Rodriguez Twyford talk in local newspaper

[scubadiver]

The reporter has emailed me the text of her report.

Let me know what you think.

A HEROIC 9/11 survivor is on a mission.

A man who saved others out of the collapsing twin towers, a man who was
pulled from the rubble without a single broken bone, and the last man to
escape from the tumbling north tower as it crashed into the dust that
became ground zero, wants the world to hear what he says really happened that day.

William Rodriguez, 46, came to Loddon Hall last week to tell the people
of Twyford his story and the message he is hoping will eventually be
heard worldwide, in an attempt to see justice done and get questions
answered.

What was the explosion he and others heard from within the sky-scraper
seconds before the first plane hit on that fateful day?
What was the noise he heard on the supposedly empty 33rd floor?
Why was his testimony at the 9/11 Commission heard behind closed doors
and why did it never appear in the final report?
Why is no-one aware of the dying first responders, who appear to be
perishing because of the toxic air they inhaled in the days after the
attack? Was it because of the hasty desperation to reopen Wall Street?
Why was the 24-hour manned control centre empty that day? And why
are those with conflicting accounts to the official story of events being silenced?

Mr Rodriguez, a janitor in the north tower for 20 years, claims 9/11 is
being used to justify the War on Terror, and heavily questions the way
the incident came about, and is devoted to searching for the truth for
his fellow survivors and families of the victims.

The New Yorker, native to Puerto Rico, was late for work on that clear
September morning. At 8.46am he would usually have been sitting in the
Windows on the World, the restaurant on the top floor where he sat with
friends to eat breakfast before starting his days work cleaning the
stairwells of the building.

But his destiny this day was to be very different than that of his 200
friends. Being the holder of one of the five master keys for every lock
for the World Trade Centre, he felt it his duty to unlock all the doors
he could to allow people to escape, many of which had automatically
locked with the fire alarms.

He went back into the building three times as those around him fled for
their lives. It is not known how many hundreds of people live on thanks
to his heroism, and his key, which is now called the 'Key of Hope' will
eventually lie in the Ground Zero Museum.

After the atrocities Mr Rodriguez was honoured five times by the White
House for his efforts and is the president of the 9/11 Hispanic Victims'
Group. He was also encouraged into politics by the Republicans, but felt
his questions on the events of the attacks were not appreciated.

He said: "I did all the training to learn about politics and leadership,
and to the Government it meant I could bring in 30 million Latino
voters, but then I started asking questions about 9/11 and asking for
investigations to be administered and the White House said 'no, it's not
going to happen'."

Eventually the 9/11 Commission was set up but the victims thought there
were major flaws in the way it was handled, including the fact that more
money was spent on the Monica Lewinsky case than the commission and
that huge organisations such as the CIA and FBI were exempt from
investigation.

"I am not a conspiracy theorist, and there have been some ridiculous
conspiracies out there, but I am an eye witness and the official story
told by the Government does not agree with the experiences of the people
inside the building, and I am raising questions against the stories" he
added.

"I could have earned millions of dollars since 9/11 but I wanted to be
clean and not be used by the Government. I want to do what is right and
have dignity and truth."

Mr Rodriguez continued: "Since the attacks we now have act after act and
civil rights are being eliminated, Bush has more power than any other
president in history combined.

"He has a power toy by putting the fear of terrorism into people
constantly, and that way the laws can be passed."

Mr Rodriguez never did manage to save his friends from the restaurant on
that day which will always be in people's memories. Since 2001, Mr
Rodriguez has chosen homelessness at one point over a career in
politics, where he believes he would have been used for the wrong
reasons.

He saw many horrifying sights as the towers crashed to the ground, which
will stay with him forever. More than 3,000 people lost their lives five
years and nine months ago, and 67 of those were Brits.

The War on Terror followed, during which no weapons of mass destruction
have been found.

[spiv]

Great report Scuba, and very much along the lines of what he told us here in Cornwall on Sunday evening.