Chemistry professor Niels Harrit blows away audiences in six cities with the explosive evidence

One of the key figures in the 9/11 truth movement, University of Copenhagen chemistry professor Dr. Niels Harrit, along with his wife, peace activist and actress Pernille Grumme, recently completed a Canadian speaking tour which included engagements in six cities and three provinces:

- Feb 22: Edmonton, Alberta (Stanley Milner Library)
- Feb 24: Vancouver, British Columbia (University of British Columbia)
- Feb 26: Victoria, British Columbia (University of Victoria)
- Mar 1: Hamilton, Ontario (McMaster University)
- Mar 3: London, Ontario (University of Western Ontario)
- Mar 4: Toronto, Ontario (University of Toronto)

Dr. Harrit is Professor Emeritus of Chemistry at the University of Copenhagen and lead author of a peer-reviewed study on thermitic residue found in the World Trade Center dust. Dr. Harrit presented irrefutable evidence from nine researchers and scientists, proving the presence of thermite incendiary explosive in the dust samples collected from the collapse of World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Dr. Harrit has lectured for 34 years at the University of Copenhagen, and has published over 60 articles in major science journals. He has delivered 90 lectures on the World Trade Center in Sweden, Norway, England, Holland, the United States, Australia, and Spain.

The tour brought together hundreds of people across Canada from all walks of life and from all levels of knowledge regarding 9/11; from the uninitiated to experts, from university professors and academics, to all types of professionals, students, activists, and the general public. This tour represented the largest university tour questioning the official account of 9/11 in Canadian history. Harrit’s thought-provoking presentations were acknowledged with loud applause, as he gained the respect of every audience he spoke to. Dr. Harrit was hosted by both activists in the general public and by professors in major Canadian education institutions. As a Canadian engineer, it is my privilege to share the news of this international effort, which involved many dedicated members of the 9/11 truth movement in Canada.

Edmonton, Alberta

Anthony Hall, Professor of Globalization Studies at the University of Lethbridge, and his graduate student Joshua Blakeney traveled to Edmonton to take part in Dr. Harrit’s presentation. The presentation, produced by Doug Brinkman along with friends and supporters of 9/11 Truth of Edmonton, was well received by an audience of almost 150 in the Stanley Milner Library. Professor Hall, speaking for ten minutes at the end of the lecture, sought to “illuminate the challenge of trying to bring the details of the crimes of 9/11 into broader venues of public discourse, but especially in the curricula of our universities.”

Earlier in the day, Professor Hall and Blakeney had made a 15-minute video of a discussion with Dr. Harrit and his wife Pernille. On March 2, Professor Hall hosted, with the help of Dr. Graeme MacQueen, a three-hour class on “The Responsibility of the Academy to Illuminate the Truths and Lies of 9/11,” which formed part of his third-year social sciences course entitled “Capital, Culture and Globalization.” The class was set up “partly in response to a recent journalistic diatribe by one of the mainstream media’s most audacious and unprincipled propagandists of 9/11, Jonathan Kay [of the National Post],” explains Hall. Contributing to the academic event from McMaster were professors Harrit, Colin Salter, and Michael Truscello, as well as PhD. candidate Laurie Manwell.

Hamilton, Ontario – March 2: Multi-site Skype event participants (from left to right) Anthony Hall, Niels Harrit, Graeme MacQueen, Joshua Blakeney, and Laurie Manwell discuss the nanothermite analysis with an engaged online audience

Vancouver, British Columbia

On the afternoon of February 23, Niels and his wife Pernille Grumme, a long-time peace activist and well-known Danish actress, arrived in Vancouver and were given a brief tour of the city. For weeks prior to their visit, a dedicated core group had met every Tuesday to plan the logistics. The Vancouver group established media partnerships with monthly newspapers, The Common Ground and the Agora National, which the group has helped to create and maintain.

Vancouver 9/11 Truth and the University of British Columbia packs the house to hear Dr. Niels Harrit explain the scientific facts behind 9/11

As part of the mandate to attract newcomers, the group found willing partners at the campuses of both the University of British Columbia and the prestigious British Columbia Institute of Technology. The Vancouver group also posted hundreds of posters across the city, and were pleased when Niels and Pernille, who collect posters from all of their lectures, declared them the best they had ever seen. By 6:30 pm, half of the seats in the 225-capacity theatre were taken, and by 7:15 pm Niels was introduced to a jam-packed theatre. Dr. Harrit ended his lecture by 10:15 pm to “a thunderous, extended, very appreciative ovation from the audience,” said James Macdonald of the Vancouver group. “We didn’t expect such enthusiasm from the audience.”

