Posted on 11/20/2006 7:06:49 PM PST by ButThreeLeftsDo
Six men were removed from an airplane at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport Monday evening.
Sources say the men, of Middle Eastern ethnicity, behaved in a manner that caused the crew to be concerned.
The men were taken off the plane after it returned to the gate and are being questioned by authorities.
The remaining passengers were also taken off the flight, U.S. Airways flight 300, bound for Phoenix.
Those passengers are being re-screened for boarding.
There were 170 passengers on board the plane, which is a Boeing 757.
Stay with FOX 9 News and MyFOX9.com for continuing updates on this breaking story.
Such a relief to find out it's not the Episcopalian Youth Ministry!
Absolutely and it's good to know it wasn't the Baptists praying before the Big Meal.
You're so right -- what a relief.
He's affiliated with the CAIR-Arizona office.
He's imam with the Islamic Center of the East Valley.
He was a representative for the Muslim PAC at a fundraiser for Jim Pederson who ran against Kyl in 2006.
He's head of the Valley's Imam Council, is the Islamic leader at a local Islamic parochial school, and imam at a local mosque, and he also emceed a recent CAIR-Arizona fundraiser.
He has a law degree from Jordan, and he used to be with the Tucson Islamic Center in 2001.
Some quotes from Omar via the AZ Republic, 09/28/01: "More than 1200 Muslims died in the WTC catastrophe..." and regarding reports by the FBI of Al-Queda nests in the US..."all of these, they made it up."
He's a Muslim extremist by association, and I doubt he was innocently praying on this flight.
Thank you IrishRainy for the post.
Phoenix seems to be a busy place.
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http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&tab=wn&q=%22Omar+Shahin%22&scoring=d
http://blogsearch.google.com/blogsearch?hl=en&client=news&q=%22Omar+Shahin%22&ie=UTF8
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UPDATE...
http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/11/21/passengers.removed.ap/
"Six Muslim imams taken off plane"
POSTED: 3:00 a.m. EST, November 21, 2006
MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota (AP) --
ARTICLE SNIPPET: ""They took us off the plane, humiliated us in a very disrespectful way," said Omar Shahin of Phoenix.
The six Muslim scholars were returning from a conference in Minneapolis of the North American Imams Federation, said Shahin, president of the group. Five of them were from the Phoenix-Tempe area, while one was from Bakersfield, California, he said.
Three of them stood and said their normal evening prayers together on the plane, as 1.7 billion Muslims around the world do every day, Shahin said. He attributed any concerns by passengers or crew to ignorance about Islam.
"I never felt bad in my life like that," he said. "I never. Six imams. Six leaders in this country. Six scholars in handcuffs. It's terrible."
Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations, expressed anger at the detentions.
"CAIR will be filing a complaint with relevant authorities in the morning over the treatment of the imams to determine whether the incident was caused by anti-Muslim hysteria by the passengers and/or the airline crew," Hooper said. "Because, unfortunately, this is a growing problem of singling out Muslims or people perceived to be Muslims at airports, and it's one that we've been addressing for some time."
Hooper said the conference drew about 150 imams from all over the country, and that those attending included U.S. Rep.-elect Keith Ellison, D-Minneapolis, who just became the first Muslim elected to Congress. Shahin said they went as far as notifying police and the FBI about their meeting in advance."
ARTICLE SNIPPET: "Reached by cell phone just after his release, Shahin said he didn't know where they would spend the night or how they would try to get back to Phoenix on Tuesday. Hooper said US Airways refused to put the men on another flight."
So who had Omar's cell phone number anyway?
I don't know.
Or a nursing mother, mile high story
"Planning on flying this Thanksgiving?
Yes I am, flying from Frankfurt to London. Sance I am flying to England I will have to submit to the same silly regs that everyone back home has to contend with.
If I were flying to Rome I wouldn't have to worry about it...
"If I were flying to Rome I wouldn't have to worry about it..."
Well, when it comes to security, if necessary, rules can change.
I hope you have an uneventful flight gamecock and a blessed Thanksgiving.
And do they have ties to Minnesota's new senator?
Well thanks for the memory jogger, IrishRainy. I do recall reading this article.
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http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=21619
"The Black Hearts of KindHearts"
By Joe Kaufman
FrontPageMagazine.com | March 14, 2006
Evening prayer time for Minneapolis on the 20th was 6:05 PM. Flight departure was scheduled for 5:15 PM. Why didn;t they wait until they were in the air to do their ritual? And come to think of it, how were these pious imams going to align themselves in an airplane so that they were facing Mecca?
Flight Status
Flight # 300
Depart Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN
Date 11/20/2006
Gate C9
Scheduled 5:15 PM
Actual 8:29 PM
Status Departed
Arrive Phoenix, AZ
Date 11/20/2006
Gate A11
Scheduled 7:40 PM
Actual 10:41 PM
Status Arrived
Today's Prayer Times (Get them via Mobile Phone)
Day Fajr Sunrise Dhuhr Asr Maghrib Isha
Tue 5:54 7:18 12:00 2:19 4:39 6:05
http://www.islamicfinder.org/prayerDetail.php?country=usa&city=Minneapolis&state=MN&email=&home=2006-11-21&lang=&aversion=&athan=
AM update......
http://wcco.com/topstories/local_story_324220237.html
"CAIR will be filing a complaint with relevant authorities in the morning over the treatment of the imams to determine whether the incident was caused by anti-Muslim hysteria by the passengers and/or the airline crew," Hooper said. "Because, unfortunately, this is a growing problem of singling out Muslims or people perceived to be Muslims at airports, and it's one that we've been addressing for some time."
Hooper said the conference drew about 150 imams from all over the country, and that those attending included U.S. Rep.-elect Keith Ellison, D-Minneapolis, who just became the first Muslim elected to Congress. Shahin said they went as far as notifying police and the FBI about their meeting in advance."
ARTICLE SNIPPET: "Reached by cell phone just after his release, Shahin said he didn't know where they would spend the night or how they would try to get back to Phoenix on Tuesday. Hooper said US Airways refused to put the men on another flight."
Oh Geez! The local radio guys are talking about the Borat movie. BBL
Look out....here they come.
There will be a lot of lawsuits. They will win. We will be less safe on planes as a result.
Lawsuits from these types of incidents have gone nowhere, in the past. The law is clear. If you are told to do something on an airplane and you refuse, you have broken the law.
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