High-Altitude Rambos

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

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From: "N.Sashikumar" <sashi () civil iisc ernet in>
Date: Mon, 23 Sep 2002 21:27:14 +0530 (IST)
To: Dave Farber <dave () farber net>
Subject: High-Altitude Rambos (fwd)


High-Altitude Rambos

September 23, 2002
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."
  

http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/23/opinion/23HERB.html?ex=1033796894&ei=1&en=
e939ae567b492d2b





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