigate the victim families' questions that the 9/11 Commission would not touch. Explaining the timing of the action, organizers cited the very recent Zogby 9/11 Poll (
http://www.zogby.com/search/ReadNews.dbm?ID=855) which showed that nearly half of New Yorkers believe officials in this government "consciously" allowed the 9/11 attacks to succeed, and that 66% wanted a new and deeper investigation. They further noted steadily accumulating evidence that belies the "official narrative" such as this week's breaking story on the "black box" recorders recovered from the WTC site, the existence of which the FBI and Kean Commission had both insistently denied. ( http://tinyurl.com/4drr3) Bob McIlvaine reported that during one of the 9/11 Commission hearings, Commissioner Richard Ben-Veniste said, "This is not an investigation. This is an exposition". Justice for 9/11 Steering Committee member, Kyle F. Hence, who opened the event and introduced the Complainants, said that during recent Congressional hearings Commission Vice-Chairman, Lee Hamilton, openly admitted, "We did not answer all of the questions posed by victim family members."
Jenna Orkin stated there was strong evidence suggesting that the Executive Office of the President was responsible for last minute changes to an EPA press release that confirmed the safety of the air in lower Manhattan, clearing the way for the re-opening of Wall Street. "Here it appears that the government was willing to sacrifice the lives of Americans for purely economic ends." She opened her remarks by predicting that those who will die of exposure to toxic dust from the destroyed twin towers will ultimately far exceed those who died on the day of the attacks. Yet this painful story was relegated to a minor footnote in the 9/11 Commission Report.
After signing the Complaint, members of the Steering Committee and several Complainants walked to 120 Broadway and presented the signed document and several evidentiary books to Chief Investigator William Casey in the office of the New York State Attorney General.
The group cited The Terror Timeline by Paul Thompson, The New Pearl Harbor by David Ray Griffin, The War on Freedom by Nafeez Ahmed, and Crossing the Rubicon by Michael C. Ruppert as key resources that would be useful in any Grand Jury probe convened by the Attorney General.
Attorney Carolyn Betts, legal consultant for the Complaint, noted this was the first Citizens' Complaint filed with a State's Attorney General that would become what she called a "living document" -- in other words, an evolving compilation of argument and evidence posted on the Internet in full public view. Organizers also noted that Americans could view the Complaint at justicefor911.org (
http://www.justicefor911.org) and those who wish to support it can sign a petition on the site.
The group vowed to press their case regardless of upcoming election results, insisting that the search for 9/11 truth, justice and accountability is hardly a partisan concern, as witnessed by the Tuesday release of the 9/11 Truth Statement (
http://tinyurl.com/3jg4x). The 9/11 Truth Statement also demands deeper new investigations and is signed by 100 prominent Americans spanning every faith and party, including former Republican officials, military officers, and three presidential candidates. The Justice for 9/11 Steering Committee includes representatives from 9/11 CitizensWatch ( http://www.911citizenwatch.org), 911truth.org ( http://www.911truth.org) and the World Trade Center Environmental Organization ( http://www.wtceo.org) and was organized this month in New York City.
