Posted on 08/09/2002 3:23:46 PM PDT by TomGuy
Secret Service Agent Who Wrote Anti-Muslim Statements During Search to Be Suspended Without Pay
By Bree Fowler Associated Press Writer
Published: Aug 9, 2002
DETROIT (AP) - A Secret Service agent who admitted he scrawled anti-Muslim statements on a prayer calendar during a search will be suspended for six months without pay, a federal prosecutor said Friday.
U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Collins said the agent won't face criminal charges. He said the suspension, which amounts to a financial loss of about $40,000, and other sanctions were greater punishment than any misdemeanor charge would have been.
"I think his career, which was on track for great things before this, has essentially been derailed," Collins said.
On July 18, federal agents searched the Dearborn home of Omar Shishani, who has pleaded innocent to smuggling $12 million in bogus cashier's checks into the United States.
Members of Shishani's family said they discovered after the search that "Islam is Evil" and "Christ is King" had been written on the calendar.
The agent, identified only as a 10-year veteran, will be transferred out of the Eastern District of Michigan and has written a letter of apology to Shishani and his family.
"We're satisfied with the decision," said Hodan Hassan, a spokeswoman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which had asked Attorney General John Ashcroft to investigate. "And we hope that the punishment meted out would be a signal to others that such bigotry would not be tolerated."
The FBI is investigating whether Shishani has ties to terrorist organizations, but his name is not on the American terrorist watch list, law enforcement officials have said.
AP-ES-08-09-02 1803EDT
Especially when viewed against the FBI's standards. They can shoot Boy Scouts in the face, murder mothers who are holding infants, and frame innocent men for murders and get no punishment at all.
Still one has to wonder if he would have gotten as stiff a punishment if he wrote objectionable phrases on a Christian's calendar during a search.
Tell me the PC proselytist leftist police is not fanatical? This is stuff you get from totalitarian regimes, whether democratic or not.
I have to tell you it would indeed be grounds for termination.It may or may not be enforced, but similar actions of "intolerance" in private corporations are on the books as unacceptable behavior.
The lack of judgement shown by this individual does more than reflect his loss of controll.In and of itself, he deserves termination in his profession.His little "dig" will also jeapordise any potential legal action against the search sudjects.
It boils down to integrity.There is always a danger of abuse of authority by "agents" of the government.Remember Waco?Ruby Ridge? Think about what would happen in a no-knock raid if they screw up the address and come to your home instead.
In his position, if he did not know what he did was pure stupidity, he should not have been in his position.It is ignorant to excuse his actions, because "Clinton, Carter, or "so and so" got "away" with even worse.Just because OJ got away with murder, is no excuse for XXXX to get away with XXXX.Several thousands of wrongs still do not make a right.
As a private citizen of the USA I may exercise my freedom of speech and spout my beliefs 24/7. When I am "on the clock", my actions are indeed proscribed by my employer.
That we, as a nation, do not rage equally and consistantly at the lack of integrity evident by "some" in our government, in no way implies a blanket acceptance of abuse to the entire government.Nor does it mean the entire government has a lack of integrity.
Horiuchi shoots and kills an innocent woman holding a baby. He is not punished.
An FBI Agent shoots an innocent teenage in the face. He is not punished.
A USSS agent writes something on the private property of a possible enemy agent in possesion of $12 million dollars of fake checks. He is suspended without pay for 6 months, and his career is effectively over.
Only in Amerika.
You put it in perspective. Worth repeating.
Agreed. PC sentencing enhancements should be abolished. They are an obscenity.
First amendment rights are curtailed in employment contracts. For example, police are not permitted to curse at someone during an arrest. If they do they will be punnished. But in this case, the sanction is driven by the PC agenda and is thus immoral.
Nice spiel - but won't fly in the "real world"...you know, the world where wrongful termination attorneys lurk?...yeah, that one.
Let me say that in the corporate world, if you are a member of a "protected class", intolerance toward you would be grounds for dismissal by one in authority. However, if you are not a member of the a "protected class", you have very few rights and it's your word against management's. Management has the deep pockets and the corporate lawyers. Management can misbehave, violate corporate policy and state laws with impunity. You as an employee have little or no recourse as a practical matter if you are harassed.
This is a perversion of "with liberty and justice for all" but this is how it is. Justice is not attained in the real corporate world. Those in power make the rules and choose when to enforce the rules and whom to investigate for breaking the rules. Buddies do not investigate buddies.
Not my "argument", bucko - my reply......and, yeah, I guess I am smarter than you.......ever heard of a "wrongful termination suit"?
Any employer can shitcan any employee, but then the legal chiggens come home to roost......go with me on this one before you pop off any more, ok?
And, if you live in a right-to-work state, "wrongful termination" suits will be laughed out of court.
In Texas, an employer can fire any employee, and not even give a reason.
The only thing protecting this insubordinate SS agent is ASFME, the public sector employees' union. Otherwise, he'd be gone.
Yes I am aware of "that" world.I also know that "that" world is largely populated by losers.Cases of employee abuse actually exist. No doubt at all.In the "real" world, employer abuse is more common."Everyone does it" is the excuse.Everyone does not do it,only losers "do it".
That integrity thing again....
Look at what you've said...then look at the AFL-CIO rosters.........Employers these days dare not. I rest my case.
In the USA, slavery and indentured service are history. It is your choice to continue working for an organization you think is immoral and/or acts illegally.If you continue to work for such a company,and you feel abused, you are part of the problem.
Life is all about choices. If you cant see that you, and your co-workers, choose to allow yourselves to be "harassed" by working for a company that is so unfair, I dont think I can explain the concept of individual and collective responcibility to you.
No corporation exists without the support and active or passive participation of the employees. As a truly practical matter, why would you waste your time and energy, your "real" life,in contributing to a corporation you think is perverted?
I have never been fired from an employer, but I have resigned from many jobs, with proper notice.It has not always been "financially" the best choice, but I have never regretted leaving a company I did not feel good working for.Exercise your freedom. It can be scary at first, but it feels great! It is also addictive.
Employers who create a climate of managerial adversity for employees do not have my sympathy from "union" abuse either.What goes around comes around.
I have had prospective employers explain quite clearly their contempt of "lower level" employees in the company structure in interviews.The production level.The actual producers of the product the company sells.You know the ones,wink wink.
Needless to say, I did not accept the job offers from "those" kind of employers. Respect is a two way street.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.