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Report: FBI Agents Took Ground Zero Souvenirs
http://www.officer.com/article/article.jsp?id=10054&siteSection=1 ^
Posted on 02/27/2004 6:07:04 AM PST by Stew Padasso
Report: FBI Agents Took Ground Zero Souvenirs FBI Had No Policy On Taking Mementos
POSTED: 1:44 a.m. EST February 26, 2004 UPDATED: 1:14 p.m. EST February 26, 2004
Story by wnbc.com
NEW YORK -- According to a Justice Department report, at least 13 FBI agents entrusted with removing evidence following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, removed items for souvenirs or gifts, NewsChannel 4 reported.
According to the confidential report, agents removed American flags, marble building chunks, patches from World Trade Center security guard uniforms, World Trade Center signs and keys and a Tiffany globe.
"To think of taking something from that site, it's not only foolish, it's despicable," said Monica Gabriel, widow of a victim killed in the attacks.
According to NBC News, the report recommended disciplinary action for two agents who allegedly took items from the World Trade Center ruins. The FBI said it is still reviewing the report.
To date, only one agent has been disciplined by being suspended for 10 days for taking 70 to 80 pounds of ground zero mementos. But because the FBI has had no clear policy on taking souvenirs, it said prosecution is not warranted.
U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said he wants to make sure it never happens again.
"What they did was something that makes you feel a little squishy inside, but since the FBI didn't have rules, it's better to look forward and make sure this doesn't happen again and not blast the people from the past," Schumer told NewsChannel 4.
The FBI said it does have a new policy stating that agents will no longer be allowed to take anything from a crime scene.
TOPICS: Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: doj; donutwatch; fbi; nyc; souvenir; twa800list; wtc
To: Stew Padasso
That's disgusting. Sounds like Hillary and the Silverware.
2
posted on
02/27/2004 6:10:37 AM PST
by
theDentist
(Boston: So much Liberty, you can buy a Politician already owned by someone else.)
To: theDentist
What's more disgusting is the whistle blower that turned them in is gone and the agents involved are still there.
3
posted on
02/27/2004 6:13:00 AM PST
by
steve50
("Every decent man is ashamed of the government he lives under." -H. L. Mencken)
To: theDentist
You know, most of the people who worked in that huge mortuary were filled with a horror that few of us will know. I would dare say that almost everyone who was there, picked up a few things, to represent their sorrow.
If you watch "American Chopper", you saw that a fireman, who worked at ground zero, gave the guys a piece of the building that he picked up. They incorporated that piece into a chopper.
4
posted on
02/27/2004 6:21:41 AM PST
by
tuckrdout
(Terri Schindler (Schiavo) deserves to have her wishes honored: Give her a DIVORCE!)
To: steve50
If these agents took momentos from the site, would they also pick up a Rolex, a pile of cash or other valuables if they happened upon same?
5
posted on
02/27/2004 6:23:16 AM PST
by
dwilli
To: dwilli
Momentos, I have no problem with. Concrete, marble, steel, etc., no problem at all. Patches from uniforms? That's just wrong and evil, and is worse than stealing the coppers from a dead man's eyes.
6
posted on
02/27/2004 6:24:34 AM PST
by
50sDad
(OK, I give in. Visit my website! http://my.oh.voyager.net/~abartmes)
To: tuckrdout
If you or I tore off a patch from a uniform, or took a Tiffany Globe, we'd be arrested for looting.
7
posted on
02/27/2004 6:27:54 AM PST
by
theDentist
(Boston: So much Liberty, you can buy a Politician already owned by someone else.)
To: Stew Padasso
And I would even dare to assume that Shumer took some things....He and "The Beast" give them away to special "contributers" and visitors, don't they?
8
posted on
02/27/2004 6:29:19 AM PST
by
tuckrdout
(Terri Schindler (Schiavo) deserves to have her wishes honored: Give her a DIVORCE!)
To: 50sDad
I've always suspected that many of the people who were digging through the rubble from gitgo made off with untold millions of personal and company assets.
9
posted on
02/27/2004 6:30:02 AM PST
by
dwilli
To: Stew Padasso
I wonder what James Sanders thinks of all this?
10
posted on
02/27/2004 6:31:45 AM PST
by
TBall
To: *TWA800_list; *Donut watch
Let's not forget that James Kallstrom personally gave mementos from the air disaster to a friend who lost a loved one, an act which does not accomplish any investigative goal, and was not prosecuted, but James Sanders was prosecuted under the anti-souvenir law for testing swatches of seat back material for missile residue, which however does accomplish an investigative mission.
FBI agents continue to act above the law.
11
posted on
02/27/2004 7:14:31 AM PST
by
coloradan
(Hence, etc.)
To: Stew Padasso
According to a Justice Department report, at least 13 FBI agents entrusted with removing evidence following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, removed items for souvenirs or gifts..Brought to you by the same folks who brought you the carnage at Waco and Ruby Ridge. These guys get a slap on the wrist and someone with some personal pot gets a federal minimum sentence of 5-10 years. Thanks guys. Glad I just stayed a Dallas cop and didn't go fed. At least I can sleep at night without getting the covers dirty.
12
posted on
02/27/2004 7:17:19 AM PST
by
Indie
(The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.")
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