Nah. I’m sure that the air marshals didn’t just make up this practice on the spot. I bet they have procedures in place for such incidents and were just following them. It does seem rather silly, but I can see why setting up such a process for clearing off the plane makes sense after such an incident. Better to err on the side of caution.
Bolding mine.
This is what really worries me. If they acted properly, then why do we need to modify any protocol or procedures?
I don’t want air marshals of the future to be so concerned with complicated protocols that they fail to act quickly and decisively.
( “Aire Marshals of the Future!” Band name, or Paul Verhoeven movie.)
Of course there needs to be an investigation. A man was shot to death. Just like anytime a cop shoots somebody there should be some checks in place to make sure that it was justified. But, unless something completely new and unforseen comes up in it I don’t see why anything would need to be changed. There certainly isn’t any indication that this is the case.
If a crazy man runs out on the highway and gets run over by a truck to we discuss making changes to the highway system or to how we build trucks? No. You feel sorry for the person and shrug and move on.
lno Got it right. What I am talking about is that here we have an OP that seems to be arguing against some mythical position that no one is actually taking. The tone of the OP seems to also be supposing that these imaginary people taking this theoretical position are Filthy Liberal Law and Order Hating America Hating Fuckers™.
In other words, we have someone (or a group of people) that are so caught up in gearing up to disagree with what their loyal opposition will say, that they are imagining things that are not there. The sad thing is that this feels to me like the birth of an urban legend, or a Righty talking point. At the risk of falling into the trap of the OP’s way of thinking, I have no trouble imagining folks down the road stating as if it were a fact that the Filthy Liberals™ “lambasted” the poor cop who was doing his job and trying to protect others while keeping himself reasonably safe in the process.
So why are people doing this? Haven’t we had enough yet?
I am undecided until I have more information. Who heard the claim that there was a bomb in the bag? Any passengers or crew, other than the sky marshal?
I was about to refute Debaser’s assertion that no investigation should happen.
But it looks like Debaser beat me to it…
So we agree. I only continue with the post to ensure this point is clear: Calling for an investigation is not lambasting nor in any way a denunciation of the AM’s actions.
If it is part of the Air Marshall’s training (as I’m sure it is) that an investigation will take place with every shooting, the “threat” of investigation shouldn’t dull the AM’s decisiveness. The investigation is necessary, as Debaser suggests, as a check/balance to the awesome power granted to the AM.
The guy claimed to have a bomb. OK, it may be that this claim was provoked by some prevailing mental ilness, but it sounds like the authorities acted in the only way possible here.
However, I used to work in airports, so the concept of never uttering the word ‘bomb’ is pavlovian in my mind.
Wow, a 65 posts pitting where we all basically agree and we’re just nitpicking or confirming. This is a strange Pitting. Fear Itself: On CNN last night, one of the passanger said he yelled I have a bomb. So hopefully that reassures you a little until the full report comes out.
From what I’ve heard, there were multiple witnesses who said he claimed to have a bomb. He did not stop when ordered to do so by law enforcement. I’m as skeptical of law enforcement as your next America-hating liberal, but in this case, I think I would have done pretty much the same thing had I been the one with the gun. Barring further information, I’m going to call this one an unfortunate accident.
I have been unable to find any online news reports that can confirm this. Not saying its not true, just that it is difficult to corroborate until the investigation is complete.
So, data points: No independant witnesses have said first-hand that they heard him say he had a bomb. One witness on the plane saying he didn’t say anything. But still, by all accounts, his actions up until he left the plane were suspicious. If I did the same thing, I would expect to be detained and questioned by air marshalls.
The question is, what happened on the jet bridge? Were there any independant witnessess who saw what happened outside the plane?
What I said to hubby was “This sounds like suicide-by-law-enforcement”.
The manifestation of his mental illness – getting on a plane and saying he has a bomb – it’s almost too pat. Why not say “I’m Superman and I’m going to burn a hole in the plane with my x-ray vision!” That’s crazy. Bomb on a plane is something you say to incite a reaction.
It just doesn’t sound “crazy” to fake a bomb on a plane. It sounds like something else, but I don’t know what the motivation would be.
It is sad but I think it is now a fact of life that anyone claming to be carrying a bomb without obvious signs that this is not true will be shot.
Many people with mental illness die from suicide or accident, this is one such tragic case. I also feel sad for the Air Martial who has to live with the fact that he/she took a life, even though it was justified within his/her jobs requirements.
Well, one thing is for sure. The trusty disguise of the air marshals, the Hawaiian shirt, is out in the open now. The only question that remains is how many lives CNN has jeopardized by releasing this information.
Not to get off topic, but the police acted in the correct manner in the Amadou Diallo killing.
They told him to stop, put his hands in the air, instead he reached into his jacket.
Do I think he knew he was going to get shot? No, I don’t. I think he was confused, and didn’t understand what to do because he was a foreigner. It was tragic, and I can’t fault him. But nor can I fault the police officers who were following standard operating procedure. When you tell someone to show their hands and they reach into their jacket, you don’t give them a chance to draw on you.
The situation was exacerbated because one of the police officers fell down the stairs they were standing on, his companions though he had been shot and in the heat of the moment panicked and unloaded just about every bullet they had into Amadou.
What level of brutality or incompetence—or combination of the two—would it take for you to fault the police on anything? I’m guessing that if you had a picture that looked something like this, you might almost be willing to admit that the police officer might have acted with less-then-perfect discretion and valor.
I hear that some police departments have openings for pathetic shills like you in the PR department, if you’re looking for work.
There’s many times when I would criticise police use of force.
Excessive beating when restraining a struggling suspect
Shooting when there is no threat to the officer (fleeing suspect, suspect attempting to surrender etc.)
When the police tell a guy to put his hands up, and instead he reaches into his jacket (a popular place to put a gun) what are they supposed to do? Wait until he actually draws on them to shoot?
Have you ever been in a situation where it’s shoot or be killed? I have, and I can tell you that you don’t have time to weigh the moral issues or decide if there’s some other way to deal with the situation.
“Aire Marshals of the Future!” Band name, or Paul Verhoeven movie.)