The Chilling 9/11 Connection That Could Change Everything

People often claim complex causes for simple things, and simple causes for complex things. So pictures of Earth from space? They represent a flat-earth denying, NASA-driven cabal of conspiratorial silence to squash the truth of ... uh, an infinity of ice encircling our disc planet? The current ultra-sociopolitically-dense conflict between the terrorist organization Hamas and Israel? That's just good guys vs. bad guys — easy. Scientific and historical illiteracy greatly exacerbate such tendencies. That being said, strange complications do arise, like in the case of 9/11.

The 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City have always provided fertile ground for conspiracy theories. People wanted answers and a target for anger, and so they conjured the "it was an inside job" conspiracy featuring the familiar "jet fuel can't melt steel" tagline, as the BBC outlines. But even with detailed timelines describing the events of 9/11, some suggest that our knowledge regarding what happened that day remains incomplete.

On that note, in July 2024 "60 Minutes" recently released video footage dating to 1999 that might cast 9/11 in a very different light. In the video (watchable on CBS News), Saudi Omar al-Bayoumi films Washington, D.C.'s Capitol Hill between the Washington Monument and Capitol Building. He references a "plan," and seems to be making a map of the area, taking note of entrances and security guards. He also had close ties to two of the 9/11 hijackers, Khalid al-Mihdhar and Nawaf al-Hazmi. 

Before jumping on the conspiracy train let's be clear: Available information related to Omar al-Bayoumi's 1999 trip to Washington, D.C. does not provide evidence that the Saudi government colluded with al-Qaeda to bring down the World Trade Center. At minimum, the evidence speaks about al-Bayoumi and al-Bayoumi, only.

CBS News explains that the video in question came to light because the Biden administration declassified 20-plus-year-old documents related to 9/11 investigations. In accordance with his executive order the FBI released over 700 pages of documents, including a 16-page report from 2016 describing how hijackers Khalid al-Mihdhar and Nawaf al-Hazmi received "significant logistic support" from a source in the U.S. — possibly someone who worked at Washington, D.C.'s Saudi embassy. British police found the video in al-Bayoumi's U.K. apartment when they arrested him two weeks after 9/11. Along with the footage, they found a drawing of a plane and an equation that could have been used to plan 9/11, as well as an address book with phone numbers of Saudi government officials. 

The FBI's documents catalog how al-Bayoumi met with al-Mihdhar and al-Hazmi in 2000 at a halal restaurant in California. Al-Bayoumi set them up with an apartment in San Diego and a bank account. A separate CBS News article says al-Bayoumi reportedly spoke with an associate about how Muslims were "at jihad" and needed to "take action." This article also describes al-Bayoumi as a "ghost employee" on the payroll at a Saudi aviation company who never appeared on the job.

Folks might remember that four separate planes were hijacked on 9/11. American Airlines Flight 11 hit the World Trade Center's north tower, United Airlines Flight 175 hit its south tower, and American Airlines Flight 77 hit the Pentagon. The fourth plane — United Airlines flight 93 — crashed in a flat, open field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Much like the other aircraft, everyone onboard died. Flight 93 remains something of a mystery, as it's not clear why the plane crashed where it did. 

Now that Omar al-Bayoumi's video has surfaced, some suggest that a building on Capitol Hill — possibly the Capitol building itself — was Flight 93's true, intended target. In this scenario al-Bayoumi was gathering intelligence to help with the Flight 93 arm of the 9/11 attacks. As CBS News reports, however, the 9/11 Commission dismissed claims that al-Bayoumi had connections with Saudi intelligence way back in 2004. The commission also concluded that there was "no credible evidence" that al-Bayoumi "believed in violent extremism or knowingly aided extremists groups." At the same time, the FBI concluded that there was a "50/50 chance ... al-Bayoumi had advanced knowledge the 9/11 terrorist attacks were to occur." Taking such statements as they read, this means that while al-Bayoumi was not directly involved in planning 9/11, he might have caught wind of it due to people he knew in the U.S. at the time. This makes the video oddly suspicious, but likely nothing more.