William Rodriguez

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For other uses, see William Rodriguez (disambiguation).
William Rodriguez at American Scholars Symposium: 9/11 and the NeoCon Agenda, in Los Angeles, California, June 24/5, 2006
William Rodriguez at American Scholars Symposium: 9/11 and the NeoCon Agenda[1], in Los Angeles, California, June 24/5, 2006

William Rodríguez was a janitor at the North Tower of the World Trade Center during the September 11, 2001 attacks.[2]On 9/11, he was in the basement of the North Tower and claims that he heard an "explosion" or loud rumble.[3]before American Airlines Flight 11 crashed and Since 2004, Rodriguez became prominent in the 9/11 Truth Movement, and has traveled around, talking about his experiences on 9/11 and conspiracy theories. Rodriguez gave a evidence to the 9/11 Commission, however this wasn't in public, and his testimony wasn't inluded in the 9/11 Commission Report.

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[edit] Biography

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[edit] Magician's assistant

When Rodriguez was younger, he worked with magician James Randi, who refers to Rodriguez as "a long-time colleague". Randi describes some of Rodriguez's work in 2 books he has written.[4] Rodriguez used the stage name "Roudy" and mentioned in an interview with Benjamin Smith of the New York Sun that he helped the Amazing Randi expose fraudulent faith healers and psychics. [5] According to a December 2005 article published on the Internet, Rodriguez proved adroit at insinuating himself into the good graces of Randi's targets and eliciting incriminating information, and had previously been featured on television in Puerto Rico escaping from a chained straightjacket while hanging from a burning rope.[6]

[edit] WTC janitor

Rodriguez emigrated to New York from Puerto Rico and, according to the article linked above, he "found himself a small fish in the big pond of New York magicians" and, as a result, he took a day job as a custodian at the World Trade Center.[6]

The article goes on to state that Rodriguez's showbiz aspirations fell by the wayside when his responsibilities for cleaning the office of Governor Cuomo at the WTC expanded to include organizing Governor Cuomo's press conferences, and that after Governor Cuomo left office, he was re-assigned to cleaning the staircases of the North Tower.[6].

Rodriguez was present in the World Trade Center during the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, and became trapped in an elevator at that time. Rodriguez worked as a janitor at the World Trade Center for 19 years.

[edit] 9/11 attacks

According to Rodriguez, he usually clocked in at 8:00 a.m. and rode an elevator to the 106th floor, where Hispanic employees of Windows on the World fed him a free breakfast. On 9/11, however, he was half an hour late so he did not go for breakfast but reported to a basement office of his employer, American Building Maintenance.

Shortly after the attacks, Rodriguez stated:

“ We heard a loud rumble, then all of a sudden we heard another rumble like someone moving a whole lot of furniture," Rodriguez said. "And then the elevator opened and a man came into our office and all of his skin was off. [7] ”

In early accounts, Mr. Rodriguez repeatedly mentioned a large fireball that shot down the elevator shafts and exploded through the doors, causing serious burn injuries to a man who happened to be standing in front of one of the freight elevator doors. This was consistent with similar reports by numerous other witnesses who saw fireballs erupting and blowing out elevator doors and burning people.[citation needed]

In September 2002, Rodriguez said in an CNN interview:

“ And at that terrible day when I took people out of the office, one of them totally burned because he was standing in front of the freight elevator and the ball of fire came down the duct of the elevator itself, I put him on the ambulance. [8] ”

At a public meeting held by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in 2004, Rodriguez remarked as follows:

“ The fire, the ball of fire, for example, I was in the basement when the first plane hit the building. And at that moment, I thought it was an electrical generator that blew up at that moment. A person comes running into the office saying 'explosion, explosion, explosion.' When I look at this guy; has all his skin pulled off of his body. Hanging from the top of his fingertips like it was a glove. And I said, what happened? He said the elevators. What happened was the ball of fire went down with such a force down the elevator shaft on the 58th (50A) – freight elevator, the biggest freight elevator that we have in the North Tower, it went out with such a force that it broke the cables. It went down, I think seven flights. The person survived because he was pulled from the B3 level. But this person, being in front of the doors waiting for the elevator, practically got his skin vaporized."[9] ”

Rodriguez assisted the injured gentleman out of the building and into an ambulance and returned to the north tower to continue his efforts to unlock doors and help people escape. Credited with saving several lives, he received a National Hero Award from the Senate of Puerto Rico and organized the Hispanic Victims Group.[10]

Later, Rodriguez's accounts of the events became much more detailed:

“ As I was talking to a supervisor at 8:46 like chitchatting and all of a sudden we hear PAAH very strong BOOM!!! An explosion so hard that it pushed us UPWARDS, UPWARDS!!…The explosion was so hard that all the walls cracked the false ceiling fell on top of us, the sprinkler system got activated and when I was going to verbalize it was a generator we hear BOOM! All the way at the top. ”

