As reported by the badass bloggers of ScrewLooseChange, Dylan Avery, director of the screwy-but-seminal 9/11 conspiracy theory flick Loose Change, has jumped ship on the unmitigated disaster that is the Chandler 9/11 Accountability Conference. Avery issued a press release today at The Official Loose Change Blog explaining his reasons:
2.09.2007 Press Release Louder Than Words LLC will no longer be able to participate in the upcoming 9/11 Accountability Conference in Arizona on February 23rd - 25th, due to the involvement of Eric D. Williams who has authored a book promoting Holocaust denial, entitled "The Puzzle Of Auschwitz."
Louder Than Words LLC does not associate in any way with Holocaust denial groups, hate groups, or fringe conspiracy theory groups of any kind. We regret not being able to attend, and this does not reflect in any way our passion for seeking the truth regarding 9/11.
We apologize to anyone who was anticipating our presence. posted by dylan avery at 7:22 PM
Asked on the Loose Change forum why he wasn't going, as Williams has supposedly removed himself from the conference, Avery answered:
Eric is still attached to the conference. And apparently Kevin Barret (sic) has made some off-color remarks concerning the Holocaust as well. It's a very unfortunate situation for all involved.
This seems to confirm my suspicion that Williams is still pulling strings behind the scenes, a suspicion aroused when AZ ACLU executive director Alessandra Soler Meetze withdrew from the conference and told me that e-mails from organizer Kent Knudson to her had been cc'd to Eric Williams. BTW, it's been several days since Meetze said she would not participate, and her name is still listed under the conference's "confirmed speakers." Her photo and bio are still up as well. Wonder how long it will take Knudson, et al. to remove Meetze's name and Avery's, now that he's out?
Why is this important? Because Knudson and his wack-job pals are selling tickets to this conference at $129 a pop. How can they sign people up at that price if all of their big names are opting not to participate?
Avery also mentions alleged statements by Kevin Barrett, an associate lecturer on Islam at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who's scheduled to make an appearance at the Chandler meeting. Wikipedia.org offers a supposed quote from Barrett on the subject. The quote is from this website Oilempire.us. You can read the passage in full there, or on ScrewLooseChange.
So now we know that the 9/11 Accountability Conference's Web site is misleading, that Holocaust denier Eric Williams may still be active in the event, and that one of the most prominent members of the 9/11 "truth" crowd will not attend because he believes Williams is still involved and because he suspects there may be other participants with similarly sketchy views. $129 for a ride on this sinking ship? If you're ready to pay that, I've got some oceanfront property in Surprise you might be interested in...
