SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - An airline passenger with the words "suicide bomber" written in his journal was arrested when his plane arrived in San Jose, California, on Wednesday, but the words appeared to refer to music and he was later released, officials said. "A male was observed by his fellow passengers as having a journal and handwritten on the journal were the words 'suicide bomber,'" FBI spokeswoman LaRae Quy said. "That, combined with the fact that he was clutching a backpack, and then finally he was acting a little suspiciously" prompted law enforcement to act. Authorities boarded the plane and detained the man on the Frontier Airlines plane on charges of being under the influence of drugs or alcohol. But the words "suicide bomber" in his journal appeared related to music, the FBI spokeswoman said. "Preliminary, what we believe is that that was the name of either a band or a song," Quy said. San Jose police later released the 36-year-old San Jose area man and did not charge him with any crime, a police spokeswoman said. So, they arrest the guy on charges of being drunk or high - even though they have no evidence of such - because they were tipped off by fellow passengers - though we don't know how they actually got tipped off - and then they release the guy? I don't know, but to me it seems like a rather stupid idea to try and arrest a guy who is clutching onto a backpack, with "suicide bomber" written all over his note-book. If he hasn't detonated it on the flight, you can sure as hell bet that he'll do it when he sees the hire-a-cop's coming! Yay for false accusations!
Agreed. Honestly, the only person who I genuinely fear is W himself (thereby making him the terrorist), not the people he goes after. All these false charges and approaching-totalinarianism anti-terrorism laws are what worry me, not the people they're trying to stop. Yep, sending over a bunch of rent-a-cops definately isn't the way to stop a suicide bomber pushing the red button... How bout they make 'intentionally arresting under known false charges' illegal, that way the general public doesn't have to fear these stupid measures quite as much. I am a suicide poster.
Well, don't know about the US, but in canada here, it is illegal, or close enough to it. If found out, a cop can get a suspension, or even a dismissal. A rent-a-cop can even be fired on the spot for it (I've known of two cases of this happening for far less than what is in the story).
You have to admit though, that in the current climate toting a journal on a plane with the words SUICIDE BOMBER emblazoned on the cover is a bit... well... working towards a tragic outcome?
Fair points, both of you. I'd imagine it's illegal in the states as well, but that (obviously) doesn't stop it from occuring. Yes, if I screamed "BOMB!" in an airport, I'd almost expect to be shot at. However it seems unlikely to me that Osama's walking around with "Terrorist once funded by the United States" on the cover of his journal. (btw, did it actually say cover or just half-imply it? I don't remember reading the word but use of "on" rather than "in" certainly implies as much) Common sense carries that logic onto this case. Sure, pull him off the plane with suspicion of intent to do harm or something to that effect, but FUI? I don't think so. Especially as I doubt it's illegal to Fly Under the Influence (of drugs/alcogol). Having never flown I can't say for sure, though.
agreed, its not quite telling people you have a bomb stupid but its not a particularly clever thing to do
Agreed. nothing wrong with detaining someone temporarily that has suicide bomb clearly visible on their possesion. Upon questioning they would know if there was infact any danger and could release the person with a mixture reprimand/apology. If he wasnt looking for that kind of attention no one told him to display such a phrase in a place thats constantly on alert for that exact thing. I dont think they will let you on a place under the influence exactly especially if you are clearly drunk but theres nothing stopping you from drinking when you are on the plane. Otherwise the fact that they serve alcohol on flights is just a tease lol.
Its legal for passengers to drink on the plane, they serve beer, wine, liquor, ect from the flight attendant cart. Hell, even the pilots show up drunk, however I dont think thats allowed.
but i'm dubious as to why a suicide bomber would have the words suicide bomber written all over him? unless he was a really stupid one, but then, he was smart enough to get a bomb onboard the plane through security.
Honestly i dont think a suicide bomber would walk around with a notebook that sais "Suicide Bomber" on it, do you? There are a number of things that could of been in the notebook, a guide on Suicide Bombing is probably the lowest thing on the list. I mean what if the guy was a teacher and was preparing a class on suicide bombing? Or in this case, lyrics to a song, or the name of a band. What if the guy was just doing research on suicide bombers to make his flight a bit safer in his own mind? God i hate america. I'll be glad when bush is out of office.
hmm...lets take this one step further and just ask the man to shout that he is a suicide bomber - isnt the whole point of them guys to like blow stuff up? How dumb is he for wearing a jacket that says that on a plane?
OMG.. we're heading for a world where even the mere mention of the word 'suicide bomber' anywhere in a public space will have people looking at you in distain and the FBI chasing you down...
People aren't rational. Scared people are particularly irrational. We live in a world where even casually walking out of the same building as people suspected of being terrorists can earn you eight bullets in the head. Very wrong, but very much the sad reality. In that climate, you really don't want to sit on a plane with a journal with "Suicide Bomber" on the cover...
It looks to me that the govt wants the people scared so it can gain more power w/o looking bad, when people are scared they become more irrational. When that whole terror alert level came out I though this is bs, just a new way to scare people.
Just imagine if he WAS a suicide bomber and people just ignored the slight hints. People would be fired/hung for that. However, I don't agree with the way they handled it.
Um, duh. And my mom refuses to believe Bush rules with fear. How the heck else could he have gotten so many unconstitutional laws passed? USAPATIROT anyone? (no, it's NOT the "Patriot Act", the USA is actually part of the acronym). And what was it that got stuck in with a bill on military spending that was guaranteed to pass, simply because any senator voting against it would be almost certain to not be reelected? The seizure of property thing, IIRC, but I'd have to doublecheck. Completely unamerican and definately unconstitutional. But what does that matter? It's just a God damned piece of paper. Yeah, heads would have rolled if signals were ignored and something happened. But then again, people knew Katrina was coming and were informed of what it could do, but stayed behind. But if a terrorist really wants to do something, rent-a-cops aren't going to stop him.
My mom believes its cheney that rules with fear. Its things like this that makes me more paraniod Eh its only the constution. If "common sense" (and I use the word common loosly) were more common I dont think there would be any of these problems.
