A federal judge in New York has rejected a motion from Saudi Arabia to dismiss the suit against possible involvement in the Kingdom’s attack. The ruling has been a great success for the victims’ relatives
9/11 case is approved at trial, new evidence points to wider conspiracy
Saudi Arabia can withstand civil trials on alleged attacks on 9/11 after presenting new evidence that the victims could link the kingdom together.
Straight Arrow News
NEW YORK – After decades of lawsuits, a federal judge has allowed a progressive lawsuit against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia over the Gulf state’s potential involvement in the 9/11 terrorist attack that killed nearly 3,000 people.
The decision of US District Judge George B. Daniels shows a significant step for the victim’s relatives of September 11, 2001, for the attacks that have been trying to bring the kingdom to court since 2002. He owned a potential attack plan.
Court records show that one Saudi official in San Diego had installed hijackers in his apartment, recorded videos from a well-known government site in Washington, D.C., and had a drawing with long calculations showing how planes can reach a specific target on the horizon.
“A lot of people think we didn’t get to that bottom 24 years ago, 9/11,” the answer is literally against it,” said Brett Eagleson, who lost his father to the attack. “All of these loose ends and roads back to Saudi Arabia are still there.”
The family wants to sue damages and opportunities to learn the truth, saying that a trial will come to light the full narrative of how the 9/11 terrorist attack was planned.
“There’s a lot more to the story,” Eagleson said. “For 20 years, we have said that the Saudi government has been explicitly involved. It is an element within the government, if not the king himself.”
Saudi Arabia’s Omar Al-Baiyyyy and Fahad al-Tumeiry have made a deal with Saudi Arabia’s Nawaf Al-Hazmi and Khalid al-Midar.
Both Baiumi and Tumily are in Saudi Arabia, but this does not sign an extradition treaty with the United States. They have not been charged with a crime.
What does Saudi Arabia say?
Kingdom lawyers and embassy officials did not reply to requests for comment.
At a court hearing last year, Saudi lawyers argued that the relationship between the hijacker and Baiumi and Sumaily was purely coincidence. Thumairy was stationed in the United States as part of the Gulf State’s Ministry of Islamic Affairs and assisted in the operation of the mosque in Los Angeles, court filings state. According to the Kingdom’s lawyer, Baiuumi was a longtime accountant for the country’s civil aviation agency, who was in the United States to promote his education.
Kingdom’s lawyers said Baiumi and Tumily helped Hasumi and Mihadhar, not because they were terrorists. They were simply helping fellow Saudi Arabia, as Saudi Arabians have for Saudi rookies to the United States, the lawyers alleged.
However, Daniels was not impressed by the answers of the Saudi lawyers, and the transcript repeatedly asked for evidence that San Diego-based Bayoumi co-signed the lease to anyone other than the hijacker.
The Kingdom alleges that “no one in the Saudi government directed others to assist the Bai-Umi, Sumaire or the hijackers,” Daniels wrote in a 45-page ruling. “However, the court found this claim lacked power compared to multiple circumstantial evidence that produces reasonable inferences,” the pair said they coordinated with senior Saudi officials in supporting hijackers.
The Kingdom’s lawyers also said at the hearing that even evidence linking Baiumi and Tumiley to the hijackers did not prove that they acted at their government’s request.
“Even if Baiumi and Tumeiley themselves know the hijacking plans and support them,” said Kingdom lawyer Michael K. Kellogg at the 2024 hearing.
Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was born in Saudi Arabia, but was expelled from the country in 1991 and his citizenship was revoked in 1994 due to extremist activities.
What does the evidence show?
Some of the strongest evidence has been obtained recently in favour of the victims’ family claims, according to group lawyer Don Miliori.
New evidence includes a Washington, DC video taken by Baiumi in 1999, as well as hand-made drawings of a calculated plane. Both were found in his possession by Scotland Yard in 2001 and recently handed over to a family seeking to file a lawsuit. The Baiumi had moved to the UK just before the attack on September 11th.
The drawing shows a sketch of the plane, containing multiple calculations and notes, court records show. Inside the notes of Baiumi there was the following line: “h = Height the plane from Miles of Earth,” “Distance from Airplane to Harizen.”
Bayyoumi told police that the drawings were made out of simple interest in the topic, court records show. Kingdom’s lawyer said at the hearing that he believed it was related to his son’s mathematics homework.
The video shot by Baiumi lasts over an hour, showing iconic Washington sites, including the White House and Capitol.
The 9/11 family lawyer says the video is not a memorabilia, but is actually a showcase of potential targets for terrorist attacks.
Baiumi spoke during the video, and at one point near the National Mall: “We say our children are demons, but these are the demons of the White House.” At another point, he says, “In front of Congress. There is no power or strength other than through Allah.”
How did Saudi Arabia help California hijackers?
After arriving in January 2000, hijackers Hazmi and Mihdhar made quick friends in California.
Hazmi and Mihad went to the Mosque in Tumeir shortly after they arrived, and later witnesses were placed in Imam’s company, court records show. Thumairy says he doesn’t remember them and has never helped or directed anyone to help a pair of newcomers into American soil.
Bayyoumi met the hijacker around February 2000, court filings have been shown. He said the first meeting at a halal restaurant in Los Angeles was a coincidence encounter that happened to meet after hearing the pair speak Arabic, court records show.
Court records show that the hijacker traveled to San Diego a few days later. Baiumi wants to earn referral fees and says supporting newcomers is typical in the Muslim community, but the kingdom’s lawyers were unable to provide evidence of similar help provided by Biomi.
According to court filings, the 9/11 committee recognized the hijackers dealing with Bai-Umi and Tsmeiree and considered them as accidental. However, the judge in the case thought that the kingdom’s lawyers did not properly explain why Baiyumi and Sm-Ailey called each other frequently.
“Until I take my last breath, I will fight for justice.”
According to Migliori, a lawyer for Motley Rice’s group, the ruling from federal courts in Manhattan has been a significant achievement for the victims’ families.
Sue Saudi Arabia has been impossible for many years because there was no legal path to sue foreign sovereignty in US courts.
In 2016, Congress enacted justice against the Terrorist Sponsorship Act. This narrowed the foreign immune protection and effectively allowed families to file lawsuits against Saudi Arabia.
Evidence, including plane drawings and Washington videos, was handed over by British authorities in 2022, moving the case forward. The family’s attorney said additional evidence from Scotland Yard has been dealt with.
The victim’s relatives said they have been making their efforts for decades due to the prolonged pain.
“This rule makes a lot of sense because until I take my last breath, I will fight for justice for him,” said Mary Gerati, who died when her husband’s battalion chief Edward Gerati attempted to save people from the tower. “We have been excluded as a nation from the events of the day, but for me, I closed my eyes and came back soon. The terrible death and suffering they endured.
