A 9/11 conspiracy group has acquired enough signatures to mount a ballot referendum questioning if 7 World Trade Center collapsed due to the terrorist attacks or due to other factors.
If the vote passes, the Buildings Department would be required to investigate the reasons behind the building’s collapse. Two previous reports by the Buildings Department have concluded that 7 World Trade Center collapsed due to fires that spread from the Twin Towers.
The group, known as the NYC Coalition for Accountability Now (NYC CAN), acquired 67,000 signatures on a petition to get the issue on a ballot, 37,000 more signatures than was required put an issue to a vote. It is now up to the City Council, who must decide whether or not to add the issue to a ballot before the Sept. 2 deadline.
According to the group’s Facebook page, they are “a non-partisan organization comprised of 9/11 Family Members, First Responders, Survivors, and concerned citizens committed to bringing about in [sic] independent, impartial investigation of the events surrounding September 11.”
NYC CAN tried to get the issue on a ballot in 2009, however they didn’t get enough signatures. They have been secretly meting with City Council members in recent years, and they have raised over $200,000 from donors. The chair of the Housing and Buildings committee, Jumaane Williams, is a member.
“We are concerned that a 47-story skyscraper that collapsed was not properly investigated,” said NYC CAN director Ted Walter.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have both investigated 7 World Trade Center’s collapse. “We still stand 100 percent behind the findings of our investigation into the collapse of 7 World Trade Center” NIST spokesman Michael Newman told the New York Post.
If the city council rejects the group’s bid by the Sept. 2 deadline, it could still move forward if it obtains 15,000 additional signatures by Sept. 4. Fifty paid group members are already out collecting the additional signatures.