Deep Politics Forum

Officials' handling of the evidence of the September 11th attack has followed a clear pattern. The physical evidence most important to forensic analysis of the crime was destroyed or removed from the crime scene never to be seen again. Types of evidence not under the direct control of those officials were suppressed through a variety of means. These include photographs, video footage, and various once-public documents.{more}

The Destruction of Evidence from Ground Zero at the World Trade Center following the events of September 11, 2001, occurred, even though the criminal code requires that crime scene evidence be kept for forensic analysis. FEMA had steel recovered from the building rubble destroyed or shipped overseas before a serious investigation could take place. {more]

Ground Zero was the site of one of the largest evidence destruction operations in history. It was the scene of the mass murder of nearly 3000 people. Believing the official myth that Osama bin Laden's cells of hijackersTwin Towers does little to diminish the importance of the remains of the towers and Building 7 as evidence, since the collapse of these three skyscrapers contradicts the entire history of engineered steel structures. Yet the remains of these buildings were systematically removed and destroyed, and their examination was rendered impossible.{more}

On September 11, 2001, Mayor Rudolph Guiliani, with approval from Governor George Pataki, made the decision to reopen the Fresh Kills facility to accept the wreckage of the World Trade Center. The facility was the ideal location for this operation because it could be reached by land and water.

The Fresh Kills facility, which had closed in March 2001 after more than 50 years of operation, still had room to expand. However, the city wanted to return it to a wildlife refuge, and a park that offered high grassy hills, beautiful vistas and a clear view of the skyline of Manhattan. The World Trade Center was once at the center of the view toward the city. Of its 3,000 acres, 175 were secured on September 11, 2001, to receive the remains of the World Trade Center. Those acres became a New York Police Department crime scene while the other fields were left to return to a natural state.

The operation at Fresh Kills had three objectives: to find human remains, personal effects, and any evidence of the terrorist attack such as a highjacker's box cutter, cell phones from the planes, and the black boxes.

For almost a year, the recovery team at the Fresh Kills facility sifted, sorted, and searched through 1.8 million tons of World Trade Center material. The staff never recovered a black box from the jets, a box cutter, or anything relating to the hijackers.

• Recovered
  
• 4,257 pieces of human remains
  
• 54,000 personal effects—95% belonging to survivors, including 610 pieces of jewelry
  
• $76,318.47 found loose in the fields
  
• 6 kilograms of narcotics
  
• 4,000 photos—found and delivered to Kodak Laboratories and NFL Films to be decontaminated and restored
  
• 1,358 destroyed vehicles processed: 102 pieces of fire apparatus, 61 police department vehicles, and 1,195 personal automobiles
  
• Hundreds of airplane fragments
  
• Several pieces of Auguste Rodin sculptures from the offices of the investment firm Cantor Fitzgerald
  
• Thousands of rounds of unexploded ammunition