College Student "tests" airline security

[EdwardKnoxII 0]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...nes_searched_57

 

WASHINGTON - A college student sent an e-mail to federal authorities saying he had placed box cutters and other illegal items aboard two specific Southwest Airlines flights, but it still took authorities nearly five weeks to locate them on the planes.

 

An FBI (news - web sites) affidavit obtained Monday by The Associated Press said Nathaniel Heatwole, 20, told agents he went through normal security procedures at airports in Baltimore and Raleigh-Durham, N.C., and was able to carry the forbidden items onto the planes in small plastic bags. Once aboard, he hid the bags in a compartment in the rear lavatories of two planes.

 

Heatwole first breached security at Raleigh-Durham airport on Sept. 12 — the day after the two-year anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks. He did it again Sept. 15 at Baltimore-Washington International Airport, the affidavit said.

 

The bags contained box cutters, modeling clay simulated to look like plastic explosives, matches and bleach hidden in sunscreen bottles. Inside were notes with details about when and where the items were carried aboard. They were signed "3891925," which is the reverse of Heatwole's birthday: 5/29/1983.

 

On Sept. 15, the Transportation Security Administration received an e-mail from Heatwole stating he had "information regarding six security breaches" at the Raleigh-Durham and Baltimore-Washington airports between Feb. 7 and Sept. 14, the FBI affidavit said.

 

"The writer stated that he smuggled several items on his person and some in his carryon bag," the affidavit said.

 

Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge, whose department includes TSA, said officials "will go back and look at our protocol" for how such e-mails are handled. He said the agency gets a high volume of e-mails about possible threats and that the decision was made that Heatwole's "wasn't an imminent threat."

 

"This is not a good experience. This is a bad experience," Ridge said during a visit to Duke University. "But we may learn something about it that we can apply across the country."

 

The e-mail provided precise details of where the plastic bags were hidden — right down to the exact dates and flight numbers — and even provided Heatwole's name and telephone number. It's unclear whether Heatwole actually hid items on four other planes.

 

"The e-mail author also stated that he was aware his actions were against the law and that he was aware of the potential consequences for his actions, and that his actions were an 'act of civil disobedience with the aim of improving public safety for the air-traveling public,'" the affidavit said.

 

The e-mail was signed, "Sincerely, Nat Heatwole."

 

The affidavit does not say what was done about the e-mail after it was received in September. The bags containing box cutters and other items were not discovered until last Thursday night, after a lavatory on one of the planes had maintenance problems and workers found them.

 

The TSA did not send the e-mail to the FBI until last Friday. FBI agents quickly tracked down Heatwole and interviewed him.

 

The TSA did not immediately return phone calls seeking comment on the affidavit.

 

Heatwole, a junior at Guilford College in Greensboro, N.C., who is from Damascus, Md., was scheduled to make an initial appearance in federal court in Baltimore on Monday afternoon.

 

Federal authorities planned to charge him with bringing a dangerous weapon aboard an aircraft, which carries a sentence of up to 10 years in prison.

 

Heatwole's actions exposed holes in an aviation security system that has been greatly enhanced since Sept. 11, 2001, when 19 hijackers used box cutters to take over four jets. Box cutters and bleach are now are among the items that cannot be carried onto planes.

 

The TSA was created after the attacks, with the goal of replacing privately employed airport security workers with better-trained and higher-paid government employees.

 

Discovery of the items last week aboard Southwest planes that landed in New Orleans and Houston triggered stepped-up inspections of the entire U.S. commercial air fleet — roughly 7,000 planes. But after consulting with the FBI, the TSA rescinded the inspection order and no other suspicious bags were found.

 

The FBI affidavit said that in interviews with FBI agents Heatwole acknowledged writing the e-mail to the TSA to alert authorities to the presence of the bags. He signed printed copies of the e-mail in the presence of FBI agents as well as the notes found in the bags, verifying that he was the author of all three, the affidavit said.

 

Guilford is a Quaker college with a history of pacifism and civil disobedience that dates to the Civil War. Heatwole is not a Quaker, but shares many of the tenets of their religion, including a belief in pacifism, according to a February 2002 interview with The Guilfordian, the campus newspaper.

Edited October 21, 2003 by EdwardKnoxII

[Guest Cerebus]

Likely, I'd like to know what, if anything, this smart ass thinks is the solution? Opening up bags within bags? Strip searches? Of course, if we do that he'll probably go on to an airplane naked in protest.

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

I don't blame the government for wanting to come down hard on this guy since it will probably spawn other copycat acts, but I am curious as to why it took 5 weeks to find the contraband. My guess is because whoever read it probably thought of it as a joke...

[Guest I'm That Damn Zzzzz]

We are no safer now than we were and all we have to show for it is a void where our freedom used to be.