In an article published on the Internet on December 30, 2005, he said that from his location in the basement, he heard and felt a massive explosion from below, and that seconds later, he heard another, smaller explosion above, which he attributed to Flight 11 crashing into the tower.[6]

Rodriguez also claims to have seen hijacker Mohand al-Shehri scoping out the building prior to the attacks, in June 2001, and he claims to have told the FBI and the 9/11 Commission that he recognized the man after a brief, chance encounter months prior to the terrorist attacks.[11]

Rodriguez has been involved in the creation of several family support groups, and he is president of the Hispanic Victims Group.[12]

[edit] 9/11 Commission

Rodriguez claimed that he looked forward to appearing before the 9/11 Commission. In an interview with unansweredquestions.org, Rodriguez said, "Up to that moment, I was thinking that they were going to do the right thing."[6]

Like the vast majority of the more than 1200 witnesses who gave evidence to the Commission, Rodriguez's evidence was not given in public, and was not specifically itemized in the final report. Of the 1200+ witnesses whose testimony was taken by the Commission, only approximately 155 were conducted publicly.[13]

In his Los Angeles 2006 presentation, Rodriguez states quite emphatically that there was a partial internal collapse (22 stories) of the north tower.

When I got to the 39th floor from the opposite staircase there were three staircases: A, B and C. Police officer David Lim came up with two firemen. As we were talking about what was going to be our next move we hear “Boom!” The impact of the plane on the other tower. It was so hard that the building oscillated and we practically lost our footing and all of a sudden we hear: “BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!” [Pounding his fist for emphasis] And on the radio we hear “we lost 65, we lost 65!” Meaning that the 65th floor collapsed floor by floor by floor by floor! Up to the 43rd floor—the Sky Lobby. Five flights of stairs away from us. And I start screaming “we gotta go up, we gotta go up!”[14]

[edit] RICO lawsuit

In October 2004, Rodriguez filed a 237 page civil lawsuit[15] that included allegations pursuant to the RICO, directed against The United States Of America, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Department of Homeland Security, George Herbert Walker Bush, George Walker Bush, Richard Cheney, Donald H. Rumsfeld,and numerous others, totaling 156 defendants[16] in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

The Rodriquez lawsuit made hundreds of allegations, including – but not limited to – allegations that the Twin Towers were destroyed by means of “controlled demolitions”; that members of FDNY were ordered, on instructions of the CIA, not to talk about it; that FDNY conspired with Larry Silverstein to deliberately destroy WTC7; that missiles were fired at the Twin Towers from “pods” affixed to the underside of the planes that struck them; that FEMA is working with the US government to create “American Gulags” concentration camps which FEMA will run once the government’s plan to impose martial law is in place; that cell phone calls reported by family members of some of the victims were not actually made; that a missile, not American Airlines Flight 77, struck the Pentagon; that United Airlines Flight 93 was shot down by the US military; that the defendants had foreknowledge of the attacks and actively conspired to bring them about; that the defendants engaged in kidnapping, arson, murder, treason, conspiracy, trafficking in narcotics, embezzlement, securities fraud, insider trading, identity and credit card theft, blackmail, trafficking in humans, and the abduction and sale of women and children for sex. [17]


In December 2004, the three defendants who had been served with Rodriguez's complaint (FEMA, the USA and the DHS) filed a motion to dismiss, or, in the alternative, to transfer, the case on the grounds of lack of jurisdiction and/or improper venue.[18] This was premised on the fact that the Air Transportation Safety and System Stabilization Act vests exclusive jurisdiction for litigation relating to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 in the courts of the Southern District of New York.[19]

The Pennsylvania court granted the defendants' motion to transfer the case to the Southern District of New York on May 2, 2005.[20]

On September 30, 2005, the defendants, United States of America, Department of Homeland Security and FEMA, brought a motion to dismiss Rodriguez's claims, based on, inter alia, lack of subject matter jurisdiction.[21][22]

In January 2006, Rodriquez swore and filed a 51 page affidavit in opposition to the defendants' motion to dismiss, wherein he reiterated numerous allegations of conspiracies on the part of the defendants.[23][24]

On June 26, 2006, the defendants' motion was granted and the court dismissed Rodriguez's claims against the three defendants who had been served with Rodriguez's complaint. Further, the court gave Rodriguez until July 7, 2006 to show cause why his lawsuit should not be dismissed as against all of the other 153 defendants as well.[25]

Rodriguez did not do so, and an order dismissing his claims against the remaining 153 defendants was issued on July 17, 2006.[26]

[edit] International travels

In 2005, Rodriguez had a tour of speaking engagements in Europe.[6]

