Fresh off of his whirlwind speaking tour through four European cities — Utrecht, Brussels, London, and Zurich — Richard Gage, AIA, reflects on the unique events that brought him there as well as the boundless passion and determination of his European counterparts.
Utrecht, The Netherlands — May 13, 2018
Drawing one large audience after another to his 9/11 Truth performances throughout The Netherlands, famed Dutch comedy actor George van Houts one day exclaimed to fellow activist Jan van Aken, “We need to give my audience more 9/11 education!”
Van Aken, an Amsterdam-based member of 11September.eu, heartily agreed. Being an AE911Truth supporter, he invited me and 9/11 researcher Barbara Honegger to fly across the pond and participate in a unique 9/11 Truth conference, which would be held on the afternoon of May 13th before van Houts' evening comedy performance. A crowd of nearly 200 showed up for the combination edu-tainment event — a rapid-paced, professional production that van Houts MC’ed in the afternoon, hours before his evening show: the comedic, yet quite serious, “Kom Plot.”
Renowned Dutch politician/journalist/professor Karel Van Wolferen, one of the panelists, spoke eloquently about the Deep State operatives he believes were behind 9/11. Meanwhile, I presented the audience with the overwhelming scientific evidence for the controlled demolition of the three World Trade Center towers on 9/11. And Honegger discussed the new petition filed with the Interim United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Geoffrey S. Berman. Brought by the Lawyers’ Committee for 9/11 Inquiry, the petition demands that Berman present evidence of unprosecuted federal crimes at the World Trade Center to a special grand jury, citing federal statue requiring him to do so.
Brussels, Belgium — May 14, 2018
The next day, Barbara Honegger and I arrived in Brussels, just in time for a radio interview with 92.7FM "Midi Express" on University Libre of Brussels Campus Radio. The station's motto is, appropriately, “SCIENTIA VINCERE TENEBRAS" — “SCIENCE WILL CONQUER DARKNESS." Together we delivered a knockout one-two punch conveying the reason we needed to be in Europe. After I provided the evidence for pre-planted explosives at the World Trade Center, Honegger advised Europeans about options to bring about justice on behalf of the 122 citizens of EU nations whose lives were lost in New York City on September 11, 2001.
But we saved our best presentation in Brussels for last: our all-Europe press conference, coordinated by Dr. Eric Beeth. It took place in the heart of the European Union and NATO headquarters, at the Jacques Brel Press Room of Brussels Info Place on Place Royal.
Our opening remarks were nothing less than a distress call to Europeans for help in pressuring their governments to open a new investigation of the WTC tragedy. Interestingly, 9/11 was the first and only time that Article 5 of the Mutual Defense Treaty — that is, the Authorization of Utilized Military Force (UAMF) — has been invoked. Sadly, it was invoked on demonstrably false grounds, as testified to by the steel that forms the “9/11 and Article 5 Memorial.”
In hindsight, we know that 9/11 was used as a false pretext to draw Europeans into several illegal wars of aggression. And Europeans, like Americans, have in large measure apathetically accepted the excuses their governments made for occupying Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, and Syria. But we can choose to view this sculpture mounted in the courtyard of the NATO headquarters in a positive light — as the virtual Ground Zero for legal actions aimed at freeing Europeans from the endless criminal wars into which they’ve been thrust.
And so our closing remarks hit home this point, suggesting legal strategies that Europeans can adopt — actions such as those taken under the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act, a law passed by the United States Congress that narrows the scope of the legal doctrine of foreign sovereign immunity. Such legislation has paved the way in the U.S. for individuals to sue foreign governments believed to be responsible for state crimes such as terrorism. For instance, Honegger pointed out that any family member of the 122 murdered Europeans can sue the U.S. government if they are able to show a significant U.S. role in the planning and execution of the events of 9/11.
London, England — May 15, 2018
We then took the Eurostar train to London in time for a major event at the Seven Dials Club. After laying out the compelling evidence for the planned demolitions of the WTC towers, I provided updates on two current AE911Truth projects: the Bobby McIlvaine World Trade Center Investigation Act, which we are pushing for adoption in the U.S. Congress, and WTC 7 Evaluation, a computer modeling study being conducted by Dr. Leroy Hulsey, chair of the civil engineering department at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
Then Honegger gave Londoners the scoopers the scoop on the Lawyers’ Committee for 9/11 Inquiry petition for a special grand jury investigation into the WTC towers' destruction.
Matt Campbell, a U.K. citizen who lost his brother, Geoff, at the World Trade Center on 9/11, spoke inspiringly. He left everyone with the realization that if we don’t tackle the truth about 9/11, we will have to live with the consequences — including the ongoing and future wars being fought as a consequence of that tragic day.
The event at Seven Dials was sponsored by Reinvestigate911.org. We owe a huge round of applause to Ian Henschel, Ian Neal, Roy Hunter, Lucy Edwards, and others who pulled the event together at the last minute and still managed to pack the house!
