Airport accused of ejecting woman with anti-war poster (Carole Ward)

HoustonChronicle.com ^ | June 3, 2004, 6:54AM | Associated Press

[Max Combined]

DALLAS - A 57-year-old woman says she was ejected from a terminal at the Dallas-Fort Worth International airport after showing military recruits an anti-war campaign poster.

Carole Ward showed the recruits an 8 1/2-by-11 inch poster of a composite illustration of President Bush made up of the faces of soldiers who have died in Iraq. It bore the title "Faces of Death."

Some people found the poster offensive and the woman became belligerent with an American Airlines gate agent, according to Tim Wagner, a spokesman for the airline.

He also said Ward made some passengers feel uncomfortable while waiting to board her plane during a thunderstorm Tuesday night and presented a security threat.

"She's not only going around talking to these recruits, saying they shouldn't join the Army, they shouldn't fight in the war, she's also forcing the poster on them," Wagner told The Dallas Morning News in today's online edition.

Ward, who was returning home to Albuquerque, N.M., from a Libertarian convention in Atlanta, said she started a conversation with a few of several dozen recruits in the airport.

She passed around the poster, that had messages to elect Libertarian Aaron Russo president and to stop a possible military draft.

According to Wagner, some people thought the poster had pictures of soldiers' bodies and said the material definitely could be "considered offensive."

Although Wagner said the gate agent asked airport police to remove the woman from the secure side of the terminal, airport spokesman Ken Capps said that the officers only monitored the situation and Ward left on her own.

She says she was forced to leave the hotel without her bag and spend the night in a hotel.

[Skooz]

I was talking specifically to YOU, and specifically addressing YOUR comment, "Now shut up and quit whining."

Uuuhhh.... that wasn't my comment. You have me confused with someone else.

[Gunslingr3]

Uuuhhh.... that wasn't my comment. You have me confused with someone else.

Right-o. Bikerwhatever made the comment that I responded to that's since been taken out of context.

[<1/1,000,000th%]

She says she was forced to leave the hotel without her bag and spend the night in a hotel.

Who wrote this? The airline forced her to leave her hotel???

[BlueLancer]

"first they shut down "bowling for vegetables," and i did not twitch a whisker. then they came for "wheel of fish," the dirty corporate fascists."
-- dighton's cat.

Ah, but, see, if you were a Libertarian cat, you would have your stash of medicinal Li'l Friskies to help you to forget the cruelty of corporate fascists ...

[dighton]

Why inject a question into a list of declarative sentences?

Short-term memory loss, a common effect of certain “medicine.”

[MeekOneGOP]

Welcome to FreeRepublic.com !

Here is The Dallas Morning News version, complete with a pic of this "woman" and the poster:

Woman says she was ejected from D/FW over anti-war poster

07:49 AM CDT on Thursday, June 3, 2004

By MICHAEL GRABELL / The Dallas Morning News

The showing of an anti-war campaign poster in a D/FW Airport terminal has sparked a he-said-she-said clash between the world's biggest airline and a self-described "recovering Republican" on her way back from a Libertarian convention.

Carole Ward, 57, says she was ejected from Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport on Tuesday night after showing military recruits an 8 ½-by-11-inch poster of a composite illustration of President Bush made up of the faces of soldiers who have died during the Iraq conflict.

An American Airlines spokesman said that some people found the poster offensive and that Ms. Ward became belligerent with the airline's gate agent.

Allison V. Smith / DMN

Carole Ward showed military recruits at D/FW Airport a poster of President Bush, made from images of dead soldiers.

"She's not only going around talking to these recruits, saying they shouldn't join the Army, they shouldn't fight in the war, she's also forcing [the poster] on them," said Tim Wagner, American Airlines spokesman.

He added that Ms. Ward presented a security threat and made some passengers feel uncomfortable.

But Ms. Ward, who was returning home to Albuquerque, N.M., from Atlanta, said she started a conversation with a few recruits among several dozen passing through the airport. She was waiting after her plane returned to the gate because of thunderstorms.

She passed around the poster, which bore the title "Faces of Death" and messages to stop a possible military draft and elect Libertarian Aaron Russo president. (He lost the nomination.)

"We weren't really causing a scene," she said. "I was talking to them like they were my kids."

Mr. Wagner said some people thought the poster had photographs of soldiers' bodies.

"This is definitely material that could be considered offensive," he said.

Mr. Wagner said the gate agent asked airport police to escort her from the secure side of the terminal, but airport spokesman Ken Capps said that the officers only monitored the situation and that Ms. Ward left on her own.

Ms. Ward said she was booted from the airport without her bag or shoes, which she left on the plane, and was forced to spend the night in a hotel.

"I'm not crazy. I look like I should be in a denture grip commercial," she said. "I've been a Republican all my life."

E-mail mgrabell@dallasnews.com

---

Online at: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/060304dnmetairportboot.6459a.html

[txrangerette]

"I've been a Republican all my
life"

Must be why she was at the
LIBERTARIAN PARTY Convention.

[Bikers4Bush]

FYI slinger I was the one who told her to shut up and quit whining.

[Bikers4Bush]

"I'm not crazy. I look like I should be in a denture grip commercial,"

Just because you look like you should be in a ndeture grip commercial does not preclude you from being crazy.

Causing a disturbance in an airport would warrent someone looking into her mental health. If she had caused trouble while on a plane she would have been arrested upon landing.

[MeekOneGOP]

Yeah, that was a real stupid thing to say. Leave it to The Dallas Morning Spews to print that !

[MeekOneGOP]

bump !

[najida]

"I'm not crazy.

No, just dumb as a box of hammers.

[general_re]

Kind of counterproductive for the third-party candidate to tacitly confirm that only two parties exist.

Both political parties lie to us, and neither can be trusted.

"But you can trust us, because we're not really a political party..."

[Max Combined]

The Dallas Morning News version has her leaving her shoes and bag on the plane, which makes more sense.

[Poohbah]

Carole Ward

Is this the woman who went by "Carol Valentine" on FR before getting banned as an anti-semitic nutburger?

[monday]

"Some people found the poster offensive and the woman became belligerent with an American Airlines gate agent, according to Tim Wagner, a spokesman for the airline."

What a biotch. Freedom of speech doesn't mean freedom to annoy the hell out of people. She got off easy as far as I am concerned. Incidentally I am Libertarian, and sort of ambivalent about the occupation of Iraq, but this lady is a flaming jerk off.

[Tijeras_Slim]

Double or nothing that she came here from there. :)

[John Lenin]

An ex Krishna lackey turned anti-war zero ?

[dighton]

That sewer-dweller is Carol, no e.

[Mulder]

There is a big difference between free speech and harassment.

Yet neither constitutes a "security threat".