Victoria, British Columbia

Niels and Pernille arrived in Victoria via ferry from Vancouver, BC, on February 26 and were brought to the home of Elizabeth Woodworth, known for publishing a 9,000-word globalresearch.ca article on February 15, 2010 titled “The Media Response to the Growing Influence of the 9/11 Truth Movement.” She also wrote an exceptional article in the Common Ground.

That evening, a gathering was held at the University of Victoria Faculty Club, attended by about 16 professors, engineers, and members of the organizing committee for the Harrit lecture. This gave Harrit an opportunity to discuss the nanothermite paper with other chemistry professors. When Elizabeth asked one of these professors if he thought the nanothermite paper was ‘persuasive’, his unambiguous response was “Persuasive? It’s conclusive!” While in Victoria, Dr. Harrit did a one-hour interview with ICTV Victoria’s “Face to Face” host, Jack Etkin. Woodworth states, “This is a very engaging interview, with excellent questions, and easy to understand for all levels of listener. I believe it will become a classic.”

One of the most poignant moments during the video is when Dr. Harrit discusses the importance of 9/11 truth, and specifically what is at stake. “The consequences of [9/11] should be obvious to everyone… If you have a problem with the environment or the economy, which is very serious … [or] global warming … whatever war is going on – I think [all of] civilization is in the balance these days. This is everything we love, and this is very serious. Planet Earth will still be there no matter what we do … but what we call civilization – if you care about music, this is what we’re talking about. If you care about the health of your grandparents, this is what we’re talking about. If you care about theatre, literature, if you care about kids playing in the playground – whatever you care for, whatever you love, this is what is at stake here – our civilization. And it’s very fragile, and it can easily be lost.”

In reaction to Dr. Harrit’s lecture at the University of Victoria, Woodworth says “a physician I am acquainted with (a professor of hematology at UBC Faculty of Medicine) later told me that he found Dr. Harrit’s presentation as good and logical and evidence-based as any medical lecture he had attended. It may be that the next stage in the evolution of public understanding about 9/11 lies largely in the hands of concerned professional people.” Those of us at AE911Truth would certainly have to agree with Woodworth’s assessment, hence the call for a new investigation by almost 1500 engineering and architecture professionals.

Hamilton, Ontario

Graeme MacQueen is Professor Emeritus of the Religious Studies Department at McMaster University (Hamilton, Ontario). He was one of the founders and directors of McMaster's Centre for Peace Studies, a founder and co-director of the Centre's War and Health program committee, and was co-director of the three year Health of Children in War Zones project funded by Health Canada. The project was active in three war zones. With colleagues, he has expressed some of the principles utilized in the war and health work of the Centre for Peace Studies in Peace and Change (1997), British Medical Journal (1998), Medical Crossfire (2000) and The Lancet (2001). In late September 2010, Dr. MacQueen was asked by some faculty members to deliver a talk about 9/11 in a public forum at McMaster University, in Hamilton, Ontario. He did so, and was pleased by the number of people in the audience, as well as the high level of interest they showed.

During the lecture, Dr. MacQueen showed a clip of Dr. Harrit being interviewed on Danish television, and suggested that he be brought to McMaster as a guest speaker, which the audience clearly supported. Dr. MacQueen put together a team of some 12 McMaster faculty members, each of whom donated funds to make it possible to bring Dr. Harrit to the university. With a positive response by Dr. Harrit and the support of many across Canada, it became clear that it would be feasible to put together a trip of about two weeks in duration, thanks to the hard work of everyone in the various cities that would make up the tour.

Hamilton, Ontario – March 1: Former McMaster University President Alvin Lee introduces Niels Harrit to an over-capacity audience at McMaster University

Dr. Harrit’s lecture at McMaster was two and a half hours in length and everyone stayed, even through the intermission. The official seating capacity of the room was 150, but it was overflowing with people in the aisles, with attendance at close to 200. Former McMaster president, Alvin Lee, introduced Dr. Harrit. He mentioned some important things in his introduction, including how “we have a duty to deal with difficult and controversial issues in universities; we do not avoid or flee from them.”

