New York Rep. Jamaal Bowman issued a statement to The Daily Beast after the outlet reported that Bowman promoted "wild conspiracy theories" on his personal blog in a Monday report.
According to the outlet, Bowman's blog was operated during his time as a middle school principal at the Cornerstone Academy for Social Action in the Bronx, New York as far back as 2014. Around February 2016, the blog was scrubbed of all posts which ranged from poetry to essays on topics ranging from the Florida recount during the 2000 presidential election, the Y2K bug that stoked fear at the turn of the century, and speculation that the September 11 Terrorist Attacks were an inside job by the United States government.
The notion of Building 7's collapse being a controlled demolition, which was a large component the "inside job" theory, has been denied by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, which asserts the building's destruction was consistent with compromised structural integrity after the building was hit with debris from the initial attack on the Twin Towers.
“2001/Planes used as missiles/Target: The Twin Towers,” reads a stanza on an archived poem by the New York representative, per The Daily Beast. “Later in the day/Building 7/Also Collaspsed [sic]/Hmm.../Multiple explosions/Heard before/And during the collapse/Hmm…”
“Allegedly/Two other planes/The Pentagon/Pennsylvania/Hijacked by terrorist [sic]/Minimal damage done/Minimal debris found/Hmm…” the poem continues.
“We blamed Osama/Went to war in Iraq/Captured Saddam/Killed him,” Bowman continued in his poem. “Bin Laden is Afghan/So we went to war there too.”
In the poem, Bowman credits the 2005 documentary Loose Change and the 2007 documentary series Zeitgeist, which explore theories behind the terrorist attacks that counter official narratives.
Bowman's poem also directly references Zeitgeist director Peter Joseph by name.
“I don’t believe anything that these cranks have said, and my life’s work has proven that," Bowman said in a statement to The Daily Beast. "As a Congressman, I’ve written a Congressional Resolution condemning a dangerous conspiracy theory, I’ve stood up to MAGA extremists, and I’ve called out the endless bulls--- of the far-right.”
The New York representative told the outlet in the years since his blog, he has "learned how misinformation spreads."
“I regret posting anything about any of these people. Anyone who looks at my work today knows where I stand," Bowman added.
Last year, Bowman infamously was caught on camera pulling a fire alarm during a House vote last September. The New York Rep. issued an apology shortly after the incident. “Today, as I was rushing to make a vote, I came to a door that is usually open for votes but today would not open. I am embarrassed to admit that I activated the fire alarm, mistakenly thinking it would open the door,” he said in the late-September apology. “I regret this and sincerely apologize for any confusion this caused.” “But I want to be very clear, this was not me, in any way, trying to delay any vote,” Bowman continued, per The Daily Wire. “It was the exact opposite – I was trying urgently to get to a vote, which I ultimately did and joined my colleagues in a bipartisan effort to keep our government open.” In December, Bowman was censured in the House for his action.