[Firestarter 0]

Oh yes? What have you personally been prohibited from doing that you could have done before the Patriot Act was signed into law?

[Slayer 0]

Oh yes? What have you personally been prohibited from doing that you could have done before the Patriot Act was signed into law?

Attempting to terrorize the US

 

Oh, wait...

[Guest MikeSC]

Likely, I'd like to know what, if anything, this smart ass thinks is the solution? Opening up bags within bags? Strip searches? Of course, if we do that he'll probably go on to an airplane naked in protest.

If this kid did it with such ease and nobody noticed, then there is a rather big problem. The kid, if nothing else, simply showed that the measures that have been instituted are not working. The government, honestly, should thank him for illustrating the problems.

-=Mike

[Highland 0]

They should still punish him, since he did commit a crime and other potential copycats/pranksters have to get the message that it won't be tolerated.

More important though is the fact the the airlines are not secure, this kid hid items on planes over the past several months. This shows a major flaw in security and heads need to roll.

[Jobber of the Week 0]

Oh yes? What have you personally been prohibited from doing that you could have done before the Patriot Act was signed into law?

Don't even BEGIN to defend that.

 

Defend the increased security measures and the running sense of fear at airports and the like if you must, but don't even start on that piece of shit.

 

And jesus christ, I AGREE WITH THEMIKESC. I'm waiting for the pigs to go airborne now.

[Vyce 0]

I think Marney was reacting more to ITDZ's woefully cliche kneejerk "They've taken all our freedoms away, the Bill of Rights is dead!" reaction than defending the Patriot Act itself, Jobber.

 

I still think this kid should get some sort of punishment, as he DID violate the law, even if his intentions were, I suppose, benevolent.

 

Frankly, what scares me is that you hear so many of these damn stories - usually from reporters who purposefully sneak things past security to show it can be done.

[Justice 0]

Oh yes? What have you personally been prohibited from doing that you could have done before the Patriot Act was signed into law?

All motherfucking right, I hear so much about the Patriot Act yet all I can really find on it are extremely biased sites when I look. Can someone please explain what the fuck it is without just saying "It affects a lot of your rights" and leaving?

[Firestarter 0]

All motherfucking right, I hear so much about the Patriot Act yet all I can really find on it are extremely biased sites when I look. Can someone please explain what the fuck it is without just saying "It affects a lot of your rights" and leaving?

Click here for the full text of HR 3162 (the USA PATRIOT Act). Click here to read the Justice Department's response to three of the major misconceptions about the Act.

 

Frankly, I don't like the Attorney General. I don't particularly like the Act. I don't think it's necessary, I don't think it's important, and I don't think it's useful. No one I know in law enforcement was overjoyed when this passed. I discussed it with at least a dozen people in depth but not one person said "I'm so happy about this; now we'll finally have the power to put behind bars criminals we couldn't touch before." On the contrary, everyone was either confused, indifferent, or cynical. "Feel-good politics" was how most people saw it. Not law, politics. And that was pretty much the most favourable and the least apathetic response.

 

And then we have the hysterical public reaction, fostered, fed, and exaggerated by the media and the ACLU. It's so overblown there's little point in even discussing it. When Jobber says,

Don't even BEGIN to defend that... don't even start on that piece of shit.

I really don't know what has him all fired up. Honestly, I can't imagine he or anyone like him has even read the thing. Not that I blame them. It's boring, insipid, and pointless. But for the same reason, I can't understand why anyone would care about it. What on earth is everyone's problem? Seriously, why does it bother you? Why do you think it affects you? Has your life been directly changed by it? Even a little bit? I mean I realise all the leftists have to take half a dozen more antacid tablets per day, but seriously, how has the Patriot Act itself changed the life of ANYONE here? Or anyone you know? Or anyone anyone you know knows? A vanishingly small number of people have been charged under it, and in less than a week it will have been in effect for two whole years.

 

That's pretty pathetic for your garden-variety grand right-wing conspiracy to eliminate civil liberties.

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

My take on the whole losing-our-civil-liberties issue is that if someone/Big Brother wants to find something out about me, they are going to find out anyway.

 

I got better things to bitch about, like having the supermarket cashier remove the Great Divider between my order and the customer's in front of me and start scanning my stuff onto the other person's order, and then give me attitude when I let her know of her mistake. I then make my sarcastic remark, say a few rude things that she would not expect and go on home to watch football.

 

You know, important stuff like that...

[Guest FrigidSoul]

I still think Turkey(I believe they're the country that does this) has it right by sending two govenment agents on board that are armed but they don't have them come across as being agents. They have them dress like normal flight goers so nobody ever knows who the agents are

[Hogan Made Wrestling 0]

I think the guy needs to be punished because some of the stuff he brought on board IS dangerous and could have been very dangerous had the wrong person found it before the airlines. Had he just stuck entirely with the gimmicked stuff like the silly putty designed to look like plastique, I don't think it would be as bad. That being said, the airline also has to look at themselves and ask why it took them so long to find the stuff.

