AE911Truth Congressional Outreach Team leader Wayne Coste and other 9/11 Truth activists prepare to engage the public about the destruction of WTC Building 7. Coste used the AE911Truth “human microphone speech” developed by his Congressional Outreach Team to inform the crowd.

With assistance provided by Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth, the Remember Building 7 campaign and NYC CAN organized Occupy Building 7, a two-day protest designed to raise awareness about the destruction of Building 7, the third World Trade Center skyscraper to fall on 9/11. On November 19 and 20, the marches and vigils were held from Zuccotti Park in the Wall Street District of Manhattan along the sidewalks for several blocks to the site of the rebuilt WTC Building 7.

Zuccotti Park, which is the heart of the Occupy Wall Street movement, lies in the figurative shadow of the Twin Towers and in the literal shadow of their replacement tower that is currently under construction and now reaches over 20 stories into the air.

Over the last two months, AE911Truth supporters and others have provided “occupiers” across the country with information about the explosive 9/11 evidence. The occupiers are becoming informed about the logical and scientific fallacies in the official accounts that make those versions not just implausible, but impossible.

Coste helped carry massive banners like this one as Occupy Building 7 brought the WTC truth to the streets of Manhattan

Each day of our Occupy Building 7 demonstration started with an assembly in front of Zuccotti Park along Broadway, where we held the Occupy Building 7 and AE911Truth banners. When we arrived at the park, there were about two dozen occupiers inside the fenced-in area that now defines the park’s perimeter.

While most of the police were friendly, these officers asked the WTC7 protesters to move to a “free speech zone”

During the next hour, the crowds grew and pedestrians clogged the sidewalks on Church and Broadway. From there, Occupy Building 7 volunteers handed out the 9/11 Investigator newspaper and other materials to the pedestrians and other onlookers. The approach that seemed to draw the most attention was, “Did you know? Did you know that over 1600 architects and engineers are calling for a new investigation into the destruction of World Trade Center Building Seven? Here! Take a copy of our newspaper!" We were able to pass out copies to about a third of the groups that walked by.

At one point during the event, I told a bystander that AE911Truth does not speculate about "who did it” or “why", we are technical and building professionals, and all we are asking for is a real investigation. A police officer jumped toward me and said, "I thought you guys said the government did it!" After I explained the position of AE911Truth to him, however, his personal hostility melted away. I found that remarkable. After that, we were not imposed on so vigorously by the NYPD.

Cheryl Curtiss, the host of the 9/11 Wake Up Call radio show in Connecticut, also interviewed a few of the young people at OWS who were not part of our demonstration. When asked if they saw any relationship between OWS and the events of 9/11, they all said no. However, after we explained to them the effect of the 9/11 catastrophe on the financial system, they understood the connection and had a lot to say on the subject.

We walked in silence during our march on Saturday, but drummers from Providence, Rhode Island joined us midway through the march. Their drumming made us visible and this provided us with more opportunities to hand out the AE911Truth street-ready brochures.

Several Native American drummers helped bring passionate attention to the demonstration

On Sunday, with fewer people and no drums, we expected it to be an unremarkable march. Fortunately, before the start of the march, one of our supporters came up with a chant that more than made up for the absent drums:

Call:             "Building Seven is a Lie"
Response:    "Time for us to Occupy!"

Activists Fred Mauney and George Ripley provided AE911Truth ground support in Manhattan with their made-to-order mobile sign frame

This worked great, and we got lots of attention and were really noticed by the sightseers.

Once we arrived at the park outside of Building 7, we found that it had been closed and there were barricades set up to contain the marchers. Our website and Facebook announcements were obviously noticed by law enforcement, as there were about 25-30 New York City and Port Authority police officers waiting for us. They acknowledged our right to march on the sidewalk, but noted that the park in front of Building 7 was officially closed.

I approached the police leadership and chatted with them about what the Occupy Building 7 march was all about and what our plans were. They said they had all lost comrades in the Twin Towers on 9/11. Then I gave them my four reasons for being involved with AE911Truth, which are included in the speech that is partially documented below.

Following this positive interaction with the police, some of us gave short speeches. Sander Hicks, the author of “Slingshot to the Juggernaut”, was very supportive of our message. He commented about how he has traveled across the country to different Occupy sites and found a strong 9/11 presence among occupiers everywhere. “9/11 was the catalyst for the destruction of civil liberties,” he said. “No questions were asked when giving away money and power to the military industrial complex, and it is clear to me that the voice of everyday people was drowned out.”

Coste, Steve White and Sharon Abreu were just a few of the many people who made the Occupy Building 7 activities possible

As we began walking around the new Building 7, one of the things that stood out was how cooperative and helpful the police were to us. They escorted us as we walked around the building once, returned to Zuccotti Park and then went back to Building 7 for a second loop. While their official role was as observers and chaperones, I felt their presence as a solidarity accompaniment. I was told afterward that some of the marchers were quietly asked for information about the 9/11 evidence by the police. It appears that the message was getting through to some of the police, who now saw us as courageous educators instead of just persistent protesters.

Once back at Zuccotti Park, our OWS supporters arranged for me to give the AE911Truth Human Microphone speech, which was welcomed warmly by the OWS demonstrators in attendance. You can watch the uplifting video now.

On Sunday the process was repeated, and at the pen, we gave speeches that were explicitly targeted at the largest audience, the police. I described my four reasons for being here:

First: I am a witness to a mass murder in which the people who pushed the buttons and brought the towers down are still “at-large.”

Second: As an engineer, I believe that physics and engineering is important, and to be told that the laws of physics didn’t apply on September 11 is an affront to me as an engineer.

Third: There is a greatly villainized community in the country, the Muslim community, which may not even be at fault for the crimes of 9/11.

Fourth: If something like this can be hidden in plain sight, what other stories are being filtered out of the media discussions?

I then closed it with my strongest outreach statement:

When I talk to firefighters, sometimes I hear that 9/11 is so far in the past. “Can't we let it drop?” people ask. To which I reply: Imagine you are a firefighter at the scene of an arson, and a sniper takes down one of your teammates. When are you going to stop looking for the shooter? Probably never. Somebody killed at least 411 firefighters, first responders and policemen with a push of a button…and that person is still out there today. We know this to be true.

Colorful signs like this one are available at the AE911Truth store for you to use in your next rally or outreach effort

Others addressed the police, stating our common concern with them about their connection to the ill and dying first responders.

Then Sharon Abreu, the songwriter who gave us the phrase “In the land of the free and the home of the brave, why are we so afraid to ask why?” inspired the group with her songs “Still Asking Why” and “Fear”.

While the number of participants for each day’s protests fell short of our expectations, our demonstrations still had a moving effect on those who saw them. Some people clapped as we walked by. Others raised a fist in unity with our message. And those hundreds who took a brochure, newspaper or flyer now have vital information about 9/11 that they can share with their friends and family. Every individual we reach represents a new opportunity for enlightenment, and another step closer to justice and accountability.