Posted on 01/05/2002 1:56:21 AM PST by ImphClinton
N E W Y O R K, Jan. 4 — An American Airlines passenger says he believes an Arab-American Secret Service agent who was kicked off a Christmas Day flight was targeted because of his ethnicity.
"I feel he was most likely removed from the plane — obviously I wasn't privy to the paperwork or that he was a Secret Service [agent] or such — but I think he fit a profile," the passenger, Mark Pueschel, said today on ABCNEWS' Good Morning America.
Pueschel had been seated next to the agent as the American Airlines flight prepared to take off from Baltimore to Dallas. The agent, who was armed, was on his way to work at President Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas. He was removed from the flight after the captain questioned the validity of his credentials.
Pueschel contacted the Council of Arab-American Relations after seeing a press release on the incident.
Bush 'Madder Than Heck' If Discrimination Seen
Bush told reporters last week he would be "madder than heck" if a government inquiry into the incident found that one of his Secret Service protectors was the victim of discrimination.
The agent demanded an apology from the airline through his attorneys at a news conference Thursday. The agent, whose identity has not been released, did not attend because he was on a security detail and not available for comment in person, his attorneys said. They read a statement in which he said he did not have a vendetta against American Airlines.
"It has never been my desire to make this incident personal," the statement said. "This case is only about the facts. I love my job, and I want to thank my fellow agents for all their support. God bless America."
American Airlines officials have said the agent was removed at the pilot's request because of "inconsistencies" in the paperwork he filed that is required of all federal agents flying on commercial airlines. Religion and ethnicity, American Airlines said, had nothing to do with his removal.
The pilot also released a statement saying the agent was "confrontational" and "abusive."
Christy Lopez, an attorney for the agent, said the agent was a victim of discrimination: "We believe the captain is using that as an excuse for taking him off the plane, but it is quite clear he took him off the plane for other reasons."
The agent has not ruled out filing a lawsuit against American Airlines, Lopez said. He still seeks an amicable resolution of the incident, but he wants airline officials to review their practices so no one else is victimized, she said.
Airline Calls Accusation 'Frivolous'
In a statement, American Airlines called the agent's claims "frivolous" and supported the pilot's actions, saying they were based on concerns for the security and safety of the passengers and crew.
"American carries out its security obligations according to the guidelines provided by the federal government," the airline's statement said. "Those guidelines are applied equally among all passengers, and the company vigorously resents any suggestion of racial discrimination."
Was the seatmate a friend of the agent?
You are wrong I have called there several times and never had to wait more than three rings. Of course you can't talk to the President. I was able to talk to the Secret Service once however to report a death threat I read right here on Free Republic. I take the life of the President seriously and would not even have wanted some one to shoot Clinton.
The next day I was a god, actually most couldn't beleive I used the #, but I did!
Anyway, if the agent had a WH #, he would have been so gone!
The Plane Captain was just plain right!!
. . .if one appears to be a problem with bad paperwork et al AND is carrying a gun. . .would it not make sense to 'check' others at this point? The 'MO' is that they do not do these missions alone. . .
Too bad for them that this agent raised the 'issue' to begin with; obviously if 'ethnicity' were the only motivation, these 'others' would have had a problem before they even sat down. The reality is, this is understandable and again, just using some commonsense judgement.
Context, context, context. . .all part of a sorry picture we have to live with given the times. . .
Of course there's a protocol in place. Apparently the pilot didn't want to call the USSS.
Exactly, white guys haven't been blowing up Aircraft, Arabs have!!
If you heard a "rabid dog" was on the loose, would you look for cats?
The Pilot claims he thought he was a terroist. This scares me more. He lets an armed terroist free???
Yet another step, on another thread it is being reported that the pilot actually asked 5 men to step off the plane for further checks. All appearing to be middle eastern. Would you still stay if the pilot left?
OK, so if the issue is the color of the guy's skin, why bother wringing your hands over his supposed belligerence, or his hiring of a lawyer, or his paperwork? Why don't you just say what you mean: "Sand <n-word>'s shouldn't be allowed to fly"?
"...They are sometimes publicly explicit about this goal. The Muslim, a British-based Islamic fundamentalist publication, appeals to Muslims, "let us not hesitate in preparing for Jihad against the unbeliever--to subjugate the world to Islam."9 Ibrahim Hooper of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (or CAIR) openly declares that he would like to see the U.S. become a Muslim country.10 Abdulrahman Alamoudi, head of the American Muslim Council, stated at the Islamic Association for Palestine conference in December 1996 that the United States will become a Muslim country, even if it takes a hundred years. ..." Source
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