His blanket statement about the internet is too broad and not generally true. The internet is still "an engine of education and enlightenment", despite its abuse by those who call for violence.
I hope that you can remain objective when evaluating Mr. Hoffman's testimony, despite your prior associations with him.
Even more egregious, however, is the testimony of Mr. Mark Weitzman of the Simon Wiesenthal Center. Weitzman's testimony also begins on-track, focused on violent radicalization and its perpetuation via the internet.
Unfortunately, Weitzman riots in tact and in fact when he also decides to stroll down "conspiracy theory" lane. During Weitzman's PowerPoint presentation to the Hearing, he presents a series of websites that purport to have content that instructs visitors how to conduct acts of terror, and talks of individuals affected by these sites.
I urge your staff to closely examine the sites that were presented by Mr. Weitzman, to see if his claims are true and accurate. I do this because once Mr. Weitzman goes off the beaten path, he is quickly out of his depths, and presents websites that bear no relation to his claims.
Weitzman says;
To illustrate the trends described above, we have put together a short PowerPoint demonstration. Without going into deep detail in these written remarks, I would like to offer some brief descriptions of the material that will be shown. The presentation begins with a look at how 9/11 is viewed in some eyes online, including those who applauded it as well as some conspiracies sites. The presence of the conspiracy site is significant, since so much of what passes as fact online is actually based on some form of conspiracy. These are often built around the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, which allege Jewish control of the world, or around presenting the United States government as being engaged in various conspiracies or cover-ups, or ultimately having the entire Western world engaged in a vast, multi-layered conspiracy against the Islamic world.
Among the websites shown by Weitzman to "illustrate the trends decribed above", (presumably he means: racism - domestic extremism - radical Islam), he throws in the website Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth.
I visited the website in question to attempt to verify Weitzman's claims. ae911truth.org is not "built around the Protocols of the Elders of Zion", does not "allege Jewish control of the world", and does not accuse "the United States government as being engaged in various conspiracies or cover-ups, or ultimately having the entire Western world engaged in a vast, multi-layered conspiracy against the Islamic world."
Here is what the site is about, clearly placed in the "About Us" section of the website;
http://www.ae911truth.org/aboutus.php
We are a non-partisan association of Architects, Engineers, and affiliates, who are dedicated to exposing the falsehoods and to revealing truths about the “collapses” of the WTC high-rises on 9/11/01.
We call upon Congress for a truly independent investigation with subpoena power. We believe that there may be sufficient evidence to conclude that the World Trade Center buildings #1 (North Tower), #2 (South Tower), and #7 (the 47 story high-rise across Vessey St.) were destroyed not by jet impact and fires but by controlled demolition with explosives.
We believe that this website, as well as the other referenced sites, contains the information necessary to demonstrate to all with an open mind that this is the case, and that such an investigation is warranted and overdue. We believe that the available relevant evidence casts grave doubt on the government's official story of these “collapses”.
Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth are encouraged to take an active role by reporting the results of their research on 9/11 by means of lectures, articles, and methods of disseminating the truth about the 9/11 WTC building “collapses”.
