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W's Arab Bodyguard Hires Att'y
New York Daily News ^ | 1/03/02 | KENNETH R. BAZINET

Posted on 01/03/2002 1:10:30 AM PST by kattracks

WASHINGTON
An Arab-American Secret Service agent assigned to protect President Bush has hired an attorney after being kicked off a commercial flight on Christmas Day, officials said yesterday.

The agent, whose name is being withheld for security reasons, was questioned about his identity before being barred from the American Airlines flight.

Civil rights attorney Christy Lopez of the Washington law firm Relman & Associates has taken the case, said Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

The council has filed a civil rights complaint alleging the pilot ordered the armed agent off the plane only because he was an Arab-American.

Bush said last week that he would be "madder than heck" if his bodyguard was booted from the flight because of his ethnicity.

The American-Islamic group announced yesterday that a passenger who was sitting next to the agent on American Airlines Flight 363 has come forward alleging the agent was "kicked off the plane because of his race."

Secret Service spokesman Jim Mackin declined to comment.

American Airlines claims the pilot ordered the agent off the flight to Dallas-Fort Worth because his paperwork contained "inconsistencies."


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To: FR_addict
I'm with the pilot too big time.
121 posted on 01/03/2002 7:45:18 AM PST by Unicorn
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To: one_particular_harbour
Where does it say that those of us who happen to be of Arab ancestry have to meekly submit ... in the Koran.
122 posted on 01/03/2002 7:47:39 AM PST by bimbo
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To: Unicorn
MSNBC reporting the poor misunderstood agent will hold a press conference in 15 minutes.
123 posted on 01/03/2002 7:49:29 AM PST by Gadsden1st
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To: one_particular_harbour
You stated..."I'll pull the threads to prove my points later. "

Here is an excerpt from another thread that indicates you are wrong.

In an internal American Airlines report obtained by CNN the pilot claims the agent "became very hostile" after being told that initial documents he submitted during a pre-flight security check were inadequate.

"The form (submitted by the agent) was unreadable because it was a carbon-copy and there were missing items," the pilot told American Airlines. "I then had the agent come back and re-check his credentials" and fill out a new form, which, he said, the agent "filled out improperly."

"I was given a third improperly filled out (form). This had no signature of the (law enforcement officer), no phone number," the pilot told the airline.

"I absolutely felt correct in having this individual's identification validated," the pilot wrote in his report. "After three improper (forms) and the behavior of this individual, I needed to be 100 (percent) sure of his credentials."

The American Airlines pilot said he was "acting in the best interests" of his crew when he decided to eject the agent from the flight, which was scheduled to fly from Washington, D.C. to Texas, where the agent had been assigned to guard President Bush.

The agent claims he was a victim of racial profiling.

If you should discover that you have been making invalid claims, will you be back to correct the mistake. I support the pilot's decision 100%.

124 posted on 01/03/2002 7:50:47 AM PST by eazdzit
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To: one_particular_harbour
"As I recall, Bill Clinton and Jim Carville were white guys, yet you don't see us demanding that y'all be profiled out of politics."

Your failure to act in a prudent manner does not mitigate against others who do act responsibly. :)

125 posted on 01/03/2002 7:52:15 AM PST by Don Joe
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To: one_particular_harbour
I see you are back. I will be watching for the back up for your statements. You did say you were going to do that, didn't you? Hope you were more sincere than O.J.!
126 posted on 01/03/2002 7:57:02 AM PST by eazdzit
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To: kattracks
The attorney has a moron for a client. The agent acted unprofessionally and will not win.
127 posted on 01/03/2002 7:58:32 AM PST by PatrioticAmerican
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To: one_particular_harbour
Google sucks. Secret Service Arab didn't pull up squat on this subject when I hit "search site"..

Okay, so you're saying you can't back up your claims?

128 posted on 01/03/2002 8:00:17 AM PST by M. Thatcher
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To: one_particular_harbour
“All paperwork requirements were complied with.”

Really?

Pilot’s Report

129 posted on 01/03/2002 8:04:23 AM PST by PatrioticAmerican
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To: Flyer
... this guy should NOT remain in the Secret Service.

I agree. At the very least, his Clearance Application forms need extra scrutiny, and his polygraph needs an immediate update.

130 posted on 01/03/2002 8:05:22 AM PST by bimbo
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To: eazdzit;one_particular_harbour
I have actually dealt with American Airlines on several occasions, and now absolutely refuse to fly AA. This is because they stated in their internal paperwork that I "became extremely hostile." Their definition of someone being "extremely hostile" apparently consists of not bowing and scraping before the Almighty American Airlines Employee, be he an aircraft commander or a skycap. My offense? I asked a ticketing agent if I could speak to his supervisor.