Among many positive comments about the event, a professor of philosophy called the event “extremely successful, informative and inspiring.” Other professors from various departments, including economics, electrical engineering and biology, made similar remarks. One person in attendance from outside the university commented that he “never expected in his lifetime to hear these truths spoken publicly in a university.” According to Dr. MacQueen, “It was an important talk at McMaster.” Referring to the overall success of the Canadian tour, he says “We have managed to escalate the challenge to the universities … This tour helped build momentum in our favour. At some point it will become impossible to ignore us.”

Those faculty members who are opposed to 9/11 skepticism were notably absent. However, as Dr. MacQueen notes “these folks are now reduced to shouting from the shadows, since they clearly cannot stand up and debate us on these issues. In this sense, I feel that things have shifted at McMaster.” One of the most encouraging successes of the tour was packing an auditorium with a combination of students, faculty and other interested parties and having a Harrit be introduced by a former president of the University.

London, Ontario

At the University of Western Ontario in London, a city with a population of approximately 350,000 located about two hours west of Toronto, attendance for Professor Harrit’s talk was somewhere between 60 and 75 people, according to Dr. Sharon Baker, a palliative care physician and long-time London-area peace activist. Dr. Baker, who brought along her two teenage sons and one of their friends, and “hadn’t really heard of [WTC] Building 7,” was very affected by the presentation and felt compelled to do something.

London, Ontario – March 3: Introduction by Dr. Paul McArthur at the University of Western Ontario

The London event was organized by Dr. Paul McArthur, an adjunct professor of family medicine at UWO, and a practicing physician in Walkerton, Ontario. Dr. McArthur led the introductions, and before introducing Dr. Harrit, I presented a trailer for a documentary that is currently in production called “9/11 in the Academic Community” which is being directed and produced by Adnan Zuberi. In early production, the documentary will be narrated by well-known actor and 9/11 activist Ed Asner, and will feature a number of distinguished academics in Canada and the United States. The film will explore the difficulties faced by professors and students in broaching the subject of 9/11 within their respective academic circles. This documentary was inspired by a class in 2008 at the University of Lethbridge by Professor Anthony Hall that involved many academics in Ontario and discussed important issues surrounding the academy’s response to 9/11. Consisting of three parts – the nature and the dimensions of the taboo of expressing critical perspectives of the events of 9/11 in academia, scholarly scrutiny and the official reports, and ways activists might overcome barriers in academic institutions to examining this subject – the film will explore these issues through the experiences of university students, professors and presidents.

London, Ontario - March 3: Dr. Harrit takes a welcome break with (from left to right) Pernille Grumme, Paul McArthur, Marilyn Wahl, Ed Corrigan and Mike Bondi

Professor A.K. (Kee) Dewdney remarked “Harrit gives a very methodical lecture, building his case like a lawyer and closing off the exits for deniers one by one. I had never heard such a damning discussion of the anomalies at the WTC and was especially pleased to think of the explanation of the very long time that molten material resided at the bottom of the ‘bathtub’ for weeks.” A graduate student who was reporting on the event and interviewed Dr. Harrit mentioned that in the past, she had experienced that “teachers aware of students who were promoting dangerous alternative theories of 9/11 were obliged to ‘report’ them.”

A theme that ran throughout the tour is the notion that “9/11 is key.” Of Harrit and Grumme, Dr. McArthur remarked that “we are all humbled and inspired by the pair of you, a real team – bringing your own talents to the cause of truth and justice, even beyond the 9/11 issue (though it is KEY).” It was interesting to note that during Dr. Harrit’s tour of Canada, the nanothermite paper he authored with eight other researchers was not available on the Internet for a period of at least a few days. Whether this was mere coincidence or not, one can only speculate.

Toronto, Ontario

The facilitator for the University of Toronto event was Adnan Zuberi. He holds a B.Math in Honours Mathematical Physics (Co-op) from the University of Waterloo. He is currently a student at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto and is a member of the University of Toronto’s Hart House Film Board. He is also the director and producer of the documentary introduced during the London event.

Zuberi remarked, “Given [Dr. Harrit’s] background in physical chemistry and mine in mathematical physics, our physics background gives us a slightly different angle of approach used by engineers in how to examine NIST’s analysis. I felt relieved to speak the same language that Niels did. His points, such as asymmetrical damage not being able to result in symmetrical collapse (referring to WTC 7), and his use of electron microscopy precisely connected with what I learned in university regarding advanced mechanics and condensed matter theory.”

