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I'm beginning to wonder if the agent wanted to instigate an incident, because he certainly went about it the right way

the first provable publicity that the agent gave this event was the news conference which happened after American Airlines put material on their website which the agent felt to be untrue and which pictured him in a poor light.

Given the scene of an armed arab-American claiming to be a secret service agent at the gate arguing with pilot and gate personnel with cop standing by, do you really think that the agent had to be the person who leaked the story to the press. There could have been hundreds of people that could have observed this. Recall the Agents coat was on the plane. The airline refused to let him reboard to get it or bring it to him. As a consequence, he's standing there with shoulder holster clearly visible. You think that didnt attract some attention among the Christmas travelers?

the first provable publicity that the agent gave this event was the news conference which happened after American Airlines put material on their website which the agent felt to be untrue and which pictured him in a poor light.

No, the first provable publicity that the agent gave this event was going to CAIR, an Arab advocacy group, within 24 hours of the event.

Supposedly, the guy apologized to the SOC Manager from American for his tirade, but then, I guess, must have reconsidered his apology.

The PR hit American would take if it were wrong would be considerable.

Misunderstandings happen all the time; it usually takes escalation by one party for things to get out of hand.

I've got no idea why a struggling airline would want to have such a public fight over ethnicity unless it sensed it was being unfairly targeted.

OTOH, I can clearly see where a SS agent with a chip on his shoulder would take his wounded pride to a bunch of attorneys and a civil rights organization. He's got nothing to lose because it's about RACE.

the first provable publicity that the agent gave this event was the news conference which happened after American Airlines put material on their website which the agent felt to be untrue and which pictured him in a poor light.

You are DEAD wrong.

Guard for Bush Isn't Allowed Aboard Flight

New York Times | Thursday, December 27, 2001

Posted on 12/27/01 4:22 AM Eastern by JohnHuang2

December 27, 2001

Guard for Bush Isn't Allowed Aboard Flight

By THE NEW YORK TIMES

ASHINGTON, Dec. 26 — An Arab-American member of President Bush's security detail was denied passage on an American Airlines flight from Baltimore to Dallas Tuesday evening after the flight's pilot questioned the validity of the agent's credentials, a spokesman for the Secret Service said tonight.
The agent, who was armed, was originally scheduled to accompany the president aboard Air Force One to Crawford, Tex. He was was on a commercial flight because of a change in Mr. Bush's schedule.
After a mechanical problem prompted the agent's original flight, American Flight 1191, to be canceled, the agent boarded American Flight 363 shortly before 5 p.m., scheduled to depart Baltimore Washington International Airport at 5:15 p.m.
Once seated, he was confronted by airline security personnel, the Secret Service said, and was asked to exit the plane and submit to additional security checks.
After a delay of an hour and 15 minutes, during which the agent was questioned by the flight's pilot, airline officials and airport police, the agent was ordered removed from the flight even though he had offered to have the Secret Service confirm his identity.
Brian Marr, the Secret Service spokesman, confirmed the account of the incident this evening but declined further comment. Phone calls to the airline tonight went unanswered.
A complaint filed today to the Council on Arab-Islamic Relations, an advocacy group in Washington that tracks cases of racial profiling, called the incident evidence that profiling of Arab- and Muslim-Americans at the nation's airports had increased since Sept. 11.
"They didn't see an American, they didn't see a law enforcement professional," said Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for the group. "All they saw was a racial and ethnic profile that they didn't want on their flight."

See there, by December 27th, the agent had already called CAIR.

Now, do you care to change any of your statements regarding the "honor" of this agent?