McKinney at Riverside
"We know there were numerous warnings of the events to come on September 11th…What did this administration know and when did it know it, about the events of September 11th? Who else knew, and why did they not warn the innocent people of New York who were needlessly murdered?…What do they have to hide?"
— The former Georgia congresswoman, Cynthia McKinney, in an interview with a Berkeley, Calif., radio station, quoted in April of 2002 by the Washington Post.
That was the former Democratic representative to Congress from Georgia, Cynthia McKinney, demanding an investigation into whether the Bush administration conspired, or was complicit, in the murder of more than 3,000 Americans. "Persons close to this administration are poised to make huge profits off America's new war," she added in the same interview. Thus did Ms. McKinney climb her way into the national limelight early last year upon the rubble of the Twin Towers. She earned contempt rather than plaudits for her performance back then — and got herself turned out of office in the Democratic primary last year — but she's going to be here in New York September 11 anniversary.
She comes as part of a panel of the conspiracy-minded at the Riverside Church at Morningside Heights. The church is hosting a "9-11 International Investigative Film Exhibition & Roundtable," featuring works with titles such as "AFTERMATH: Unanswered Questions from 9/11" and "The Great Deception." Ms. McKinney is known not just for her conspiracy theories. Before she got mixed up in demanding an investigation of the president for murder, she lusted after the Saudi money Mayor Giuliani turned down in the wake of September 11. Shortly after the attacks, a Saudi prince, Alwaleed bin Talal, sent Mr. Giuliani a check for $10 million for use in the relief efforts. When the prince seized on the publicity to lecture America that its policies toward Israel were to blame for the attacks, however, the mayor ripped the check up. Ms. McKinney then sent a letter consoling the prince that Mr. Giuliani had not "recognized your right to speak and make observations about a part of the world you know so well." She also asked if he might tape back together that $10 million check and send it on to her. "I would like to ask you to consider assisting Americans who are in dire need right now," she wrote. "I believe we can guide your generosity to help improve the state of Black America and build better lives."
Inviting Ms. McKinney to speak in a church so close to the graves of so many New Yorkers killed two years ago seems so inapt that one is tempted to write the matter off as an accident or error of judgment on the part of the Riverside Church. But its spokesman, Tinoa Rodgers, told The New York Sun yesterday: "I don't know if anyone knows who is behind the attack of September 11. There are a lot of theories going around and everybody draws their own conclusions.…I don't know what Al Qaeda is. It's a name they throw around."