[Guest BDC]

Plunderin, I believe you're referring to air marshalls, but I think there are other countries that would be a more apt to have them than Turkey.

[Jingus 0]

Frankly, what scares me is that you hear so many of these damn stories - usually from reporters who purposefully sneak things past security to show it can be done.

That brings up one hell of a point: would this guy get any punishment at all if it were a 60 Minutes investigative reporter who had done this?

 

I don't think they should punish this guy. He showed them just how dumb and useless a lot of these new airport security measures are. As someone who has endured several time-consuming-yet-worthless "take off your shoes and spread your arms" searches through my bags and clothing myself, I applaud him.

[Guest FrigidSoul]

Plunderin, I believe you're referring to air marshalls, but I think there are other countries that would be a more apt to have them than Turkey.

Well one country has been doing it since they had a flight hijacked in 1979...I just can't remember the damn country's name. It was on a report shortly after the 9-11 incident because the country had the best airline security in the whole world (statistically speaking)

[Justice 0]

Plunderin, I believe you're referring to air marshalls, but I think there are other countries that would be a more apt to have them than Turkey.

Well one country has been doing it since they had a flight hijacked in 1979...I just can't remember the damn country's name. It was on a report shortly after the 9-11 incident because the country had the best airline security in the whole world (statistically speaking)

Then that's Israel. On their National Airline they always have two plain-clothed and armed sky marshalls, plus some incredibly rigorous safety measures as well. I remember the incident you speak of, as well. They stopped in Syria or Jordan and an Israeli strike team managed to rescue those on board. "10 Minutes at N______" or something like that.

 

Edit: Corrections abound here. It's actually "90 Minutes at Entebbe", the title of the book by William Stevenson describing an Israeli Commando mission to rescue 258 Air-France fliers and crew members who had been hijacked in a joint German Baader-Meinhof/Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine terrorist operation back in 1976. They landed at Entebbe Airport in Uganda, where the Israelis attacked. All the terrorists were killed as well as 1 hostage and 3 commandos.

Edited October 21, 2003 by Powerplay

[Guest FrigidSoul]

PowerPlay, that would be it. Thank you kindly

[Jobber of the Week 0]

I don't like the Patriot Act because it broadens the definition of terrorism to include shit that isn't terrorism.

 

Some 15 year old using a web server exploit that System Admins are too lazy to check or patch to change some company's web page to read "U JUST GOT OWNED" for 5 hours before it gets reverted and the SysAdmin FINALLY patches the damn hole. That's not terrorism.

[Firestarter 0]

I don't like the Patriot Act because it broadens the definition of terrorism to include shit that isn't terrorism.

 

Some 15 year old using a web server exploit that System Admins are too lazy to check or patch to change some company's web page to read "U JUST GOT OWNED" for 5 hours before it gets reverted and the SysAdmin FINALLY patches the damn hole. That's not terrorism.

Can you cite a particular sentence in the Patriot Act which would define such a 15 year-old as a terrorist? The DOJ's website flatly contradicts you:

 

"Under the Patriot Act, the definition of 'domestic terrorism' is limited to conduct that (1) violates federal or state criminal law and (2) is dangerous to human life."

[Justice 0]

Some 15 year old using a web server exploit that System Admins are too lazy to check or patch to change some company's web page to read "U JUST GOT OWNED" for 5 hours before it gets reverted and the SysAdmin FINALLY patches the damn hole. That's not terrorism.

Isn't this already Cyber-Terrorism under the FBI Definition, Jobber? That was already illegal and everyone kinda agreed on that.

[Jobber of the Week 0]

Can you cite a particular sentence in the Patriot Act which would define such a 15 year-old as a terrorist?

Unfortunately, PDF files seem to crash Mozilla.

 

I'm just in general not that wild about monitoring people without their knowledge.

Edited October 23, 2003 by Jobber of the Week

[Guest MikeSC]

Can you cite a particular sentence in the Patriot Act which would define such a 15 year-old as a terrorist?

Unfortunately, PDF files seem to crash Mozilla.

 

I'm just in general not that wild about monitoring people without their knowledge.

Would you care if, say, mafia members or gang members were monitored without their knowledge (as happens on a regular basis)?

 

Why should terrorists be treated differently?

 

You'd still need a warrant from a judge to do it.

-=Mike

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

This and this are some of the reasons why I don't blame the Feds for going after Heatwole.

 

I would just like to congratulate this guy for letting me know that it was still possible, somehow, in a country as isolated as the United States, to place a box cutter in an airplane.

 

Nathaniel Heatwole's name should be mentioned in the same breath as our country's other patriots like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson.

 

What a true freedom fighter...