Posted on 01/03/2002 6:27:47 AM PST by veronica
An Arab-American Secret Service agent on President Bush's security detail allegedly appeared "anxious and nervous" and became unruly when asked to verify his credentials before he was ejected from an American Airlines flight last week, the pilot of the flight says.
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 and has retained a lawyer with an eye towards possible legal action against the airline.
Lawyer Christy Lopez said Wednesday night that her client "never did anything that could be construed as causing a legitimate security concern."
President Bush told reporters last week that he would be "madder than heck" if racial profiling was a factor in the agent's removal from the flight.
Then go get madder than heck. I certainly want my air carriers profiling passengers.
And the poor souls would tell any reporter that would care to ask that they 'liked it'.
And... "we don't need no stinkin' badges", said Arabic-looking the SS man.
Yes, can't be searching likely suspects, now can we? I suppose if the SS agent had been a woman, you could have called it sexual harrassment?
Stupidity is infinite.
I'm with you.
You don't understand, they DON'T bother with forms. They are 'authorities'. They can carry their weapon anywhere they please and they can usually get away if they shoot you, by mistake or by design.
Terrorists have stolen pilot uniforms and bluffed their way into the jump seats of planes, claiming to be a pilot. I'm sure the pilots are now VERY aware that a terrorist may try to impersonate an FBI agent some such LEO. What the pilot did was correct since he could not validate the identity of the agent. Guess the SS dude didn't like getting treated like an ordinary sheeple.
I'm with the pilot, right or wrong. Consider the alternatives...
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