Posted on 11/03/2001 6:04:58 PM PST by TLBSHOW
BANGOR — Green Party activist Nancy Oden was grounded at Bangor International Airport on Thursday after reportedly becoming uncooperative when she was targeted for additional screening.
Oden, who said she believed she was singled out for extra scrutiny because of her activist past and public opposition to the current war effort, was on her way to Chicago to attend a Green Party USA meeting when airline personnel told her that she had been selected to undergo added security screening before boarding.
“I was treated if I were guilty just because I’m a dissident and I speak out,” Oden, a middle-aged woman who sits on the party’s national coordinating committee, said from her Jonesboro home after she had abandoned her travel plans. “They’re looking at me like I’m a terrorist and I’m just a peaceful person trying to go to a meeting in Chicago.”
Since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, security has been tightened at all the nation’s airports — including BIA, where armed National Guardsmen monitor the screening area and passenger lists are checked against the FBI’s terrorist watch list.
Officials at BIA and American Eagle Airlines have a much different account of Oden’s afternoon run-in with the added security.
“She was uncooperative during the screening process,” said American Eagle spokesman Kurt Iverson, who added that Oden reportedly would not stand still when security staff tried to wave a metal-detecting wand over her. “Obviously if they can’t submit to screening, [Federal Aviation Administration] regulations require that they not be allowed to board the plane.”
Oden said that while she asked security staff not to touch her with the wand, she did allow them to complete their search of both her person and her baggage. Oden said that she did pull away from a National Guardsman when he grabbed her left arm and asked her if she “knew what happened on September 11,” she said.
While acknowledging that Oden was singled out for added extensive screening, authorities said it was more likely due to the manner in which she purchased her ticket than for her activist past.
Under newly adopted FAA regulations, more passengers — either randomly or based on a computerized profile — are being targeted for more intense screening during the boarding process.
While industry officials were unwilling to release the criteria under which they would profile a passenger, they said the criteria did not include federally protected characteristics such as race, religion, age or sex.
Without providing details, interim airport director Rebecca Hupp said that the FAA guidelines “have more to do with the ticket than the person.” For instance, one airline official said, a passenger who pays cash for a ticket the day of the flight would likely undergo added scrutiny.
Oden bought her nonrefundable ticket online, she said.
While an FBI spokeswoman would neither confirm nor deny the presence of any name on the terrorist watch list — another trigger for added security response — one law enforcement source said it was “extremely unlikely” Oden was on the list of potential terrorists because her name is unknown to the FBI.
After the incident, Oden was told she could not take her scheduled flight to Chicago, and that she could not travel on any other airline at the airport that day.
“If I had done something wrong, they should have arrested me instead of denying me my right to travel,” an upset Oden said Friday. “We’re losing more of our rights and people don’t realize it.”
http://www.bangordailynews.com/editorialnews/article.html?ID=44958
FR thread - Green Party USA Coordinator Detained at Airport
Vandals Hit Modified Corn at UM
GREEN PARTY USA CONDEMNS BUSH'S BOMBING OF IRAQ
Yeah, Nader and the Greens are wonderful Americans!
PROFILE: Idiot Green Party Member; Member Seac; Alleged vandal leader; Environmentalist wacko scumbag; anti-American
MO: Supported by anti-American interests bent on destroying American businesses including Corporations and mom & pop businesses who receive their inventory from corporations; Inciting mush-brains from college campuses to vandalize university and corporatation properties; Attending Anti-American conferences such as those in Chicago
The more people can see that types like Oden are really just reincarnated Communists, the more people can see what the "Green" Movement is really all about.
I wonder if this party got any "under-the-table" cash from Iraq, Iran, Libya or Syria?
We heard a lot of the tired old socialist rhetoric about how it's all about the oil companies and how awful the US is. I had a great sign with a quote from Patrick Henry that made them so made they almost choked:
Pacifists are among the most immoral of men. They make no distinction between aggression and defense. Therefore, pacifism is one of the greatest allies of the aggressor.
Air traffic safety measures should not violate constitutional rights or be used to target political dissenters.
Correction of erroneous information in press reports on the detention of a Green at Maine airport.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Green Party organizers are attempting to confirm a report from sources in Maine that a Green was detained by officials at Bangor International Airport because of her political affiliation.
Greens support measures to keep air traffic safe during the current crisis, as long as constitutional rights are not violated and people who engage in nonviolent political dissent are not targeted. Numerous Green Party organizers and activists have flown over the past weeks without incident, and they have complied in every way with airport security measures.
PLEASE NOTE: Recent press reports on the incident contained incorrect information about the affiliation of the Green Party member, stating that Nancy Oden is a "coordinating committee member" of the Green Party of the United States. Ms. Oden is not a member of the party's Coordinating Committee (which consists of delegates from affiliated states), but of a different organization.
The Green Party of the United States is the only Green political organization organized nationally as a party, in which at least 31 states are represented (with other states' memberships pending). It organized the Green National Convention in Denver in June, 2000, at which Ralph Nader was nominated to run for President, and is recognized among Green Parties around the world.
The Green Party of the United States has filed papers with the Federal Election Commission for recognition as a national party with national committee status, and expects an announcement of the FEC's decision within the next few weeks.
Media inquiries about national policies and activities of the Green Party should be directed solely to the Green Party of the United States, through its media representatives as listed in the heading above. To contact state Green Parties, visit the Green Party of the United States web site and follow the links to the state parties and their contacts and web sites.
END
News Release - Sunday, November 04, 2001
Yep she is finished as a green martian! LOL
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