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Politics : The Donkey's Inn -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Raymond Duray who wrote (4776)	9/29/2002 4:51:06 PM
From: Mephisto	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 15516

You mention "flying". A recent editorial in the NYTimes by Frank Rich (I think it was Rich) suggested that the air marshals on board may be as dangerous as trigger happy as terrorists. They scared the passengers. I believe they told them that if they moved that they would shoot. They arrested one innocent man but let him go after they took him into custody when the plane landed. I'll have to look for the op-ed article.

To: Raymond Duray who wrote (4776)	9/29/2002 5:11:12 PM
From: Mephisto	Respond to of 15516

BOB HERBERT wrote the op-ed article about air marshals that I mentioned in my post to you. Frank Rich was not the author.

To: Raymond Duray who wrote (4776)	9/29/2002 5:19:33 PM
From: Mephisto	Respond to of 15516

High-Altitude Rambos The New York Times September 23, 2002 By BOB HERBERT Mr. Bob Rajcoomar, a U.S. citizen and former military physician from Lake Worth, Fla., found himself handcuffed and taken into custody last month in one of the many episodes of hysteria to erupt on on board airliners in the U.S. since the Sept. 11 attacks. Dr. Rajcoomar was seated in first class on a Delta Airlines flight from Atlanta to Philadelphia on Aug. 31 when a passenger in the coach section began behaving erratically. The passenger, Steven Feuer, had nothing to do with Dr. Rajcoomar. Two U.S. air marshals got up from their seats in first class and moved back to coach to confront Mr. Feuer, who was described by witnesses as a slight man who seemed disoriented. What ensued was terrifying. When Mr. Feuer refused to remain in his seat, the marshals reacted as if they were trying out for the lead roles in Hollywood's latest action extravaganza. They handcuffed Mr. Feuer, hustled him into first class and restrained him in a seat next to Dr. Rajcoomar. The 180 or so passengers were now quite jittery. Dr. Rajcoomar asked to have his seat changed and a flight attendant obliged, finding him another seat in first class. The incident, already scary, could - and should - have ended there. But the marshals were not ready to let things quiet down. One of the marshals pulled a gun and brandished it at the passengers. The marshals loudly demanded that all passengers remain in their seats, and remain still. They barked a series of orders. No one should stand for any reason. Arms and legs should not extend into the aisles. No one should try to visit the restroom. The message could not have been clearer: anyone who disobeyed the marshals was in danger of being shot. The passengers were petrified, with most believing that there were terrorists on the plane. "I was afraid there was going to be a gun battle in that pressurized cabin," said Senior Judge James A. Lineberger of the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, a veteran of 20 years in the military, who was sitting in an aisle seat in coach. "I was afraid that I was going to die from the gunfire in a shootout." Dr. Rajcoomar's wife, Dorothy, who was seated quite a distance from her husband, said, "It was really like Rambo in the air." She worried that there might be people on the plane who did not speak English, and therefore did not understand the marshals' orders. If someone got up to go to the bathroom, he or she might be shot. There were no terrorists on board. There was no threat of any kind. When the plane landed about half an hour later, Mr. Feuer was taken into custody. And then, shockingly, so was Dr. Rajcoomar. The air marshals grabbed the doctor from behind, handcuffed him and, for no good reason that anyone has been able to give, hauled him to an airport police station where he was thrown into a filthy cell. This was airline security gone berserk. No one ever suggested that Dr. Rajcoomar, a straight-arrow retired Army major, had done anything wrong. Dr. Rajcoomar, who is of Indian descent, said he believes he was taken into custody solely because of his brown skin. He was held for three frightening hours and then released without being charged. Mr. Feuer was also released. Officials tried to conceal the names of the marshals, but they were eventually identified by a Philadelphia Inquirer reporter as Shawn B. McCullers and Samuel Mumma of the Transportation Security Administration, which is part of the U.S. Transportation Department. The Transportation Security Administration has declined to discuss the incident in detail. A spokesman offered the absurd explanation that Dr. Rajcoomar was detained because he had watched the unfolding incident "too closely." If that becomes a criterion for arrest in the U.S., a lot of us reporters are headed for jail. Dr. Rajcoomar told me yesterday that he remains shaken by the episode. "I had never been treated like that in my life," he said. "I was afraid that I was about to be beaten up or killed." Lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union have taken up his case and he has filed notice that he may sue the federal government for unlawful detention. "We have to take a look at what we're doing in the name of security," said Dr. Rajcoomar. "So many men and women have fought and died for freedom in this great country, and now we are in danger of ruining that in the name of security." nytimes.com Copyright 2002 The New York Times Company