'The truth about 9/11 can awaken the American people'

By FinalCall.com News | Last updated: Mar 19, 2012 - 12:18:26 PM

The visually striking collapse of the World Trade Center Towers on September 11, 2001 is etched in the minds of most people spanning all ages, races, colors and creeds who witnessed it that day. The tragic events of 9/11 will hold a prominent place in the modern history of the United States. As with most historical events, over the years, many have begun to question the “official” version of what took place that fateful day. Some have even summoned the courage to call for an independent investigation, which could implicate the country’s own government. The group Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth are at the forefront of the movement to thoroughly examine the established and accepted version of the events surrounding 9/11.

Richard Gage, founder and director of the group sat down for a one-on-one interview with The Final Call’s Ashahed M. Muhammad following Minister Farrakhan’s intense Saviours’ Day 2012 keynote address on Feb. 26.

Ashahed M. Muhammad (FCN:) The presentation of factual information provided was outstanding at the Feb. 24 plenary session. The audience was enthralled. What are your thoughts on the interaction between the members of the Nation of Islam and the Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth.

Richard Gage (RG:) I felt fully respected by everyone that I’ve met here and I’ve met hundreds of people. I felt fully respected by the Minister as well. I was deeply moved by this sincerity and the depth of the conviction of people here about who they are; the self-respect that they have. So the response to our message has been moving. I’ve been thanked by a number of people who are taking the stand that I have and now I see that the reverse is also true that they need to be thanked, you need to be thanked for the stand that you are taking on behalf of the powerful messages delivered by your Minister. It is a force to be reckoned with the truths that are told here are extremely powerful and many people will not be ready for it. Some of them have stretched my own understanding and ability to grasp and even tolerate them. But I’m awfully glad that I’m here and I’m quite moved.

FCN: Tell me a little bit about your meeting with Minister Farrakhan. It was your first time ever meeting him. What was discussed and what are your thoughts on the meeting?

RG: I met with the Minister for three hours at dinner and I felt nothing but love from him. I was moved by his deep appreciation for the stand that we’ve taken at Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth and moved by his commitment to offer the hearts and minds and feet of people in the Nation of Islam to support us in our effort to disseminate the information, the evidence, the truth about what really happened at 9/11.

He was very sincere with me in wanting to address all of my questions and he was disturbed by the fact that we’ve lost a board member and a team leader on our team as a result of our commitment to come here. It was quite controversial within our team due to the reputation that he has in many circles. Many of us looked at the intent behind the words that are used to discredit him (Farrakhan) and made the decision anyway to come and because it’s quite an opportunity as well for us to speak to three thousand people at one time. This is five times more people than we’ve spoken with.

We were also honored to speak to many times that many live streaming on the internet and who knows how that message will reverberate throughout the Nation of Islam and into the Black community where we’re hoping to receive more support than we’ve received in the White community. The support I’m referring to is breaking through into the public’s consciousness so that people can understand if the World Trade Center Towers were indeed destroyed with controlled demolition, then this is obviously some sort of an inside job and people here really get that.

What I’m hoping is that they will not only get it, but transmit it and I’m hoping that they’ll be inspired by the Minister’s message to transmit it. Because as the Minister said, there can be no peace without justice; there can be no justice without truth and there could be no truth if there isn’t someone to tell it. And so we’ve invited everyone to tell that truth about 9/11 to everybody they know (and) to every architect and engineer in their community.

FCN: There were nearly 20,000 people here at the United Center, and Minister Farrakhan publicly thanked you for your stand for what you did at the Saviours’ Day convention, and he said he admired your courage. What are your thoughts on the future of the movement and your group?

RG: I’m excited about the opportunity for the expansion of our message especially as it is amplified and encouraged by the Minister. We are relying on the power of his conviction about the truth about 9/11 and how important it is to America. We are relying on that conviction to be transmitted throughout the listening audience as you mentioned. It’s very important. The truth about 9/11 can awaken the American people to the point where they can bring down the perpetrators of 9/11 which we don’t know how far or how wide the conspiracy—if you will—is but it is extremely important that its roots be plucked out of the power structure of America and that we have justice which brings criminal justice—which brings these criminals wherever and whoever they are—all of them to reckoning.

FCN: Final question. There has been intent, and you alluded to it earlier in comments, to demonize you and the group. As you know within the government—there are those who send out reports calling you a conspiracy theorist and also labeling those who question the standard 9/11 theory as potential terrorists. What are your thoughts as it relates to that and possibly being targeted because of the truth that you and the others choose to represent. Those of you who have taken a stand that is unpopular, after all, we who have been in the United States have seen things happen and then decades later, the government will say ‘ok we’ll finally open up the files’ and you see the situation was exactly what the so-called conspiracy theorists fought to represent when the event initially happened. What are your feelings right now related to that reality?

RG: The 1,600 architects and engineers that I represent are technical and building professionals. We are not conspiracy theorists and we’re certainly not terrorists. We expect those officials in government to uphold their vow, to uphold the constitution which protects all of our rights to speak freely and to not be arrested without due process, which apparently has now been removed— habeas corpus due to the National Defense Authorization Act recently legislated.

I don’t fear the consequences of that because I don’t think the American people will allow architects and engineers at least to be arrested on suspicion of terrorism for speaking the truth about the destruction of these three high rises on 9/11, and we will certainly stand in support of others who may falsely be arrested due to their stand about the truth of 9/11.

FCN: Very good. Thank you, Mr. Gage.

RG: Thank you.

(For more information and related documents, visit http://www.ae911truth.org and http://www.noi.org/hrd)

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