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Authors: Robert Graysmith
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“persistent and fright- ening.” He had an unusual habit—when listening to her re- sponses to his questions, he’d press his lips together so tightly they became a straight line. When she told him the agency couldn’t finance the type of operation he was inter- ested in, Atta jumped back in his chair. He accused her of discriminating against him because he was not a citizen. She tried to “speak nicely to him,” to calm him down.
Atta had learned of her agency from a forty-dollar book he had purchased off cable TV. The book advertised how to obtain free grants or loans from the government. “Actu- ally,” said Bryant later, “we have a loan limit of $750,000 and he was asking for $650,000. He also thought that all he had to do to obtain the money was to actually just come in to my office, tell what he wanted the loan for, and obtain the cash without any kind of application processing.”
As she explained the application process to him, he be-
came very agitated. He said the book said, “Come to your agency and get up to $750,000.” He was also under the impression the loan was going to be in cash.
“He actually believed that he could walk into the office and say that he needed $650,000 to purchase an aircraft with,” said Bryant, “and that I would give him $650,000 in cash.”
Atta was obviously disappointed. When he noticed a huge, black, older model safe in her office, he asked what would prevent him from stealing all the cash inside.
“For one thing,” Bryant told him, “there’s no cash in that safe.”
“And what’s the second thing,” Atta asked, “that would prevent me from coming behind your desk, cutting your throat and making off with all the cash in the safe because you don’t have audio or visual security in your office?”
“Number one, there’s no cash in the safe. Number two, my training would prevent you from coming behind the desk and cutting my throat.”
Atta kind of stepped back and said, “So you’ve had mil- itary training?”
Bryant explained she had had about six months of karate training, in a martial art called Koname Ru. Atta was very surprised that a woman would have such training.
He pointed to a picture over her desk, a going-away gift to her from her former coworkers in the national office, and tried to buy it. He started throwing money on her desk. Bryant recalled, “He wanted that picture really bad—said it was a really beautiful picture of Washington, D.C., capturing all the buildings and monuments in one panoramic photo- graph.”
“It’s one of the prettiest, the best I’ve ever seen of Wash- ington,” he said. As he looked at the aerial view, he asked about the Pentagon, the Capitol, and the White House.” He picked the Pentagon out himself. He said he wanted to go to New York and visit the World Trade Center.
“It’s not for sale.”
At that he put more money from a huge wad down on her desk.
“You don’t understand,” she said. “It’s a gift. It’s not for sale for anything.”
His face became very bitter at that point. “How would America like it,” he said, “if another country destroyed Washington, D.C., and some of the monuments in it, like the cities in my country that have been destroyed?”
At the end of their one-hour interview, Bryant turned him down for the loan because the program was intended for actual farming purposes and as a non–U.S. citizen he did not meet the basic eligibility requirements. She referred him to other government agencies and to a bank downstairs.
“Would my plans to be out of the country for a few weeks interfere with my eligibility for a loan?” Atta said, mentioning Madrid, Germany, and a third place, a country that Bryant could not remember.
Atta traveled widely. He went to Switzerland on January 4, 2000, and Germany in March. On May 30, 2000, after failing to enter the Czech Republic through Prague’s Ruzyne Airport due to inadequate documentation, Atta journeyed to the Czech
Atta had learned of her agency from a forty-dollar book he had purchased off cable TV. The book advertised how to obtain free grants or loans from the government. “Actu- ally,” said Bryant later, “we have a loan limit of $750,000 and he was asking for $650,000. He also thought that all he had to do to obtain the money was to actually just come in to my office, tell what he wanted the loan for, and obtain the cash without any kind of application processing.”
As she explained the application process to him, he be-
came very agitated. He said the book said, “Come to your agency and get up to $750,000.” He was also under the impression the loan was going to be in cash.
“He actually believed that he could walk into the office and say that he needed $650,000 to purchase an aircraft with,” said Bryant, “and that I would give him $650,000 in cash.”
Atta was obviously disappointed. When he noticed a huge, black, older model safe in her office, he asked what would prevent him from stealing all the cash inside.
“For one thing,” Bryant told him, “there’s no cash in that safe.”
“And what’s the second thing,” Atta asked, “that would prevent me from coming behind your desk, cutting your throat and making off with all the cash in the safe because you don’t have audio or visual security in your office?”
“Number one, there’s no cash in the safe. Number two, my training would prevent you from coming behind the desk and cutting my throat.”
Atta kind of stepped back and said, “So you’ve had mil- itary training?”
Bryant explained she had had about six months of karate training, in a martial art called Koname Ru. Atta was very surprised that a woman would have such training.
He pointed to a picture over her desk, a going-away gift to her from her former coworkers in the national office, and tried to buy it. He started throwing money on her desk. Bryant recalled, “He wanted that picture really bad—said it was a really beautiful picture of Washington, D.C., capturing all the buildings and monuments in one panoramic photo- graph.”
“It’s one of the prettiest, the best I’ve ever seen of Wash- ington,” he said. As he looked at the aerial view, he asked about the Pentagon, the Capitol, and the White House.” He picked the Pentagon out himself. He said he wanted to go to New York and visit the World Trade Center.
“It’s not for sale.”
At that he put more money from a huge wad down on her desk.
“You don’t understand,” she said. “It’s a gift. It’s not for sale for anything.”
His face became very bitter at that point. “How would America like it,” he said, “if another country destroyed Washington, D.C., and some of the monuments in it, like the cities in my country that have been destroyed?”
At the end of their one-hour interview, Bryant turned him down for the loan because the program was intended for actual farming purposes and as a non–U.S. citizen he did not meet the basic eligibility requirements. She referred him to other government agencies and to a bank downstairs.
“Would my plans to be out of the country for a few weeks interfere with my eligibility for a loan?” Atta said, mentioning Madrid, Germany, and a third place, a country that Bryant could not remember.
Atta traveled widely. He went to Switzerland on January 4, 2000, and Germany in March. On May 30, 2000, after failing to enter the Czech Republic through Prague’s Ruzyne Airport due to inadequate documentation, Atta journeyed to the Czech
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