More evidence of alleged Saudi ties to the 9/11 terror attacks will “blow the lid off” the lawsuit against the kingdom, one of the plaintiffs tells the Herald.
“60 Minutes” is set to air Sunday night its take on the footage and related evidence that reportedly links Saudi Arabian officials to some of the Sept. 11, 2001, hijackers. Saudi officials have denied any involvement, and a lawsuit against the nation is before a Manhattan judge now.
Brett Eagleson, who was 15 years old when his dad, Bruce, died when the Twin Towers collapsed in New York City, said his group fighting the Saudis in court are planning to protest outside the FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C., Monday to demand action.
“Enough is enough. It’s unacceptable we’ve waited 23 years for anything to happen,” Eagelson said. “We want everything related to 9/11 to be declassified.”
He said the head of the FBI, Kash Patel, has promised to unearth all the evidence and now is the time.
Eagleson said “60 Minutes” will air video that allegedly shows a Saudi suspect “casing the Capitol” in the summer of 1999, pointing out where Congress sits. Eagleson also says a companion sketchbook painstakingly shows “an aviator’s algorithm on how to hit a target on the horizon when flying a plane.”
“This show will blow the lid off this case,” he added.
He credits British officials for obtaining both pieces of “incredible” evidence and retired FBI agents for assisting 9/11 families who refuse to give up on seeking justice decades after the ruthless jet attacks on New York City, the Pentagon, and in Shanksville, Pa., that killed nearly 3,000 people. Many more are now dying from cancer from working on the pile at Ground Zero.
Federal Judge George Daniels of the Southern District of New York holds the key to this case. The judge must decide whether this lawsuit against Saudi Arabia moves ahead or is forever thwarted. His decision remains long overdue, Eagleson added.
“Why is it taking so long? I’m 39 years old now and I’m never giving up until I have answers,” he told the Herald, adding he sees the joy his other grandparents have in seeing his kids. Yet, it’s also mixed with sorrow knowing his dad will never experience that joy.
“The truth needs to come out,” he added.
The Saudi government’s latest appeal states no government officials “senior or otherwise — gave any ‘direction’ to Omar Al Bayoumi or Fahad Al Thumairy to ‘assist’ … 9/11 hijackers.” Any contact, the Saudis add, was “innocent motives … to help fellow Saudis” new to San Diego.
Those Saudis, Nawaf Al Hazmi and Khalid Al Mihdhar, were the first 9/11 hijackers to set up shop in America after landing in Los Angeles, according to multiple reports. Bayoumi and Thumairy, both Saudi officials, are accused of assisting them, court documents allege.
That is the crux of this case — with this final showdown decades in the making with a focus on the former Southern California al Qaeda cell, as the Herald has reported.
If the judge allows the case to proceed, the 9/11 families — 10,000 plaintiffs strong who lost loved ones in the 9/11 attacks and those still dying from cancer from working on the pile — will be able to expand discovery.
That means al Qaeda cells in Boston, Portland, Maine, Phoenix, Florida and New Jersey can also be investigated fully with this new knowledge. And, according to the non-profit Florida Bulldog, it could force Saudi Arabia to settle out of court — and issue an apology.
The first two 9/11 hijackers in the U.S. — Hazmi and Mihdhar — arrived in Los Angeles on Jan. 15, 2000, without being able to speak English. Yet, records show, they made it to San Diego where they took flying lessons — and flunked out — rented an apartment, and attended a mosque.
Retired FBI special agent Stephen Moore wrote in a court deposition supporting the lawsuit that he “believed” both Bayoumi and Thumairy “were active participants in a terror cell associated with al Qaeda that provided substantial financial and logistical support to” the two hijackers.
Those Saudis plowed American Airlines Flight 77 into the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001. All 64 people aboard, including five hijackers, were killed. Another 125 victims on the ground also died.
Of all the 19 hijackers, 15 of them were citizens of Saudi Arabia. They were all affiliated with al Qaeda and hijacked four jets, killing nearly 3,000 people.
American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175 — both out of Logan International Airport in Boston — slammed into the north and south towers of the World Trade Center in Manhattan 18 minutes apart beginning at 8:45 a.m. on 9/11.
United Flight 93 crashed last in Shanksville, Pa., at 10:03 a.m. after heroic passengers rushed the cabin to confront the terrorists. Forty passengers and crew perished when the jet crashed soon after.
That’s the jet Eagleson says was destined for Washington, D.C.
“Our government, our Capitol could have been destroyed if it weren’t for the 9/11 heroes of Flight 93,” the Connecticut dad said. “It’s just incredible to me that every member of Congress isn’t on our side and fighting for closure.”
