William Rodriguez, the last man out of the twin towers, who has been honored five times as a true 9/11 hero, has been evicted from a British hotel, because of his "political views".The North West Evening Mail reported the change in plan in a slightly sneering manner:
Hotel bans 9/11 survivorAnd so on ...
Published on 05/07/2007
A CONSPIRACY theorist who survived the 9/11 attacks has been banned from a Grange hotel over his controversial views.
Decorated hero William Rodriguez, who believes the US government were behind the attacks, has been told he is not welcome at Graythwaite Manor Hotel because of his “political views”.
Mr Rodriguez, a former janitor credited with saving countless lives on 9/11, is due to give a talk on his experiences at the Victoria Hall in Grange tonight (july 5) as part of his European lecture tour.
In February, Mr Rodriguez planted a tree in the grounds of Graythwaite Manor to remember those who died on September 11, 2001, when terrorists flew jets into the Twin Towers.
He was due back at the hotel tonight and tomorrow night as the guest of owners Jimmy and Jane Duncan.
But in a press statement yesterday, Graythwaite Manor Hotel said he would no longer be staying there.
Mr Rodriguez's lecture was organised by Cumbria 9/11 Truth and Peace Group, which also holds controversial views on September 11.
Fortunately, Mick Meaney of RINF Alternative News picks up the hero's story and handles it a bit more respectfully
[I've quoted Mick Meaney in full here; for live links, an audio clip of William Rodriguez, and other resources click here to see the original]:
For the second time in less than a month, five times honoured 9/11 hero and last man out of the Twin Towers, William Rodriguez, has been banned from a British hotel.Nobody else has covered this story, except one small-town paper and an alternative website.
A hotel in Cumbria, the Graythwaite Manor, told William Rodriguez to stay away because of his “political views”.
William Rodriguez is currently touring the UK on a mission to expose the truth about the events of 9/11 - but his presentation does not point the finger or make any accusations towards who might have been responsible for the horrific attacks in New York. (See the remaining tour dates here http://www.nineeleven.co.uk)
He does however provide a startling first hand account of what happened which differs greatly from the official account, raising many unanswered questions.
The banning is a very strange occurrence as William Rodriguez had previously been made very welcome at the hotel, in February of this year he planted a tree at the hotel’s grounds in remembrance of the 9/11 victims.
The hotel has issued this press statement: “After careful consideration, the new management of Graythwaite Manor Hotel has decided to postpone William Rodriguez visit to the hotel due to his political views.
“Regarding the tree planting. The tree planted in the grounds of the Graythwaite Manor Hotel is purely in remembrance of the victims of 9/11 and is in no way related to Cumbria 9/11 Truth and Peace Group.”
In actual fact, the planting of the tree was arranged by the Cumbria 9/11 Truth and Peace Group.
One of the event organisers, Penny Pullen said: “I do not know the whole story. There has been one or two complaints about the talk to the tourist information centre.
“Mr Rodriguez does not present political views. He just presents his story and it’s up to everyone to do their research and find out what is the truth for themselves.”
Penny Pullen represents a peace group working in the area to raise awareness of social, political and health issues, which RINF is also a member of. Since becoming involved with the group and seeing for myself, I can state without hesitation that all work being done is for the benefit of the community, providing positive real world solutions and information to counter the unacceptable mainstream media’s distortions and denials - and to also pressure politicians into rejecting their compliance of the criminality within the British government.
William Rodriguez’s presentation does not carry any political content apart from his own personal accounts of the 9/11 Commission and his dealings with members of the Bush administration. His views are his own and he does not represent the group or act as a spokesman. He has been unfairly punished for his association with a dissident group dedicated to promoting peaceful activism.
This is the second time that William Rodriguez has been banned from a British hotel. Last month RINF reported that a hotel in Peterborough had cancelled a presentation by William Rodriguez, citing an attack from a member of the public on one of the event promoters as the reason - but quickly reversed their story claiming the event organiser attacked the member of the public, which has since been exposed as less than truthful.
Despite the setback, tonight William Rodriguez gave a remarkable and moving presentation at the Victoria Hall in Grange, which drew a standing-room-only audience. The sheer volume of people attending to hear his story is a clear indication the masses are no longer thoroughly convinced by the lies of the Bush administration in their attempt to cover up the facts of what really happened on 9/11 – and the fact that it has been used as an excuse by the British government to step up ‘security measures’ that amount to nothing more than a Orwellian surveillance society. The events of 9/11 have also been used to start illegal and immoral wars that kill hundreds of thousands of innocent lives, while funding the military industrial complex in the excess of trillions.
A member of the audience stated afterwards: “I’m outraged at how this man has been treated by the hotel. He is a guest in our country and should be treated like one. It is so admirable what he is doing. We have someone who will be in the history books forever staying in our village and I’m disgusted with the way Graythwaite Manor have treated him. I urge all to boycott the hotel in a sign of protest. ”
A newspaper report from the North-West Evening Mail reported the story, but claims “the Cumbria 9/11 Truth and Peace Group were unavailable for comment”, a blatant lie that demonstrates the mainstream media’s tendency to report what it wants to, while ignoring the facts and [making] no attempts to uncover them. The paper had actually quoted Penny Pullen, but still made the false claim - in what can only be assumed as an attempt to damage the group's reputation.
The peace group are seeking an apology from the paper for their sloppy and unprofessional standards in journalism.
Speaking to RINF, William Rodriguez said this type of treatment only makes him more determined to get his message out.
“When people try to stop me and when I see articles on the internet trying to damage me, I know we are winning. The UK 9/11 truth movement is a powerful force and these attacks only strengthen us, they actually do us a favour and draw more people to the movement. We have the truth on our side and they cannot defeat that,” said Mr Rodriguez.
I guess they all have more important things to do.