John O'Neill
publication date: Thursday, September 9, 2021 (part of Fall 2021)
category: Mysteries
clue: Conspiracy theories that focused on who had advance knowledge of the 9/11 attacks have often involved this FBI counter-terrorism expert, who investigated the 1993 WTC bombing and expected it to happen again.
explanation: O'Neill was an FBI agent who was involved in numerous counter-terrorism investigations. He was driven out of the agency in August 2001 and took a job as the head of security at the World Trade Center, remarking to a nervous friend that he expected the same terrorists to come back and "finish the job." more…
intended difficulty: hard
solved by: Russ Wilhelm, Steve West, LaVonne Lemler, Samir Mehta, Chris Lemler, Richard Slominsky, Denise Sawicki, Matthew Preston, Erik Bates, and Aaron Shurtleff