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Florida Professor Arrested for Having a "Suspicious" Bagel on a Plane
NBC Miami ^ | Mon, Jan 3, 2011 | TODD WRIGHT

Posted on 01/03/2011 8:52:29 PM PST by nickcarraway

Passengers claimed man had suspicious package in the overhead compartment

A Florida professor was arrested and removed from a plane Monday after his fellow passengers alerted crew members they thought he had a suspicious package in the overhead compartment.

That "suspicious package" turned out to be keys, a bagel with cream cheese and a hat.

Ognjen Milatovic, 35, was flying from Boston to Washington D.C. on US Airways when he was escorted off the plane for disorderly conduct following the incident. Monday's incident is another example of other passengers essentially becoming the authority on terrorist activity on planes.

Recently, passenger complaints have resulted authorities taking action against innocent passengers who went to the bathroom too often on a flight and who were just being annoying. In the hyper-sensitive world of flying, sneezing too often could get you kicked off a flight and questioned by the FBI. Milatovic, who is a mathematics and statistics professor at the University of North Florida, was minding his business when other passengers turned into super sleuths. Passengers reported hearing strange noises coming from a plastic bag. State police said later that the bag contained a set of keys,

a bagel with cream cheese, some other small food items, a hat and a wallet.

When confronted by the US Airways crew about his "suspicious package," Milatovic got on his cell phone. The crew asked him to hang it up and sit down. When he refused, he was cuffed.

Milatovic was also charged with interfering with the operation of an aircraft.


TOPICS: Food; Travel; Weird Stuff
KEYWORDS: bagel; nosh; terror
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To: Revolting cat!; JoeProBono
The TSA's next weapon in the "War on Terror"....Bagel-sniffing Beagles


21 posted on 01/03/2011 9:27:54 PM PST by Salamander (A man will walk right into Hell with his eyes wide open but even the Devil can't fool a dog.)
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To: Ramius
There’s so much missing from this story. He wasn’t thrown off the plane for having a bagel in a bag. He was thrown off the plane for whatever he did when they asked him about it. Looks like he got belligerent and got thrown off for being an @sshat. Good.

I agree, but the one thing missing is why the passenger thought he needed to make a phone call. For all we know, he was trying to call his lawyer for advice.

I don't think that excuses him, but it was a strange reaction. I suspect that there was plenty of @sshattery going on from all three sides: the passenger, the flight crew, and all the other passengers.

22 posted on 01/03/2011 9:31:18 PM PST by justlurking (The only remedy for a bad guy with a gun is a good WOMAN (Sgt. Kimberly Munley) with a gun)
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To: MayfairFly

Yes, that’s exactly the thing. Of all the possible annoyances with flying... none are so great as what those other @hole passengers do. I’ve never found flight attendants, or ticket agents, or anybody else associated with the airline to be anything other than polite and helpful. But it’s the other passengers I wish I could flush out an open door from time to time...


23 posted on 01/03/2011 9:35:18 PM PST by Ramius (Personally, I give us... one chance in three. More tea?)
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To: nickcarraway
If the Professor were Black, Obama would come out and say that the Flight Crew acted stupidly.
24 posted on 01/03/2011 9:35:39 PM PST by Kickass Conservative (Happy New Year!)
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To: nickcarraway

This is the obvious reason they call it a Luggage Rack rather than a Bagel Rack.


25 posted on 01/03/2011 9:38:04 PM PST by Kickass Conservative (Happy New Year!)
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To: justlurking

A phonecall??? Sorry... he needed to get his sorry @ss off the plane and leave the rest of the passengers alone to go on about their way.

A phonecall is not a right. Hell, it only became ~possible~ a few years ago. That doesn’t make it more important than the rest of the flight.


26 posted on 01/03/2011 9:41:39 PM PST by Ramius (Personally, I give us... one chance in three. More tea?)
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To: justlurking

God forbid he call an attorney while being thrown off a plane for having a bagel in a bag.My grandmother must be a threat with her tuna sandwiches because she would smack the crap out of you if you touched her food and tell you to GET LOST!


27 posted on 01/03/2011 9:41:55 PM PST by taxtruth (Don't end the fed,jail the fed!)
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To: Ramius

It seems the silly people on the rest of the fight were the REAL problem.


28 posted on 01/03/2011 9:45:41 PM PST by taxtruth (Don't end the fed,jail the fed!)
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To: nickcarraway

Just his reaction proves he was up to no good. He could have been calling a bomb detonator for all they knew.


29 posted on 01/03/2011 9:47:24 PM PST by italybub
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To: nickcarraway

According to the article, it wasn’t so much about the bagle but more about the behavior.


30 posted on 01/03/2011 9:50:52 PM PST by Grizzled Bear ("Does not play well with others.")
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To: nickcarraway

WTF ? ? ?

That professor doesn’t look Moslim, and most Moslims are NOT known for a propensity for bagels.

This case is proof positive that TSAPersons really are fast food industry rejects, with police powers. Oleg Volk has ‘em pegged.


31 posted on 01/03/2011 9:53:01 PM PST by GladesGuru (In a society predicated upon freedom, it is essential to examine principles,)
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To: Ramius
He was thrown off the plane for whatever he did when they asked him about it. Looks like he got belligerent and got thrown off for being an @sshat. Good.

Hmmmm, you say there is much missing, then you proceed to fill in the blanks. How do you know he was the one who was belligerent? How do you he was being belligerent, and not the state police. How would you like it if some jackbooted thug said you were a member of Al Qaeda, because you had a bag with keys and a bagel were in it?

32 posted on 01/03/2011 9:53:01 PM PST by nickcarraway
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To: italybub
Just his reaction proves he was up to no good.

Perhaps he was up to no good, or perhaps he was simply an asshole.

33 posted on 01/03/2011 9:53:26 PM PST by Grizzled Bear ("Does not play well with others.")
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To: nickcarraway

What do the state police have to do with it? Airports aren’t usually in the jurisdiction of the state police, and I haven’t seen anything in the story to suggest that the state police were involved in any way.


34 posted on 01/03/2011 9:58:48 PM PST by Ramius (Personally, I give us... one chance in three. More tea?)
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Comment #35 Removed by Moderator

To: Ramius
Read the article my friend: Passengers reported hearing strange noises coming from a plastic bag. State police said later that the bag contained a set of keys,
36 posted on 01/03/2011 10:06:28 PM PST by nickcarraway
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To: nickcarraway

So what?


37 posted on 01/03/2011 10:11:05 PM PST by Ramius (Personally, I give us... one chance in three. More tea?)
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To: Ramius
A phonecall??? Sorry... he needed to get his sorry @ss off the plane and leave the rest of the passengers alone to go on about their way.

I was kind of sympathetic to you before, but not after this comment. The other passengers saw a bag with a bagel in it, so he has no right to be on the plane. I can't believe how many "Citizens are the property of the government" types there are on FR.

Next time you are on a plane, imagine if police come up to you and treat you like bin Laden. I'm sure you would love it.

38 posted on 01/03/2011 10:11:13 PM PST by nickcarraway (You are guilty until proven innocent. And may7be not then.)
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To: nickcarraway

Shouldn’t have used the phone. If being on a plane full of people, unarmed, with no other means of vetting your other passengers doesn’t qualify as ‘exigent’, I don’t know what does.


39 posted on 01/03/2011 10:11:21 PM PST by RinaseaofDs (Does beheading qualify as 'breaking my back', in the Jeffersonian sense of the expression?)
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To: Salamander

40 posted on 01/03/2011 10:12:37 PM PST by JoeProBono (A closed mouth gathers no feet - Visualize)
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