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No Federal Charges for Atlanta Football Fan in Airport Security Breech
Newsday ^ | 11/18/01

Posted on 11/19/2001 11:43:39 AM PST by 11th Earl of Mar

Edited on 09/03/2002 4:49:34 AM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]

ATLANTA -- A man who dashed through a security checkpoint at the nation's busiest airport, forcing officials to halt flights and evacuate passengers, will not face federal charges, prosecutors said Monday.

Michael Lasseter did not violate any federal laws because he did not board an airplane, and because the screening station guards are not federal agents, said Patrick Crosby, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office.


(Excerpt) Read more at newsday.com ...


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To: usconservative
I hope I never see the likes of you or him "running" through security when I'm at the airport.

You won't. My forms of idiocy don't run that way... :)

BTW, I don't believe what he did was O.K. (as I have also repeated several times). What I believe is that he's only responsible for what he did, not the out-of-control actions of others.

201 posted on 11/19/2001 8:33:39 PM PST by lepton
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To: mbynack
The point wasn't that he was running down an up escalator. The point was that he ran around the metal detectors and security checks and the security folks have to assume a worse case scenario.

My point is, and I got it from a GOOD source, that he never busted through the security check. He never left the secure area he had been checked through earlier.

202 posted on 11/20/2001 8:21:46 AM PST by Texas Mom
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To: Thud
How about a thousand hours of community service cleaning restrooms at the Atlanta airport?

You, sir/madam, are a cruel person....

203 posted on 11/20/2001 8:37:25 AM PST by bwteim
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To: Texas Mom
"My point is, and I got it from a GOOD source, that he never busted through the security check. He never left the secure area he had been checked through earlier"

Sorry Mom, but you are mostly wrong.

This moron was already at the gate and had passed thru security like anyone else. He then decided to go back to the terminal, so he left the gate area (a secured area), went down the escalator, re-boarded the train, went back to the terminal (a non-secure area)to get his camera, THEN, instead of passing thru security again to get back to the gates, which EVERYONE MUST DO (don't you all want that?), he proceeded back to where the escalators come up from the train, RAN DOWN THE UP ESCALATORS, boarded the train, and went back to his gate.

He totally bypassed security to get to the gate. He went from a NON-SECURE area to a SECURE AREA...WITHOUT GOING THRU SECURITY!

When he or anyone else does that, especially with boarding pass already in hand, he could have carried any weapon or bomb directly onto his flight without any chance of being caught, unless everybody was re-inspected as they boarded their flights. That would have been ludicrous if not impossible.

This guy should get whatever maximum sentence is available. Anybody on here who believes otherwise makes a sham of having any security at all.

I just can't believe that people are so willing to let this guy off the hook. Maybe if you or your family were there, you would all feel differently.

And BTW Mom, I am a better source than your 'good' source. Sorry, I don't like to disagree with anyone named Mom!

204 posted on 11/20/2001 10:13:02 AM PST by Accountable One
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To: Accountable One
And BTW Mom, I am a better source than your 'good' source. Sorry, I don't like to disagree with anyone named Mom!

Don't know how you can know that when you don't know my source. Do you work for Delta, are you in operations at the airport? My source is yes on both counts.

We can agree to disagree on this one..

205 posted on 11/20/2001 10:44:33 AM PST by Texas Mom
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To: Accountable One
And BTW Mom, I am a better source than your 'good' source. Sorry, I don't like to disagree with anyone named Mom!

Don't know how you can know that when you don't know my source. Do you work for Delta, are you in operations at the airport? My souce is yes on both counts.

We can agree to disagree on this one.. BTW I did have family there.

206 posted on 11/20/2001 10:45:52 AM PST by Texas Mom
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To: 11th Earl of Mar
The dude should have said that he was suffering from explosive diarrhea, and he was running to the nearest head.

They would have dropped any and all charges.

The explosive diarrhea excuse is potent; people WANT to believe you and they WANT to LEAVE YOU ALONE AND GET OUT OF YOUR WAY. FAST.

Trust me on this one.

207 posted on 11/20/2001 11:54:57 AM PST by caddie
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To: lepton
BTW, I don't believe what he did was O.K. (as I have also repeated several times). What I believe is that he's only responsible for what he did, not the out-of-control actions of others.

Yet, you consistently fail to see that his actions caused the reaction. Given the society we live in today you don't see that Airport Security did the right thing? Really?

If he had gotten on a plane and threatened to blow it up with a bomb and Airport Security hadn't pursued him you have to admit you'd be criticizing the security folks for NOT doing what they did.

That's my point. We *don't* know what people are thinking when they run through security, take a bunch of knives through like that idiot Subash Garong did several weeks back at O'Hare. He said it was an accident. Oh really? And how do we know that, take his word for it? (The same way we're expected to take this guy's word for why he ran through security?)

BTW: What did you think of that incident? Did security do the "right thing" by letting him go through after they confiscated a bunch of knives but not searching the rest of his bags?

Here's two incidents of one extreme to another. Do nothing like what happened at O'Scare, and the Federal Government seizes control of Airport Security. Do Everything (pursue, arrest, etc..) and get criticized. Damn'ed if they do, damn'ed if they don't.

Regards,

208 posted on 11/20/2001 12:28:36 PM PST by usconservative
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To: usconservative
If that's your criteria, then surely you could see how having ACTUAL security might be a good thing. Not a huge circle-jerk that costs a tremendous amount of money, but adds little. All that, and effectively he got away. Perhaps they should have closed down Georgia instead?

I'm not in favor of "do something" policy.

Regardless, the basic argument was whether he should be personally financially liable for all of that. I believe not. I think he should be liable for what he did, not what others did - especially when it does not both obviously and reasonably follow. If they had closed down the entire state of Georgia, would the costs of that also appropriately be charged to him?

We still have the question as to whether or not he actually compromised security...note that he was not charged with such, only with his actions having caused other to freak out.

209 posted on 11/20/2001 12:57:39 PM PST by lepton
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To: usconservative
Given the society we live in today you don't see that Airport Security did the right thing?

It's not so much a change for me. I've always considered such things possible. Maybe that's why I'm not panicked.

210 posted on 11/20/2001 1:00:29 PM PST by lepton
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To: lepton
It's not so much a change for me. I've always considered such things possible. Maybe that's why I'm not panicked.

On this point, we agree. It's not so much a change for me either, since we've always *known* that sooner or later, terrorism was going to hit our shores. The problem with our foreign policy over the years, is that we were never really inclined to deal with terrorism, as long as it occurred somewhere else. As soon as it hit our shores, all bets were off.

So while we're not panicked, much of society is. We must *all* be aware of how our actions might cause others to panic. The same way you're not going to leave a bunch of white powder "laying around" in a public area (even if you just spilled your Equal while pouring it into your coffee) or yell "FIRE" in a crowded theatre, you or I (or this jerkwad) shouldn't be running through security - even if he was just through it.

Did the security people *know* for fact he wasn't bringing a bomb back in? No. Just because he left the airport because he forgot something, shouldn't mean he doesn't have to go back through security - or wait his turn in line to do so.

Since we're now officially arguing our respective points to death, and neither one of us is going to give, I've nothing more to say on the topic. We'll just have to agree to disagree.

Regards,

211 posted on 11/20/2001 8:28:50 PM PST by usconservative
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