No trip to England can be considered complete without a tour of the infamous Tower of London. As I considered the price that truth-tellers have paid over the centuries here in this citadel of power, I said to those around me, “My fate was sealed in 2010 when we gave our historic San Francisco Press Conference with just 1,000 A/E petition signers. I would rather die speaking the truth — proudly joining others who have — than live tiptoeing through a world of lies.”
Zurich, Switzerland — May 16, 2018
A flight the next morning brought me solo to Zurich for back-to-back speaking events. The first was hosted by Professor Marc Chesney, director of the University of Zurich's Banking and Finance Department. Chesney, who spent ten years investigating the anomalous behavior of the U.S. stock market's put options the day prior to 9/11, invited about 50 academics and students to fill the lecture hall. There, I presented AE911Truth's Continuing Ed course, "The Third Tower."
One of these academics, Professor of Structural Engineering Joerg Schneider at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, was so impressed with the presentation — and already knowledgeable about the WTC evidence — that he signed the AE911Truth petition on the spot. He wrote, “There are so many inconsistencies in the official reports . . . especially in the collapse of WTC 7 that only a new independent investigation can confirm or delete suspicions.” It’s poetic and a testament to the soundness of our position that this distinguished structural engineer with over 50 years of experience would be among those architects and engineers who recently took our petition over the 3,000-signature milestone.
I was then escorted to the oldest part of Zurich, where, in the Kulture Haus Helferei, I gave an extended evening presentation that deeply explored the explosive destruction of all three WTC skyscrapers. I was joined on stage by historian Daniele Ganser, who authored NATO's Secret Armies (as well as a chapter of the David Ray Griffin-edited book, 9/11: The American Empire). Ganser ably answered additional questions raised by the audience — tough questions that were beyond the research parameters of AE911Truth, such as, “How could they have gotten away with this horrible and massive crime?” We are always delighted when a local expert shows up to relieve us of the burden of answering these types of questions!
Prof. Chesney spoke on his area of expertise, pointing out that millions of dollars were made by inside traders who bet on a huge decline in the stock price of United Airlines and American Airlines prior to 9/11. Chesney is the author of the book 9/11 Terror Trading: 15 years later. He eloquently explains his research in the September 2016 interview, “Hardened Suspicion of Insider Trading Before 9/11”.
I often gauge my audiences by a show of hands before and after the presentation. In the beginning, there are always a few skeptics. But when everyone raises their hand in favor of a new investigation after being presented with the evidence, I must confess I'm always amazed — and relieved. This phenomenon repeated itself at each of the four speaking events on the tour. It gives me a great sense of accomplishment when the audience unanimously gets it — or, as they say in that part of Switzerland, 'Ich habs!'"
I was invited by Dominik Graf, a local entrepreneur, to return in November and speak, along with historian Daniele Ganser, to about 500 attendees at a semi-private business conference in Basel. These people, I knew, would be mostly new to the 9/11 Truth evidence! For my money, Ganser is the most eloquent 9/11 truth-teller out there, based in part on his knack for leading his unsuspecting audience straight into the WTC 7 dilemma, as exemplified in his acclaimed TEDx Talk, which has garnered more than 50K YouTube views.
My Takeaway
As I journeyed on this tour for 9/11 Truth and Justice, from country to country, I was moved by the fact that hundreds of people showed up at the events as well as by the sense of deep concern felt by the coordinators, activists, and newly aware attendees for the future of their individual freedoms, which have been increasingly eroded since NATO’s Article 5 was invoked immediately following 9/11.
My colleagues from the Netherlands expressed great pride that their country had been, historically, a bastion of free thinking and democratic principles in Europe. But now, they sadly pointed out, the press and academia have shut down critical debate about their government’s policies, especially those related to 9/11. Every new terrorist attack in Brussels leads to ever-more draconian laws in the NATO/EU capital and seems to disempower 9/11 Truth efforts, fret the activists there. Londoners, in particular, decry the police surveillance state they are now living in. And Switzerland, according to its citizens, is dominated by global bankers who control the press and have spent millions of Swiss francs urging citizens to vote “no” on important banking reforms.
In each country, activists believe that the path to taking back their freedom is inextricably linked to exposing the truth about 9/11. They get this — and they aren’t giving up.
You might be thinking, “What can I do?” Well, you can help make another tour like this one possible by volunteering to host a presentation in your school, your workplace, or a public venue in your hometown. Take the initiative and say, “I want AE911Truth to come to my city,” and we’ll turn it into a tour of your entire region. (On that note, if you’re in Europe and you missed us on our May tour, contact us now about including your city when we return to Europe in late October/early November.)
In addition to our classic 9/11: Blueprint for Truth presentation, which is geared toward all audiences, we have four different in-person continuing education courses for architect. Plus, we’re offering a brand-new presentation designed specifically for engineers — “A critique of the NIST WTC building failure reports and the progressive collapse theory” — as part of our recently launched outreach program to the engineering profession, Project Due Diligence. Simply email us and we’ll be delighted to arrange one of these presentations for you.
Finally, I encourage you to make your own dent in the wall of resistance by signing our petition for a new WTC investigation. Let’s have a show of strength in 2018!