I actually saw this first on the Political Teen, but FoxNews is covering it now as well.
This is one of those sad, regrettable occurences, by the looks of it. Here's the Political Teen's succint explanation of what happened:
The sad part is in the update from Fox:MIAMI (AP) — Shots were fired Wednesday from a federal air marshal’s gun on board an American Airlines jet that had landed at Miami International Airport, an official said. At least one person was wounded, according to broadcast reports.
A man with a bomb in his carry on threatened to pull a bomb out on the airplane. A team of air marshals then proceeded to surround the suspect. The suspect attempted to run away and was shot on the jet way. This was the first time an air marshal has discharged their weapon since 9/11.
UPDATE: FOX confirms that the 44-year old American suspect was shot and killed.
First discharge of weapon by air security services since 9/11Nevertheless, based on the little information currently available, it seems that the air marshals did act properly. (One report, which I cannot find, stated he reached into his bag as the air marshals pulled their guns. I'm still not sure if it was one marshal or more.)
Federal agents shoot 44-year-old man claiming to have bomb at Miami airport; woman who appeared to be suspect's wife said he suffered from bipolar disorder, was off medication, sources say
UPDATE: It seems as if the plane was headed to Orlando, from Columbia.
Technorati tags: Air Marshal, Bipolar, Orlando, Airplane, Bomb, American Airlines.
Strange how press from both the right and the left chose to use their headlines to shine the spotlight on the Air Marshal's actions rather than the fact that there had been a bomb threat:
ReplyDeleteFederal Air Marshals vs. The Free Press
You're somewhat correct, though it's quite clear from both my headline (which was Fox's) and the story that the air marshal was 100% correct in his actions. (I also noted that it may have been one marshal, as that post does.)
ReplyDeleteThanks for commenting, hope you'll come back!
As I read and re-read the dozens of articles (and blog posts) on this subject, it's clear we're all straining through the wait for more information to be released. I'm glad to see that no one has lead with an outright accusation of shoddy police-work; though I did see one article on a newspaper site that mentioned that the local police were treating the incident as a homocide (I'm hoping they were actually informed that the area around the incident was being treated as a crime scene -- as would be the case for a homocide -- in order to preserve evidence...).
ReplyDeleteBut I'm starting to understand why everybody is mentioning the fact that this is the first incident that has involved the discharge of a weapon -- considering how many irate and/or out-of-control (rude and just beyond) passengers are dealt with by airline personnel every day, it's amazing that it's taken this long to reach this milestone. It shows a level of professionalism and restraint that the Left doesn't like illuminated; law enforcement is only interesting when an officer loses his temper or beats up his girlfriend.
Here's hoping that the rabid finger-pointers who may/will rise up over this won't be able to effectively curtail the small measure of progress that the presence of Air Marshals has contributed to the regrowth of the airline industry since 2001.
I'm not sure you saw it, but even Rep. Kucinich stated that the air marshals acted properly based on the events he'd heard. I don't think there will be any outcry on this one... People recognize that this was the proper course of action under the circumstances.
ReplyDeleteMy first reaction was "yeh they got em" then only to hear he was bi-polar and wasn't on his meds...truly sad. The officers certainly followed protocal here there is no reason to politicize this and hiopefully no one will.
ReplyDeleteSo far, nobody has. I'm hoping that remains the case.
ReplyDelete