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WikiLeaks Posts Alleged 9/11 Pager Messages
By
Jen Chung
Published Nov 26, 2009
Modified Nov 26, 2009
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By
Jen Chung
Published Nov 26, 2009
Modified Nov 26, 2009
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Yesterday, WikiLeaks began posting "half a million US national text pager intercepts," saying, "The archive is a completely objective record of the defining moment of our time. We hope that its entrance into the historical record will lead to a nuanced understanding of how this event led to death, opportunism and war."
WikiLeaks also says, "Messages in the archive range from Pentagon, FBI, FEMA and New York Police Department exchanges, to computers reporting faults at investment banks inside the World Trade Center." CBS News' Declan McCullagh wrote yesterday, "It's impossible to tell whether the logs have been faithfully reproduced in their entirety. But there's evidence they have been: I spoke to three journalists working on September 11, 2001 whose correspondence appeared in the logs or who were familiar with the messages circulated in their newsrooms that day. All three say the logs appear to be legitimate." Here's an index of the messages—and of course there are questions as to how these messages, which start at 3 a.m. on September 11, 2001, were collected.
The messages include missives like "DO NOT GET ON THE PATH TRAIN...THE WORLD TRADE CENTER IS ON FIRE" to "President has been rerouted wont be returning to washington but not sure where he will go," as well as more personal messages, "THIS IS MYRNA, I WILL NOT REST UNTIL YOU GO HOME, THE SECOND TOWER IS DOWN, I DON'T WANT TO HAVE TO KEEP CALLING YOU AFTER EVERY EVENT. PLS JUST GO HOME." The Post also prints numerous messages—"09:06:31 airplane just crashed into the world trade center. F---- huge hole and huge-er fire."
The AP says that the NYPD and FDNY "said they could not confirm that any of the messages were actual department communications. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the U.S. Secret Service and the Federal Emergency Management Administration declined to comment on the messages."
Tagged
9/11
9/11 attack
pager messages
september 11
wikileaks
world trade center
world trade center attack
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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