W's Arab Bodyguard Hires Att'y

New York Daily News ^ | 1/03/02 | KENNETH R. BAZINET

[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."

[Quix]

GOOD POINT.

I wondered about our Pres at that time. I think SOME people are naive even in high places--and then there are those evil sorts who know what they are doing and do it very well.

[The Duke]

This says TONS about the content of the character of our civil "servants".

Pure Opportunism

[cricket]

"Will "Let's roll" become "Let's crawl"?, for the benefit of a minority, some members of which have sworn to annihilate us?"

. . .well some Holy Rollers might be offended. . .but yes, your drift is coming through.

Really think it is time that we at least do what the Swiss have done; make the Swiss armny knife an 'Okay' for traveling. . .and air safety requirements. Of course, with their obvious motivations and their reasonable security (probably not too many ME's overloading the departure gates over there. . .) it sounds like a great idea.

. . .oh well, 'let's roll' IS the best we can do for now. . .and more power to those who can when they need to. . .

[a_witness]

He was doing his job, which was going to protect the President.

Oh, so the President was flying commercial ?
You must have access to some information we don't or perhaps you can explain why he had to carry his weapon, apparently without complete identification/authorization on a commercial flight ?
Or did he lose the man he was supposed to protect ?

In any case he is drawing unnecessary attention to himself and is probably not a good choice to protect the life of the president because of that alone.

[cynicom]

veronica...

Bush will at most give it lip service as the SS brass will have made it clear to Bush or his helpers that this SS person is a loose cannon. He will be promoted to the "turkey ranch" to shuffle papers or whatever. He has proven himself to dangerous to have out in public in any capacity.

[habs4ever]

I can't fathom why you are coming to this agent's defense.At the very least, he has abrogated his professional duty and has cast suspicion upon his record of service.The pilot, even if capricious in exercising his dominion over the safety of all the passengers, deserves the benefit of the doubt and the full support of AA.Just what is your agenda, here?

[Principled]

Think of it like this - pilot David Duke decides he doesn't want black folks to ride on his airplane.

It wasn't 19 black folks who rode planes full of innocent civilians to their firey deaths while simultaneously killing thousand of innocent civilians on the ground.

[Principled]

How many times would you make him fill out the form to take one flight?

Once. The form should be filled out legibly and correctly once. That wasn't done.

Whoops.

[Harrison Bergeron]

"How many times would you make him fill out the form to take one flight? "

Well... the pilot decided the third time and still incomplete and without signature was enough. Seems reasonable to me. Failing to sign off on a firearm declaration that includes a statement of rights and responsibilities seems like reasonable cause to eject a LEO from any aircraft... especially a commercial one. Your cries of racism are laughable. The guy's ethnicity is a peripheral issue that was irrelevant until the "victim" chose to play it like a ticket to the state lottery.

[habs4ever]

Oohhhhhh, its all about race with you, isn't it? A professional LEO that can't abide by the instructions of the pilot, knowing full well that the pilot has sovereignty over the plane, is then expected to be allowed to remain on board? What is professional about that? And then further compounding his bush league behaviour by taking it public, when his duty is to be invisible.The SS can't afford to have agents that may compromise their duties if they carry chips on their shoulders, and pilots have more important things, like the safety of 300 passengers, than to worry about the bruised and damaged ego of an LEO who couldn't comply with the rules for boarding when it didn't suit him.To then bring race into the equation when the agent's general competence is of greater concern is a disgraceful red herring, and to those that are prone to wave the race card, well, you've been outed.

[wardaddy]

OPH......any white guys who act like Clinton and Carville should be profiled. I'm all for it. I want every discrimination minded person in America to discrminate against anyone who looks, acts, or thinks like those two.

How much is the insult this Secret Service agent went thru worth? Why should folks always demand monetary compensation when insulted these days? I think this idea of always demanding payment when insulted is a problem for a lot of folks including me....who also has btw Lebanese Maronite blood on my mother's side.

As an aside....many folks on this thread seem to think Arab means Muslim....as you know this is hardly the case. I think Christians are still the majority of Arabs here in the US aren't they?

[Harrison Bergeron]

"Lets keep in mind he'd been cleared through a couple of security checks already, including cops and national guardsmen."

Tough t!tt!es. FAA regs say that the pilot gets final say. Pilots turn LEOs away from planes every day if their carrying a firearm isn't specifically required for duty aboard the aircraft. The reports that the "victim" couldn't (or wouldn't) even properly fill out the paperwork when requested are more damning than unfounded charges of racism. Protection of passenger's lives trumps hurt feelings and political correctness every time. At least that's how it's supposed to be.

I think you simply enjoy arguing.

[Twodees]

Given the way the mainstream media usually skews their reporting, it's entirely possible that, had the man been a Christian Arab, that fact would have been shouted from the rooftops as "proof" of the unfairness of ethnic profiling.

I've read that CAIR is not above adding Christian Arabs into the numbers of people they supposedly presume to speak for, but it seems that a Christian Arab who finds himself the "victim" being used by CAIR in such a way might want to speak up in his own behalf.

Just my musings on the subject.

[Principled]

You got something that says that this agent was connected to the terrorists, Miss Cleo? How about me?

Huh? Whether the agent is or is not connected to the terrorists is not the issue, nor did I assert such. The issue is whether the Captain is justified in removing the individual for the reason(s) he states. When did you change the topic? BTW who is Miss Cleo? ANd why do you think I believe you to be connected to the terrorists?

Put up or shut up, if you are going to tar an entire ethnic group, most of which isn't even the same religion as the terrorists.

What entire ethnic group did I "tar"? And why does the religion of the terrorists or the ethnic group in question matter?