RODERIGUEZ FEELS THE BASEMENT BOMB

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I'd like to have this article considered for offical posting - and am happy to receive any adjustments/improvements. I've done it in two parts: firstly the story he told us in London last June, and then the RICO lawsuit he is now involved in - which (I believe) he did not then mention.
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RODERIGUEZ FEELS THE BASEMENT BOMB
Testimony from a Hero Blows Official Story Sky-high

The London 9/11 Sceptics were privileged to hear William Roderiguez, on June 3rd 2005, in the Reopen 9/11 Enquiry campaign. We are grateful for permission to reprint his story.


It’s a miracle that WTC worker William Rodriguez is still alive. Usually arriving to work at 8:30am, on the morning of 9/11 he reported 30 minutes late. Had he arrived on time, he’d have been up at the North Tower top floors just as the plane slammed into it. Instead, he was checking into work in an office on sub-level 1 when it was hit, and he heard the sound and concussion of a massive explosion in the sub-levels right below his feet. "When I heard the sound of the explosion, the floor beneath my feet vibrated, the walls started cracking and it everything started shaking," said Rodriguez.

He was huddled together with at least 14 other people in the office. Anthony Saltamachia, supervisor for the American Maintenance Co., was one of the people there ready to verify his story. "Seconds after the first massive explosion below in the basement still rattled the floor, I hear another explosion from way above," said Rodriguez. "Although I was unaware at the time, this was the airplane hitting the tower, it occurred moments after the first explosion."

Before he had time to think, co-worker Felipe David stormed into the basement office with severe burns on his face and arms, screaming for help and yelling "explosion! explosion! " David had been in front of a nearby freight elevator on sub-level 1 about 400 feet from the office when fire burst out of the elevator shaft, causing his injuries. "He was burned terribly," said Rodriguez. "The skin was hanging off his hands and arms. His injuries couldn’t have come from the airplane above, but only from a massive explosion below. I don’t care what the government says, or what scientists say. I saw a man burned terribly from a fire that was caused from an explosion below.

"I know there were explosives placed below the trade center. I helped a man to safety who is living proof, living proof the government story is a lie and a cover-up. "I have tried to tell my story to everybody, but nobody wants to listen. It is very strange what is going on here in supposedly the most democratic country in the world. In my home country of Puerto Rico and all the other Latin American countries, I have been allowed to tell my story uncensored - but here, I can’t even say a word."

Rodriguez escorted David to safety outside the WTC, then returned to lead the others in the basement to safety as well. While there, he also helped two other men trapped and drowning in the basement elevator shaft, another result he says of the explosives placed below the Tower. After leading these men to safety, he made another trip back into the North Tower, against police orders, in order to rescue people from the top floors.

"I never could make it to the top, but I got up to the 33rd floor after getting some of my equipment and a face mask out of the janitor’s closet," said Rodriguez, adding he heard a series of small explosions going off between the 20th and 30th floors, unrelated to the airplane strike, while making his way through the stairwell to the top floors. "Also, when I was on the 33rd floor, I heard strange sounds coming form the 34th floor, loud noises like someone moving and thumping heavy equipment and furniture. I knew this floor was empty and stripped due to construction work so I avoided it and continued to make my way up the stairs."

Rodriguez said he finally reached the 39th floor before being turned back by fire fighters and then, reluctantly, started his descent back down and his own flight to safety while, at the same time, hearing explosions coming from the South Tower.


Roderiguez brings a Lawsuit
William Rodriguez is the lead plaintiff in a federal RICO lawsuit filed against George W. Bush, Richard B. Cheney, Donald H. Rumsfeld and others, alleging that they and others were complicit in the 9-11 attacks, and either planned the attacks, or had foreknowledge of the attacks and permitted them to succeed, in order to exploit a “New Pearl Harbor” to launch wars against Afghanistan and Iraq. The case, filed last November in a Philadelphia federal district court, recently was moved to New York in a change of venue after a government’s motion to dismiss was overruled, allowing legal discovery to continue.

A native of Puerto Rico and US citizen, the 44-year old Roderiguez had worked for 19 years in the WTC in maintenance. As the only person on the site with the master key to the North Tower stairwells, he singlehandedly rescued at least 15 persons from death. He led firefighters up the stairwell, unlocking doors as they ascended. He was the last person to exit alive from the North tower, and survived its collapse only by diving beneath a fire truck to avoid the avalanche of concrete and steel.

He has received a National Hero Award from the Senate of Puerto Rico. But in the US he was sacked from his job and made homeless for a while. He has been active raising money for 9/11victims, being involved with charity groups that have raised more than $122 million. He says he has used over $60,000 of his own money, originally earmarked to buy a new house, in order to get at the truth behind 9/11. “I lost 200 friends and I am their voice now”, he says. “I tell them I will do everything in my power to find out the truth since I am living on borrowed time.”


Testimony Ignored
Rodriguez’s testimony has been ignored both by the 9/11 Commission and the National Institute of Safety and Technology (NIST). NIST, an independent investigative group funded by the government, put the finishing touches this week on its 2 year $35 million 9/11 investigation. This week Rodriguez made his final plea to have his story heard while testifying at the final public hearing held in New York.

“I disagree 100% with the government story,” said Rodriguez. “I met with the 9/11 Commission behind closed doors and they essentially discounted everything I said regarding the use of explosives to bring down the North Tower. And I contacted NIST previously four times without a response. Finally, this week I asked them before they came up with their conclusion that jet fuel brought down the towers, if they ever considered my statements or the statements of any of the other survivors who heard the explosions. They just stared at me with blank faces and didn’t have any answers.’


www.arcticbeacon.com/articles/article/1518131/28031.htm

RICO lawsuit www.911forthetruth.com/pages/Press%20ReleaseRod.htm

www.911forthetruth.com/pages/RodriguezComplaint.htm

www.911forthetruth.com/pages/Rodriguez.htm
Picture: Roderiguez with attorney Phil Berg (who also spoke at the London Re-open 9/11 Enquiry Forum)