http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/23/opinion/23HERB.html?todaysheadlines=&pagewanted=print&position=top
The New York Times
September 23, 2002
High-Altitude Rambos
By BOB HERBERT
Dr. 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 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."
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R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah@ibuc.com>
The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/>
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