Posted on 01/24/2008 9:37:23 PM PST by wideminded
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A Minnesota flight instructor who notified his bosses of student Zacarias Moussaoui's suspicious behavior received a $5 million reward Thursday from the State Department, two government officials told CNN.
Zacarias Moussaoui was convicted in 2006 of conspiring to kill Americans on September 11, 2001.
Clarence "Clancy" Prevost was an instructor at the Pan Am International Flight Academy in Eagan, Minnesota, when Moussaoui was a student there.
Moussaoui, sometimes called the "20th hijacker," is the only person charged and convicted in connection with the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington.
...
Prevost, a retired Northwest Airlines pilot, has never spoken publicly about Moussaoui, but testified during the sentencing phase of Moussaoui's trial. He said that by the second day of teaching Moussaoui, he heard that Moussaoui paid the bulk of his $8,300 tuition for a flight simulator course in hundred-dollar bills. And that made Prevost think the FBI should be notified.
He testified that he found Moussaoui to be a "pretty genial guy" until a lunchtime conversation turned to the Hajj, a pilgrimage to Mecca made by Muslims during Ramadan. Prevost wanted to know if Moussaoui could explain the Hajj to him and asked, "Are you Muslim?"
Prevost testified that Moussaoui responded by raising his voice and saying, "I am nothing!"
Prevost testified that he approached his managers, and recalled telling them, "We don't know anything about this guy, and we're teaching him how to throw the switches on a 747."
But he said his managers at first told him Moussaoui had paid his money and they didn't care.
Prevost testified that he told his bosses, "We'll care when there's a hijacking and the lawsuits come in."
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
How much could somebody get for turning in Sandy Berger?
LOL. It does seem like a lot of money for doing your civic duty. I wonder if this is the only guy that noticed the problem. Maybe this guy should get the money for have more common sense than anyone in the FBI or CIA including George Tenet.
Maybe this guy should be in charge of the FBI or CIA.
btt
CNN screwed up. The Hajj is three months after Ramadan:
Ramadan: September 1 - September 29, 2008
Hajj: December 6 - December 9, 2008
Well done. Pay the guy and lets move on. He earned it and the reward is his. Enjoy.
Exactly.
I dont mind paying the dude $100 million in exchange for American lives that could;ve been lost if he didn’t turn him in. Good job, buddy.
I have a problem with the MSM telling everyone his name. He’s going to become a target, whether he likes it or not.
Yep - If this reward encourages someone else to drop a dime on a terrorist, it's money well spent. Compared to the alternative, prevention is dirt-cheap.
Somebody in the fed chain didn’t act as they should have; thousands of people died as a result.
That’s the best idea I’ve heard in a long time.
good
This guy was not listened to by anyone when he brought this information forward.
There were a lot of "somebodies." If you haven't read it, I can highly recommend:
IIRC the Minneapolis field office of the FBI listened to him but bureaucrats in the DC office would not consent to a search of Moussaoui's computer.
Yes I kind of remember; It seems the FBI people couldn’t get the info high enough up due to procedural issues.
My memory is that the flight instructor’s info could have prevented 9-11 had it been acted on.
It doesn’t matter if he’s the only one who “noticed” the problem, he may be the only one who thought it was his responsibility to do something about it and not to just accept “cash in hand” and keep his mouth shut.
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