The last man alive out of the World Trade Center's North Tower Sept. 11 2001, janitor William Rodriguez, told his story of survival and heroism Saturday at a lecture sponsored by the Muslim-Jewish-Christian Alliance for 9/11 Truth.
Rodriguez held one of five master keys to the WTC—a tool he calls ""the key of hope"" that enabled him to save 15 people trapped inside the two towers.
The custodian's story started at 8:30 a.m. when he arrived to work on the basement level of the North Tower. He was late and ached from cleaning the 110 flights of stairs the day before. He had missed the free breakfast he ate every morning on the top-floor restaurant, Windows on the World.
At 8:46 a.m. he heard an explosion. ""Boom!"" Rodriguez imitated. He heard a man screaming ""Explosion! Explosion!"" from underneath. ""I wanted to say a generator blew up. I thought it was a bomb.""
This piece of evidence may show explosives were used in accompaniment to the hijacked planes, he said. When the plane hit, ""the walls cracked and the building shook.""
Rodriguez did not pause. He helped a man with a third of his body burned and pulled two out of an elevator filled with water. He put them in an ambulance and re-entered the towers.
He met firefighters and used his key to open stairwells and guide them through the building he had worked in for over twenty years.
""We got to go up, we got to go up!"" he said. ""I want to go up to help my friends,"" Rodriguez said, referring to the cooks at the top floor restaurant.
He assisted employees who could not find exits and helped carry a man in a wheelchair. ""I do not know where I got the strength,"" he said.
""My adrenaline was still pumping miracle after miracle. You didn't digest what had just happened.""
Rodriguez safely escaped the building, and after an explosion, lay in rubble for hours.
A native of Puerto Rico and a U.S. citizen, Rodriquez is now a global activist. He has been honored by the White House five times and helped create the 9/11 Commission.
But Rodriguez says survivors are still searching for answers.
""Twenty-two people were injured down there [in the basement], and not one of them was called to testify. We believe they did not tell us the truth.""
Rodriguez's visit was sparked by an invite from UW lecturer and 9/11 conspiracy theorist, Kevin Barrett.
Barrett said Rodriguez wrote to him, and wanted to visit to ""set the record straight,"" after the College Republicans hosted a 9/11 survivor in March and much of the talk surrounded Barrett's conspiracy theories.
""He is the custodian of truth that can save the world—he is the 9/11 key master—the key to unlocking the truth,"" Barrett said of Rodriguez.