And the rest of the allegations on the paperwork are just that--allegations. The trick to dealing with AA is to understand that their public relations and customer relations personnel are taught to tell any lie, no matter how transparent, than to admit to anything that might embarrass AA.

131 posted on 01/03/2002 8:10:34 AM PST by Poohbah
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To: Mortimer Snavely
"The entire situation is an accident waiting to happen again, and I hope that the agent to whom this outrage happened wins big in court. This is the only way, I think, that the entire lunacy of airport security procedures can be addressed effectively."

You want to think that one through again? If your scenario pans out, the "addressed effectively" part will boil down to "angry muslims with guns shall not be impeded when boarding airplanes". Think about how [insert any ol' special interest group name here] got things "resolved" via the mechanisms you advocate.

132 posted on 01/03/2002 8:11:11 AM PST by Don Joe
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To: one_particular_harbour
I see you didn't get any results with Google. May I suggest you go to your "history" and simply pull up the threads from which you claim to have formed your opinion.

I'm afraid if you can't do this, it will look like you fabricated your opinion.

133 posted on 01/03/2002 8:13:05 AM PST by eazdzit
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To: Poohbah;one_particular_harbour
Could be. I don't know. Going golfing, will check back later.
134 posted on 01/03/2002 8:18:45 AM PST by eazdzit
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To: one_particular_harbour
"Again, I ask, why should he meekly take racism while doing his job?"

And I would ask. . .'why' should he assume it is racism to be removed from a flight; why not caution, security. . .confusion re his papers, carrying a gun and an attitudein addition to being an Arab American. ; it surely was NOT just because he was an Arab-American. . .

Sorry, but YOUR bias does not fly, and neither did he that day.

There is 'reasonable' and there is the 'unreasonable' ie Political Correctness; the absence of reason in favor of the 'feel good' which is what PC embraces (it's totalitarian design more sinister of course).

IAE, you have probably read by now how Bill Clinton favored the politically correct during his Administration and so refused even reasonable and legitimate steps to prevent terrorism, lest he make a constituency upset. . .romping in the Oval Office was easier and much more satisfying of course. . .

. . .Political correctness and the Liberalism that proscribes is an enabler for terrorism; and PC is not the absence of racism by the way; just a tortured feel good version of it.

Worse, innocent Americans have now paid their lives for it. . .

135 posted on 01/03/2002 8:20:12 AM PST by cricket
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To: MissAmericanPie
It never says the guy is Islamic does it? Have they found out he is Islamic?

If he were Christian, the media would fall all over themselves to describe the guy as an "Arab Christian". The fact that nothing is said, tells me that he is a Muslim.
(Just reading between the lines.)

136 posted on 01/03/2002 8:21:52 AM PST by bimbo
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To: eazdzit;one_particular_harbour
I'm afraid if you can't do this, it will look like you fabricated your opinion.

Doh...I hate it when that happens.

137 posted on 01/03/2002 8:27:38 AM PST by UberVernunft
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To: PatrioticAmerican
I was getting ready to post that as well. Seems our SS agent was a little wired at the time of the flight. Pilot probably made the right decision.
138 posted on 01/03/2002 8:32:36 AM PST by oldvike
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To: MissAmericanPie
"It never says the guy is Islamic does it? Have they found out he is Islamic?" Sorry, I stated that mistake above. . .he IS an Arab-American, but it is the ' Council on American-Islamic Relations that has taken this on. . .
139 posted on 01/03/2002 8:35:18 AM PST by cricket
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To: Don Joe
Is it too much to ask that security professionals be in charge of security? Is it too much to ask that security personnel at least be required to recognize the credentials of personnel vital to national security? Is it too much to ask that airlines deal with the security problem by hiring actual security personnel, folks who've been profiling and arresting bad guys for years, instead of passing out security guidelines, procedures and memos to hospitalty and operations personnel? Is it too much to ask that the industry attempt to do more than the minimum and least expensive way to project the image of tight security, rather than taking concrete steps to make airports actually more secure?

Do you really think that the nation was made safer by harassing a Secret Service agent? Doesn't that indicate to you that the folks responsible for that idiocy don't know the difference between their hindquarters and this particular hole in the ground?

140 posted on 01/03/2002 8:39:41 AM PST by Mortimer Snavely
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