Toronto, Ontario - March 4 (left to right): Pernille Grumme, Adnan Zuberi, Niels Harrit, and Richard B. Lee sit down to discuss the day’s events

Attendees were “mainly professors in physics, geography, materials science, etc.” Richard B. Lee, a Distinguished Professor at the University of Toronto and Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, moderated Harrit’s presentation. An audience of 115 came out, consisting of students, professors and members of the general public. “Every member of the audience stayed enthusiastically an additional hour beyond the program schedule and continued the important discussion with Niels,” stated Zuberi. The hall was booked from 7:00 to 9:00 pm and everyone stayed until 10:00 pm, all the way to the end of the Q&A session.

“Niels was extremely well received and the QA session consisted of good questions… This tour was an historical national effort that puts Canada on strong grounds as we approach the tenth anniversary of 9/11.”

Personal Reflections

I personally spent 2 days with Niels and Pernille. What struck me the most was not only Dr. Harrit’s deep technical knowledge on just about any 9/11 related subject, but also the overall approachability and warmth that he and Pernille exude. I even learned some things that few others would know, such as the fact that Niels is an accomplished saxophone player, and once played in the band at a Ray Charles concert in Denmark. From the first introductions to the final “until next time” farewell, this pair of genuinely caring people made us all feel welcome in their presence, and able to approach any topic or question with ease.

One particular topic I want to mention here is the ad hominem accusation made by some critics to the effect that people like Niels and Pernille are in the 9/11 truth movement for personal financial gain. When I discussed this issue with Pernille, her sense of disdain for this idea was palpable. The fact is that they do this out of a passionate desire to make the world a better place, not only for themselves but for future generations, and that the work they do in this regard is at their own personal expense, and certainly not to their financial benefit.

Whether they were right beside us or nearly half a world away, all of us involved in the Canadian 9/11 truth movement came away from this experience having made new friends with whom we share a common thread of understanding and compassion.

Lastly, here are some final thoughts as presented to me by Dr. Harrit.

Dear Mike,

The 9/11 truth movement is a movement, not an organization. No one tells anyone what to do. At some point in their recent lives, every individual has realized that 9/11 was an event for which not only the official version clashes with reality, but also that the impact on our civilization would be devastating if no action is taken.

And each individual listened to an inner voice, got up and took action.

This step – from understanding to acting – is shorter for some than for others. If I should point at one single, salient feature of all the great people Pernille and I met during our travel across Canada, it relates to this barrier – or the lack of it.

We all know “the 9/11 fatigue”. It hits us all once in a while when the apathy of our fellow citizens makes our mission look enormous and our skull hurts from banging into the mainstream media wall. This is no less true for Denmark. Both the apathy and the wall. Indifference seems to be inherent in our national character.

So, Pernille and I also came to Canada to get a refill.

We did indeed.

If I may return to this inner urge to act, we found this to be a common characteristic in all the local truther communities we met across Canada. Taking action is not a question. Not taking action is not an option. We believe that this is a feature of the Canadian society, which springs from roots going deep into fifty years of anti-war and civil rights activism. In a broader sense, a foreigner senses a tradition for taking part in society on a level which was pertinent to survival when the country was young.

Also, allow me to say a few words about the situation in Canadian academia. The colleagues I met had no constraints – or fears – discussing 9/11. Of course, the selection might not have been representative. But still, I was surprised to discover how it could be. I believe that when it comes to consciousness about 9/11 and freedom of speech, Canada is leading in the world. Where else would an Alvin Lee or a Richard B. Lee take such a stand in the public domain – not to mention a Tony Hall, a Graeme MacQueen, an Adam Hitchcock, an Anne Savage, and all the other kind colleagues coming up to me after the presentations. This situation is a Canadian asset. Take it to the world.

I have been asked: “What do you feel the members of the Canadian truth movement are doing well? What could we do better? What do you see as the next most important steps that we can do in Canada to further the cause of 9/11 truth?”

That’s easy: Just keep doing what you’re doing. Push every button. The initiatives taken before the coming elections look very promising. Important too, considering your southern neighbor.

Thanks to everyone who took care of us so warmly and generously.

Niels Harrit