Posted on 07/24/2004 4:05:17 PM PDT by HostileTerritory
Undercover federal air marshals on board a June 29 Northwest airlines flight from Detroit to LAX identified themselves after a passenger, “overreacted,” to a group of middle-eastern men on board, federal officials and sources have told KFI NEWS.
The passenger, later identified as Annie Jacobsen, was in danger of panicking other passengers and creating a larger problem on the plane, according to a source close to the secretive federal protective service.
Jacobsen, a self-described freelance writer, has published two stories about her experience at womenswallstreet.com, a business advice web site designed for women.
“The lady was overreacting,” said the source. “A flight attendant was told to tell the passenger to calm down; that there were air marshals on the plane.”
The middle eastern men were identified by federal agents as a group of touring musicians travelling to a concert date at a casino, said Air Marshals spokesman Dave Adams.
Jacobsen wrote she became alarmed when the men made frequent trips to the lavatory, repeatedly opened and closed the overhead luggage compartments, and appeared to be signaling each other.
“Initially it was brought to [the air marshals] attention by a passenger,” Adams said, adding the agents had been watching the men and chose to stay undercover.
Jacobsen and her husband had a number of conversations with the flight attendants and gestured towards the men several times, the source said.
“In concert with the flight crew, the decision was made to keep [the men] under surveillance since no terrorist or criminal acts were being perpetrated aboard the aircraft; they didn’t interfere with the flight crew,” Adams said.
The air marshals did, however, check the bathrooms after the middle-eastern men had spent time inside, Adams said.
FBI agents met the plane when it landed in Los Angeles and the men were questioned, and Los Angeles field office spokeswoman Cathy Viray said it’s significant the alarm on the flight came from a passenger.
“We have to take all calls seriously, but the passenger was worried, not the flight crew or the federal air marshals,” she said. “The complaint did not stem from the flight crew.”
Several people were questioned, she said, but no one was detained.
Jacobsen’s husband Kevin told KFI NEWS he approached a man he thought was an air marshal after the flight had landed.
“You made me nervous,” Kevin said the air marshal told him.
“I was freaking out,” Kevin replied.
“We don’t freak out in situations like this,” the air marshal responded.
Federal agents later verified the musicians’ story.
“We followed up with the casino,” Adams said. A supervisor verified they were playing a concert. A second federal law enforcement source said the concert itself was monitored by an agent.
“We also went to the hotel, determined they had checked into the hotel,” Adams said. Each of the men were checked through a series of databases and watch-lists with negative results, he said.
The source said the air marshals on the flight were partially concerned Jacobsen’s actions could have been an effort by terrorists or attackers to create a disturbance on the plane to force the agents to identify themselves.
Air marshals’ only tactical advantage on a flight is their anonymity, the source said, and Jacobsen could have put the entire flight in danger.
“They have to be very cognizant of their surroundings,” spokesman Adams confirmed, “to make sure it isn’t a ruse to try and pull them out of their cover.”
Well, at least you have a grasp on what a complex environment we live in. Sucks, don't it.... and you don't even have the job of Air Marshall. I am gonna guess it's a little tougher than the job of critic.
sure, let's just trash talk reports from citizens as "unbelieveable" at the drop of a hat. that's a sure ticket to citizen involvement and improved security.
The old downward spiral from adult to wimpering infantilism.
O me Gawd! Paraniod Annie was right. These A-Rabs were going to the restrooms so often on the off-chance they could find a gun. It didn't work this time, but eventually they might get lucky.
Obviously, I can't go out and investigate this. Neither can you. That is what the media does.
Changing the subject? Use your powers of reasoning to tell me which story is true?
You can't, because you didn't do your homework on racial... oups, religious profiling. And this is the first commandment of any security.
No diaper-head can afford stuffing his face with Big Macs in front of other diaper-heads. Burgers are not Halal, meaning are not in accordance with the weird Islamist laws.
To hide in the loo to feast on a cold greasy patty is the only way for them to enjoy all-American menu... one could even perceive the act as a pro-Western challenge of a Mohammedan non-conformist.
How about that?
the media? they just want to spin this story as "americans over-reacting and being insensitive to the feelings of our Muslim brothers".
Yeah, this extra screening for passengers on "one-way" tickets is a joke. Everyone knows about it, so why would a terrorist travel on a one-way ticket?
if you want to think her account is "unbelievable", go right ahead.
Good one. You or I wouldn't trash our religious bonds like that of course, but who knows, there are people who would.
Lady ... It is every soul on that plane's LIFE. Jobs are here today, gone tommorrow, another one Wednesday. Life is not recoverable.
OK. So where do you get your information from, if not from some form of media? How do you know that this happened at all?
Thanks for your permission...and your silence on your silly method for getting at the truth. I'll take that as an admission that you were talking crap.
Maybe if you asked in your very best, "Mother may I," voice, they would pull over and let you off?!!
do you really expect to get anything except the politically correct spin from the mainstream media on this? and the same spin from the elements of law enforcement that have also been polluted by the same political correctness?
this story about the 14 Syrians is about more then what this author reported happening on that plane - its an example of how our system is still too broken to deal properly with an incident like this, both the system that allowed them to board the plane in the first place, what happened during the flight, and even afterwards.
No doubt they were passing notes so as to not disturb the Americans on board.
Waybackwhen, after 9/11, a couple of Orthodox Jews got in trouble with their fellow passengers by getting down on their knees on the plane and praying intently in a "strange" language (actually Hebrew).
I betcha' one of those musicians had one of those expensive Rolex watches that shows the call to prayer and the correct direction for praying no matter where you are in the world. Undoubtedly he was consulted by several of them more than once!
If there are Islamic terrorist organizations operating in the US with members whose backgrounds are sufficiently scrubbed that they aren’t on our watch lists, you can be pretty certain thay are not putting them on such flights, 14 at a time, to clown around and blow their cover.
my point was, if you are not willing to accept the believability of what this author said these men did - what would you have said if she reported that she saw some guy trying to light a fuse on his shoe?
AMEN! AMEN! AMEN!
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