Last Friday, most Americans marked the 25th anniversary of 9/11 by reflecting on a day the country came under attack from an external enemy. Meanwhile, a group of people with a very different view of that tragedy gathered in an auditorium in East Harlem to search for the enemy within. They were there for the Turning the Tide conference, a gathering of the so-called truther movement. We sent Will Rahn to meet the truthers and investigate why some refuse to accept what happened that day. Here is what he found.
—Oliver Wiseman
“Where is the younger generation?” Roger Waters, the erstwhile Pink Floyd frontman, asked me on September 10. “Why aren’t they out in the streets in the fucking millions going, ‘This is insane!’ ”
We’re standing in the auditorium of El Museo del Barrio in East Harlem for the opening night of Turning the Tide 2026, a four-day convention of what participants call the 9/11 truth movement. The auditorium, decorated with century-old murals depicting classic tales for children—here’s Little Red Riding Hood, there’s Jack and the Beanstalk—can hold more than 500 people. But only a few dozen have come to hear this particular fairy tale, and they skew older: gray-bearded boomers, Mother Hubbards in keffiyehs.
Spry and thin at 83 years old, Waters’ leftist activism morphed into wackadoodle conspiracy long ago. His celebrity has dimmed after years of odd stunts, like when he dressed in a Nazi-esque leather uniform in Berlin during a 2023 concert, which led to an investigation by German police. That same year, a documentary called The Dark Side of Roger Waters featured a number of his former artistic collaborators accusing him of antisemitism. (He denies the claim and unsuccessfully sued the filmmakers.)
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