In 2006, he accompanied Jimmy Walter on a trip to Venezuela, during which they met with the President of the National Assembly.[citation needed]In June of 2006, he appeared at the 9/11 + The Neo-Con Agenda Symposium in Los Angeles, California,[27] organized by Alex Jones.[28]

In June 2007 He was a second year guest speaker at the IIF in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia [29]


[edit] Other events

On 2006 He received the Latin Pride National Award for Lifetime Achievement helping the Latino Community[30] He converted to Islam in 2006. [31]

In June and July of 2007 he toured the UK, returning in November for five more dates.[citation needed]

On 2007 He completed several international tours, including countries like England, Germany, Neherlands, Paris, Italy and Spain.[citation needed]

In the fall of 2007 a video was circulated on the internet featuring Mr. John Schroeder crediting Mr. Rodriguez with saving his life and the lives of a dozen other FDNY firemen who were trapped in a stairwell in the north tower. Schroeder also claimed that he ran from the north tower as it began to collapse, and later looked back and saw the south tower collapse. [32] Mr. Rodriguez has never claimed he rescued Mr. Schroeder and a dozen other FDNY personnel, but his website does claim that he "single-handedly rescued fifteen (15) persons." [33] Mr. Schroeder was not among the dozen FDNY firemen who were trapped in stairwell B in the north tower for several hours after the building collapsed, but Port Authority police officer David Lim was. [34] Mr. Rodriguez did not rescue them.

November 1, 2007 to November 7, Mr. Rodriguez took his "Last Man Out" program on tour on the west coast of the USA. In Oakland, California, he was introduced by Cindy Sheehan. [35] The final appearance, in Seattle, was reportedly attended by 50 people. [36]

A couple of weeks later, Rodriguez spoke at the Global Peace and Unity Conference in London. Rodriguez was one of 58 speakers, artists, or performers at the conference, which was attended by 55,000. [37]

[edit] Press coverage and publishings

[edit] References

  1. ^ William Rodriguez: 9/11 Hero
  2. ^ CNN publication September 12, 2001.
  3. ^ CNN publication September 12, 2001.
  4. ^ The Faith Healers (Paperback) by James Randi, Prometheus Books; 2nd edition (1989) ISBN-10 0879755350 p. 133.
  5. ^ Flim-Flam! Psychics, ESP, Unicorns, and Other Delusions (Paperback) by James Randi. Prometheus Books (June 1982) ISBN 0879751983, pp.293, 306, 323.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h Scoop: UQ Wire: Russ Wellen - The Magic Man
  7. ^ CNN.com - Collapsed Trade Center towers still dangerous - September 12, 2001
  8. ^ CNN.com - Transcripts
  9. ^ Microsoft Word - Public Transcript 021204 Final.doc
  10. ^ a b A key force behind the 9/11 commission | csmonitor.com
  11. ^ Janitor tells 9/11 panel of brush with WTC thug. New York Daily News (June 2004). Retrieved on 2007-11-27.
  12. ^ Gotham Gazette - The Citizen
  13. ^ National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States
  14. ^ Arabesque: 9/11 Truth: The Heroism of William Rodriguez: Amazing Testimony from Inside the World Trade Center Towers on 9/11
  15. ^ Rodriguez Complaint.
  16. ^ Rodriguez Lawsuit Page.
  17. ^ Rodriguez Complaint.
  18. ^ Gov’t Motion to Dismiss.
  19. ^ Gov’t Motion to Dismiss.
  20. ^ Order Granting Motion to Transfer.
  21. ^ Gov't Motion to Dismiss.
  22. ^ Memo in Support of Motion.
  23. ^ Rodriguez Affidavit January 2006.
  24. ^ Rodriguez Affidavit.
  25. ^ Order Dismissing Complaint against USA, DHS, and FEMA.
  26. ^ Order Dismissing Complaint against Balance of Defendants.
  27. ^ American Scholars Symposium: 9/11 + The Neo-Con Agenda
  28. ^ Top Experts To Expose 9/11 Fraud At L.A. Conference
  29. ^ [1]
  30. ^ lpna_coverage
  31. ^ Portal Rasmi Negeri Pahang Darul Makmur - Bil 01/August/07 (01 - 15 August, 2007) (Vol. 3)
  32. ^ john schroeder - Google Video
  33. ^ http://www.william911.com/
  34. ^ USATODAY.com - Miracles emerge from debris
  35. ^ William Rodriguez- Last Man Out World Tour
  36. ^ William Rodriguez Tells his Eyewitness Story of 9/11 Heroism (2007) - We Are Change Seattle. org (Seattle, WA) - Meetup.com
  37. ^ [2]
  38. ^ CNN.com - Collapsed Trade Center towers still dangerous - September 12, 2001
  39. ^ Jennifer Senior-9/11-One Year Later-Families
  40. ^ Jennifer Senior-9/11-One Year Later-Families
  41. ^ [3] [4]

[edit] External links

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