CHANTILLY, VA—While some of the most influential people in the world gathered at the Westfields Marriott hotel in Chantilly, Virginia, from June 5–8, protesters gathered outside the hotel in order to reveal what they say is the Bilderberg Group's sinister agenda.
Alex Jones, host of a syndicated talk radio show and a documentary film maker, says, "This is a criminal group. They are involved in very bad things."
A press release issued by the American Friends of Bildeberg paints a different picture.
According to the press release, the series of annual meetings, the first of which took place in 1954, "grew out of the concern expressed by leading citizens on both sides of the Atlantic that Western Europe and North America were not working together as closely as they should on common problems of critical importance."
President of the World Bank Group Robert B. Zoellick, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and former Chase-Manhattan Chairman David Rockefeller were listed among the participants in this year's meeting.
Photos of attendees, including one of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, were snapped by protesters outside the hotel.
Bilderberg takes its name from the hotel in Holland, where the first meeting took place. This is the 56th year the group has met, but the first time it has been publicly announced.
According to the American Friends of Bilderberg press release, this year's conference "will deal mainly with a nuclear free world, cyber terrorism, Africa, Russia, finance, protectionism, US-EU relations, Afghanistan and Pakistan, Islam and Iran." "Approximately 140 participants will attend, of whom about two-thirds come from Europe and the balance from North America," stated the release.
"About one-third is from government and politics, and two-thirds are from finance, industry, labor, education and communications. The meeting is private in order to encourage frank and open discussion," the release continued.
According to Jones, the meeting is a violation of the Logan Act, a federal law that bars public officials from meeting with private citizens to make policy. "Federal law says that they can't come here and discuss policy with private interest in secret," said Jones. "The only place they can discuss things in secret is in national security meetings, in the Congress, or in the Capitol, and that's amongst themselves."
Jones, producer of several documentaries, including Endgames: Blueprint for Global Enslavement, believes the Bilderberg meetings are not intended to protect the national sovereignty of the United States or further the interests of the American people, but rather the interests of multinational corporations, which would benefit from global government. "These are globalists. They want one world government," said Jones. "This is about private interest meeting with members of the government, outside of the government, violating federal law, and the Logan Act. We are here because this is a criminal summit."
When asked about evidence for Bilderberg Group's influence over U.S. Presidential candidates, he said, "From our sources, they decide who they like best and they put their weight behind him. These people own the media. They own the big corporations. They've got trillions of dollars together.
"And when you get the nod from the big boys, you tend to get the support ... Do they have total control over society? No. Do they have total control over the candidates? No. But they're steering it. They're massively influencing it."
The Washington Post published an article on June 9 with headline, "Obama Adviser Faces Scrutiny Over Mortgage Deals." It reports that James A. Johnson, former Fannie Mae CEO, is leading Sen. Barack Obama's vice-presidential search process, and that Johnson is a member of the American Friends of Bilderberg.
Alex Jones says that he invited the Washington Post and the Fairfax Times, and asked 16 million listeners of the Coast to Coast AM radio show to call on the press to cover the event. But no major mainstream media showed.
Americanfreepress.net, whose editor Jim Tucker is a staunch critic of the Bildeberg Group, has published a list of attendees at this year's meeting.