L E G A C Y
Posted on 10/21/2003 9:58:31 PM PDT by kattracks
It’s airport security again, and this case is really twisted. Twenty-year-old Nathaniel Travis Heatwole of Damascus, Maryland has been charged by the Feds with carrying deadly material onto commercial airliners. If proven guilty, the charges could result in a 10-year sentence.
He claims that what he did was an act of civil disobedience, designed to show the world just how weak our defenses still are with respect to keeping terrorists and their weapons off our planes. The embarrassing part is that he has been trying to confess to these federal crimes for a month, but it seems nobody at the Transportation Security Administration took him seriously.
On September 14, Mr. Heatwole sent emails to TSA telling them what he did and why he did it. He didn’t tell them exactly where to look on the up-to-six airplanes he had access to, but he claimed to have stashed bleach, box-cutter razors, modeling clay that resembled plastic explosives, along with matches somewhere on the planes. He claimed to do this just to show TSA that they couldn’t get the security job done. In fact, the weapons were found in the washrooms of two airplanes.
The federal judge hearing the case released this painfully young looking man back into society, with a warning that he best stay away from aircraft for awhile. This, after thousands of passengers’ bags were checked thoroughly when TSA decided something was up.
Mr. Heatwole got his 15-minutes of fame, but in doing so he really did everyone a service. Once again we are reminded that while TSA employees are extraordinarily careful not to offend young, Middle Eastern-appearing men (the description of every single terrorist for the last 20-some years) by searching this old man, that young tot and a Black grandmother sitting in a wheelchair – instead of the ones who really could be terrorists – indeed one home-grown domestic terrorist, also a young man, slipped by at least twice.
We must decide that when a 20-year-old man does something that frightens us all and causes threat levels to be raised – that it is, in fact, an act of terrorism. His motives may be different than the Islamic terrorists who are out to kill us, but if by your actions you threaten to kill the airline industry, you cause damage to the lives and jobs of millions of Americans – and that, my friends is terrorism.
We must take a hard line on this kid, even if he does have an innocent looking face, because if we don’t, we’re going to encourage every other nutcase to try to “one-up” him so that they too can have their 15-minutes.
This risk we cannot afford. I say, throw the book at him!
Terrorism is no joke, and the damage done to our airline industry with such actions can be deadly to our economy. This man should be used as an example. Gone are the “la la days” when thousands should sacrifice or suffer to protect the whimsical instability of one – at least I hope those days are gone. The United States Attorney – who works for the Attorney General - and the federal judge handling this case are about to let us know, one way or the other.
If they offer this domestic terrorist a cushy plea bargain, I guess we will know this government still does not take terrorism seriously.
Gary Aldrich is president and founder of The Patrick Henry Center for Individual Liberty, a TownHall.com member group.
©2003 Gary W. Aldrich
It is unfortunate that he didn't replace the sharp blades with some dull, rounded metal, or replace the bleach in the bottles with water. He could have made his point without actually violating federal laws.
He has no defense that he did indeed place weapons on board that could have been used by some opportune terrorist. While that probability is as farciful as the airline security itself, it is what the Feds will use to hang him.
We all know better now.
The only good safety issue that was resolved since 9-11 was the re-enforcement of the pilots' door.
Note the dateline on this story.
3 Airline Employees Test SecurityBy Scott ThomsenAssociated Press WriterThursday, Sept. 13, 2001; 11:10 p.m. EDT
PHOENIX -- Three Northwest Airlines employees intentionally breached a security checkpoint at Sky Harbor International Airport as flights resumed Thursday.
Two ground crew employees cleared the checkpoint with a pocketknife and a corkscrew while a pilot passed without proper identification, airport spokeswoman Suzanne Luber said.
"Once they did that, they turned around and said, 'Hey, look what we did,'" she said. Their point: to show that security gaps still exist days after terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, she said.
Airport officials evacuated the terminal's north concourse and swept it for dangerous materials. Nothing was found and the concourse was reopened.
Luber said she did not know what happened to the three employees. "We would ask that nobody intentionally try to break security," she said.
Airport spokesman David Cavazos said the matter was referred to the Federal Aviation Administration.
Northwest spokeswoman Mary Beth Shubert said: "We are concerned about these reports, and we plan to cooperate thoroughly with the airport authorities and take appropriate action."
Northwest provided limited service for a short time Thursday but it had canceled all flights by the evening.
"External information has come to our attention which indicated that it is not prudent to operate this evening," Schubert said earlier in the day, before the breach. No other details were released.
Here we are, over two years later, and nothing has changed.
Sad, disheartening, and really really leaves me seething.
Then all they need are 20 volunteers, who merely need to be in the air on an American jetliner at the designated minute. Even if some of them don't get on planes, no matter. They'll all go off at the same time, so there will be no way to warn the others.
Ten to twenty 757s or larger, exploding out of the sky at the same moment, is going to kill our airline industry and wreck our economy.
Not IF, but WHEN. Our airline industry is still "low hanging fruit" waiting to be plucked from the tree.
It don't have to be complex to hurt. Careful with that shaving cream......:o)
Stay Safe !
Then all they need are 20 volunteers, who merely need to be in the air on an American jetliner at the designated minute. Even if some of them don't get on planes, no matter. They'll all go off at the same time, so there will be no way to warn the others.
Ten to twenty 757s or larger, exploding out of the sky at the same moment, is going to kill our airline industry and wreck our economy.
Not IF, but WHEN. Our airline industry is still "low hanging fruit" waiting to be plucked from the tree.
You have the right idea. You're just a tad off with the shaving cans. There's a better way. Particularly effective.
-archy-/-
Gary, you don't need to sign your column in the headline. Your name will appear right below it.
Aldrich is embarrassing, and the notion that proclaiming the Emperor's nudity is a crime is dangerous.
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