Posted on 01/09/2010 2:13:01 AM PST by dennisw
Rutgers University student Haisong Jiang, 28, admitted he was the man caught on security cameras walking down a security checkpoint exit lane into the secure area, Port Authority police said.
Jiang said, "You got me," when Port Authority cops nabbed him at his Piscataway, N.J., home. He's accused of defiant trespass but could face more charges, cops said.
Security video shows Jiang loitering around a supposedly secure exit on Sunday manned by a Transportation Security Administration guard in the terminal for several minutes.
When the guard steps away from his post, Jiang scoots under a security rope to join his girlfriend.
The two lovebirds then can be seen hot-footing it, arm-in-arm, into the secure part of the terminal.
The breach delayed more than 100 flights, stranded thousands of passengers and closed the terminal for more than seven hours.
Friends said Jiang, who came to the U.S. from China in 2004, is in a doctorate molecular bioscience program at Rutgers and had never been in trouble with the law.
Police said it looks like Jiang meant no harm and only wanted to follow his girl to a secure part of the concourse to say goodbye.
A neighbor, Gene Wells, 53, said he felt some sympathy for Jiang, who lives with a group of students.
"He's not a terrorist - he just did something stupid," Wells said.
Port Authority police said a team of six detectives tracked down Jiang by checking surveillance tapes, plane manifests and photos of license plates in airport parking lots, and interviewing possible witnesses.
"Old fashioned police work found him. Nothing glamorous about the search, just old-fashioned shoe leather," the source said.
The air-headed TSA guard who left his post was identified as Ruben Hernandez. He reportedly is on administrative leave and faces possible disciplinary action.
(Excerpt) Read more at nydailynews.com ...
I guess I will post a different point of view. I don’t think he should be charged or punished at all. The guard left his post for a minute and this guy walked by. The TSA is just upset because this exposed their incompetence. If they would spend half the time they did tracking down this guy on questioning and investigating jihadi’s boarding airplanes we would be much safer. But as usual the TSA allows jihadi’s to board planes at will and spends their resources tracking down non terrorists.
The TSA guy should be fired. Like yesterday.
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/01/broken_federal_security_camera.html
camera was broken.... situation was not due to neglecting to insert film or DVD disc or what have you
Not sure what you are trying to say?
TSA blameless?
You and I would have done it since there was no guard?
Well first of all it is ridiculous that they are using movie theater ropes as a blockage - exactly! This is not security, it is guidance. I am an overweight, out of shape 49 year old guy. Two months ago I was ducking under ropes like this at the airport in Hong Kong - just to save walking an extra 30 feet. They were not security ropes - they were to guide people into lines for check in. The line was not full. For security, they use walls and barricades and turnstiles and little guys in green uniforms with MP5’s.
How would you feel if this Chinese guy delayed your flight by 7 hours? Everyone else obeyed the TSA rules except for this one guy
Posted by Neuro421
January 09, 2010, 9:46AM
I know this guy personally. He’s my labmate’s roommate. Not that I’m defending his actions or anything, but he was probably just over-excited to see his fiancee coming in from overseas for the first time and was just using the wrong “head” to think with.
The man is from China, where most of the citizens (even educated ones) still have an ingrained disregard/disrespect for rule of law. For example, in the US no one sane would dare argue with a security officer for something like this since they have no patience for BS and will arrest you on the spot. US residents have learned over the decades that the law is to be respected, or else...
Over in China, arguments with police officers and security guards is and commonplace, and people usually think they will just get a slap on the wrist or can bribe their way out of trouble. Unless its a serious offense that is stereotyped in the chinese mindset (murder, drunk driving, smuggling heroin, etc) chinese people don’t care much about committing ‘minor infractions’ such as crossing a restricted zone in an airport.
There is much more paranoia over terrorism here in the US. We have a heterogeneous population of all races that makes it hard to spot suspicious people without racial profiling. In China, because of the racial homogeneity, there is much less paranoia over these things because there is a belief that trouble makers come in the foreign variety that make them easy to spot. Therefore, airport security issues are perceived of as less of a threat.
Haisong did something stupid, but its really because of a cultural misunderstanding more than anything else. He just had to learn the hard way that in US, things are done differently than back home.
...to think I used to warn him and his roommates about this very sort of thing, and he still manages to pull this kind of crap and get arrested. Somebody’s gonna get a lot of ball-busting when they get out of jail.
http://blog.nj.com/njv_mark_diionno/2010/01/haisong_jiang_newark_airport_s/2080/comments-2.html
How many times have they had to re-check everyone in an airport and on planes because of the lack security measures?
In most cases this was due to the fact there where no physical barriers forcing people to go head to head with a security guard. People just walk or run right through the security checkpoints which should be impossible. And yet they never talk about this. Billions of dollars for security and theater ropes for barriers!
This guy effed with the TSA. See how far you get doing that. He inconvenienced thousands yet you don’t blame him at all. I see nothing logical from you. You prefer blaming authority (TSA) for not being perfect
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