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John P. O’Neill A MAN TO REMEMBER Well before hijackers used airliners as flying bombs against Americans on September 11, 2001, counter-terrorism expert John P. O’Neill was already uncovering terror conspiracies — and never stopped trying to warn others about it. COUNTER-TERROR EXPERT After working his way up through law enforcement, O’Neill began focusing on Islamic terrorism after the 1993 World Trade Center bombings — and is credited with launching an investigation into Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda in the late 1990s. CHILLING WARNINGS In 1996, he told an audience in New Jersey that “interesting times lie ahead” and that the main terrorist threat now comes from groups not backed by national governments. He followed up in 1997, telling AP that “a lot of these groups now have the capacity and the support infrastructure in the United States to attack us here if they chose to.” After leaving the FBI in August 2001, he started a new job as chief of security at the World Trade Center. He was last seen on the forty-ninth floor, directing evacuation efforts, dying as he tried to save others. A HERO AND LASTING LEGACY Though he didn't live to see its results, O'Neill's anti-terrorist work is credited with helping law enforcement unravel the relationships between al-Qaeda, bin Laden, and other terrorist cells that they inspired.