Comments on: Imams at the Airport

By: Akbar

Akbar — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 05:23:58 +0000

“When a law enforcement officer exercises the power of the Sovereign over its citizens, she or he has a responsibility to operate within the bounds of the Constitution…..”

Here is the latest example of great law enforcement

“Boyd is facing the possibility of life in prison if he is convicted. Actually, he should be counting his lucky stars. If they had treated him as an enemy combatant rather than as a criminal defendant, which the feds have had the option of doing under U.S. law since 9/11, they could have sent battle-tested U.S. troops from Ft. Bragg into Raleigh to attack Boyd’s house, take him into custody, whisk him away to a secret military detention center, torture him, and keep him incarcerated for the rest of his life.

Better yet, they could have sent a CIA hit squad to assassinate him, as they did in Yemen, thereby sparing all the hassle and expense of a trial and risking the possibility of an acquittal. Well, on second thought, the risk of an acquittal is no big deal because even if Boyd were to be acquitted, the Constitution’s bar against double jeopardy no longer prevents the military from taking him into custody as an enemy combatant.”

http://www.fff.org/blog/jghblog2009-07-30.asp

By: Salman

Salman — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 20:47:00 +0000

Latest on Imams

“In a pretrial motion, lawyers for an FBI agent and airport police argued that a recent law that gave private citizens more immunity for reporting suspicious actions at airports should also cover law enforcement officers.

U.S. District Judge Ann Montgomery ruled that there was no indication that Congress intended to do that.

‘When a law enforcement officer exercises the power of the Sovereign over its citizens, she or he has a responsibility to operate within the bounds of the Constitution and cannot raise the specter of 9/11 as an absolute exception to that responsibility…no reasonable officer could have believed they could arrest Plaintiffs without probable cause.’”
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2009/07/24/imams-lawsuit/

By: Jack Bauer’s world IV: FWM « The Shape Of The World

Jack Bauer’s world IV: FWM « The Shape Of The World — Fri, 22 May 2009 23:48:01 +0000

[...] “On Monday evening (November 20), at the Minneapolis airport, six Muslim men were taken in handcuffs off their US Air flight to Phoenix, detained and interrogated by the FBI for several hours, and then released.” …” The note passed on by a passenger to a flight attendant has been published in the newspapers; it reads: 6 suspicious Arabic men on plane, spaced out in their seats. All were together, saying Allah, Allah‚ cursing US involvement w/Saddam before flight. 1 in front exit now, another in first row 1st class, another in 8D, another in 22 D, two in 25 E&F. For that observant traveler, the main suspicious act was the men‚ being obviously being together at the gate but then spacing themselves out inside the plane.” … ” In response to the incident, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and the NAACP have called for Congressional hearings on racial profiling, and also an investigation by the Justice Department and the Transportation Security Administration. These are fair and reasonable demands, and they might even get favorable responses. Quite likely, the aggrieved individuals will receive an apology and perhaps even some compensation. But not much improvement can be expected to come about in the existing state of suspicion, misunderstanding, and misbehavior. That will require a lot more effort on the part of the TV channels, the non-Muslim public, and the Muslims themselves. I single out the TV, because it desperately must show pictures even when they are not relevant.” Read the rest of the post here (Imams at the Airport: http://www.chapatimystery.com/archives/imperial_watch/imams_at_the_airport.html) [...]

By: Olive Ream

Olive Ream — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 04:41:25 +0000

Obviously, this is not the first case where innocent passengers have been harassed. Another muslim passenger was detained after flight because the other passengers complained he was behaving in a strange manner. He was actually saying his prayers while seated.

They’ve been many other cases of muslims being harassed. But one has to admit that this ridiculous new Air Travel policy being enforced by the DHS, is not limited to muslims. A very prominent, (Jewish) architect from England, was kicked off a flight for possessing a “TAN”. I kid you not, this is absolutely true. Apparently the gentleman looked to Middle-Eastern for the flight crew.

The most ridiculous abuse of this law and the most laughable case of paranoia by the passengers and air crew is highlighted in the most recent case. An American (caucasian) couple were arrested after disembarking the plane because the were snogging on a plane. That’s right! The couple were found kissing and caressing each other which made the passengers and the crew extremely nervous. The couple could now actually face up to 15 years in jail (as reported by the press).

Insanity prevails.

By: saud

saud — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 21:43:52 +0000

someone sent this story to a list I’m on with a brilliant title:

“Sheiks on a Plane”

Absolutely brilliant.

By: octopus grigori

octopus grigori — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 01:03:23 +0000

Very fine discussion of an unfortunate incident.

By: antje

antje — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 00:20:37 +0000

give thanks for well-reasoned complexity of argumentation that, nonetheless, directly addresses The Point.

By: farangi

farangi — Sat, 25 Nov 2006 21:13:37 +0000

Brilliant, brilliant.