well if they can do it...

why cant ats?

what i mean is for an american ats member to put in a freedom of information request to get the confiscated footage (from the garage and hotel that were opposite the pentagon), released to the public.

after all, they have got no excuse now for not releasing them to the public seeing as the trial is now over.

any takers?

not one reply after 24 hours

not one u.s. person prepared to pursue this?

isnt that interesting

How is that interesting? Perhaps you just didn't make your intentions clear. See, everyone jumps to these conclusions when their wishes are not met!

I know nothing about the September attacks, but from what you said, yes, people should be lobbying for release of footage if that helps confirm that a commercial plane hit the building. The government keeps secrets for the sake of keeping secrets. They should get out of this habit, if only to prove to a skeptical community that they are not lying. Although the chances of that are nil; as the govt. seems to be in this happy state where they think that everyone agrees with them.

The question is, how do we put in an official request for the footage to be released? Does it cost money? Do we have to pay court costs?

Originally posted by Leto
The question is, how do we put in an official request for the footage to be released? Does it cost money? Do we have to pay court costs?

Each federal agency has their own freedom of information office. So you'll need to know which agency has the footage. I'd say most likely the FBI. You'll submit a form to them which can be found at: foia.fbi.gov...

They will see if they possess the information that you need, and if you can have access to it, and which if any portions violate privacy laws, or need to remain secret for the time being. Then they will submit the results back to you. In either a: “we don't have this,” “you can't see this,” “you can only see this much,” or “here it is,” type deal.

Usually you'll be charged research time and the cost of making copies. In this case the charge should be small or possibly waved. If you were looking for something that is spread out and encompasses massive amounts of paperwork the price can be much higher.
The only reason for any kind of court costs would be in the case that the government says "you can't have it" or "you can only have this much" and you feel that it is inappropriate in some way (e.g. they turn over the tape but the plane hitting the building is blacked out). If they say they don't have it, there isn't anything you can do from a court stand point. The recourse would be contacting the GAO. Or it could be that they don’t have it.

im not sure how much clearer i could have made this.

the website for making foi reqests (& pricing) is here - www.usdoj.gov...

what i found interesting is the amount of u.s. members who had an opinion one way or the other when it came to posting in any of the threads about the just-released footage that another website fought to have released, but not one member here jumped to do the same when its suggested. the foi is there for your benefit and you should jump to make use of it if you're searching for truth

hmmm - now theres an idea. perhaps ats should dedicate a section for foi requests which is paid for by sponsorship & additional advertising. that way, non-u.s. persons could help to contribute to costs. voting (like wats) could decide what foi request is put forward monthly or whatever........... does that sound like a better idea?

Judicial Watch originally filed a Freedom of Information Act request on December 15, 2004, seeking all records pertaining to September 11, 2001 camera recordings of the Pentagon attack from the Sheraton National Hotel, the Nexcomm/Citgo gas station, Pentagon security cameras and the Virginia Department of Transportation. The Department of Defense admitted in a January 26, 2005 letter that it possessed a videotape responsive to Judicial Watch’s request. However, the Pentagon refused to release the videotape because it was, “part of an ongoing investigation involving Zacarias Moussaoui.” Judicial Watch filed a lawsuit on February 22, 2006 arguing that there was “no legal basis” for the Defense Department’s refusal to release the tape.

This is from the Judicial Watch website: www.judicialwatch.org...

In other words that tape is all the DoD has.

Originally posted by justyc
perhaps ats should dedicate a section for foi requests which is paid for by sponsorship & additional advertising. that way, non-u.s. persons could help to contribute to costs.

Even if you couldn't get a fee waiver I think for under $100 you could have it all. I don't forsee looking for a tape/tapes taking more than an hour. And I believe they have 90 days to respond.

Also, when the latest tape was released the government stated that "there will be no more videos forthcoming". So, that's all they plan to release. Ever.

Originally posted by jtma508
Also, when the latest tape was released the government stated that "there will be no more videos forthcoming". So, that's all they plan to release. Ever.

I'd love to see where your quote came from. And by government do you mean Department of Defense? Again if they've inventoried what they have, and all they had was this tape then of course it's the only video they will release. Plus it makes logical sense that this, and the other tape we already have would be the only tapes the DoD would have after all it's from their security camera. I don't see the military going around to a gas station and asking them for their tapes, that sounds a lot like the FBI.

Valhall pressed NIST to release the photos and videos they're withholding from the public. They told her that they'd be happy to if she paid them something like $10,000 dollars, if I remember correctly. But I suspect if she had offered the money, some problem would have come up.

Originally posted by bsbray11
Valhall pressed NIST to release the photos and videos they're withholding from the public. They told her that they'd be happy to if she paid them something like $10,000 dollars, if I remember correctly. But I suspect if she had offered the money, some problem would have come up.

No clue what the NIST is.

If it's a government agency then that's bull# in so many different ways. It would be easy fodder for a lawsuit. Freedom of information act requests are done AT cost (the cost is computed by each agency. so it won't be $30 for you, but $10,000 for you) that's the whole point of the law. Plus by saying that it would cost $10,000 they are admitting that the tape can be completely released, there is no legal issue that is holding it up. And even in the very slight chance that this was true, don't you think that a news agency would pay $10,000 just to have an exclusive putting this info out for viewers, think of the sponsor dollars.

not sure what nist (national institute of standards and technology) would be doing with the confiscated video footage, but they they do have to reply within 20 days to foi requests which can be done from here - www.nist.gov...

perhaps some other u.s. person could press them and see what they say about it