http://www.startribune.com/191/story/1055656.html
The "flying imams' " federal lawsuit, filed this week in Minneapolis,
has made headlines around the country. The imams are demanding
unspecified damages from US Airways and the Metropolitan Airports
Commission, both with deep pockets. But their suit includes other
defendants, as yet unnamed. These people, unaffiliated with the airline
industry or government, are among the imams' most vulnerable targets.
Recall the November 2006 incident that gave rise to the suit. The imams
engaged in a variety of suspicious behaviors while boarding a US Airways
flight, according to the airport police report. Some prayed loudly in
the gate area, spoke angrily about the United States and Saddam,
switched seats and sat in the 9/11 hijackers' configuration, and
unnecessarily requested seatbelt extenders that could be used as
weapons, according to witness reports and US Airways spokeswoman Andrea
Rader.
After extensive consultations, the pilot asked authorities to remove the
imams for questioning, which they did, releasing them later that day.
"The pilot did what he had to do," passenger Rita Snelson of Maplewood
told the Star Tribune. "I told the airline afterward, 'Thank you for
watching over us.' "
The imams' lawsuit, however, asserts that US Airways and the MAC acted
solely out of religious and ethnic discrimination. It includes 17
separate counts.
It also rehearses a catalogue of harms allegedly suffered by the imams,
including fear, depression, mental pain and financial injury. They have
not only endured exhaustion, humiliation and ridicule, but also have
lost sleep and developed anxiety about flying.
Their lawsuit appears to be the latest component in a national campaign
to intimidate airlines and government agencies from acting prudently to
ensure passenger safety. The Council on American-Islamic Relations,
which is advising the imams, is also calling for congressional hearings
and promoting federal legislation to "end racial profiling" in air
travel. If the legislation passes, airport personnel who
disproportionately question passengers who are Muslim or of Middle
Eastern origin could be subject to sanctions.
But the most alarming aspect of the imams' suit is buried in paragraph
21 of their complaint. It describes "John Doe" defendants whose identity
the imams' attorneys are still investigating. It reads: "Defendants
'John Does' were passengers ... who contacted U.S. Airways to report the
alleged 'suspicious' behavior of Plaintiffs' performing their prayer at
the airport terminal."
Paragraph 22 adds: "Plaintiffs will seek leave to amend this Complaint
to allege true names, capacities, and circumstances supporting [these
defendants'] liability ... at such time as Plaintiffs ascertain the
same."
In plain English, the imams plan to sue the "John Does," too.
Who are these unnamed culprits? The complaint describes them as "an
older couple who was sitting [near the imams] and purposely turn[ed]
around to watch" as they prayed. "The gentleman ('John Doe') in the
couple ... picked up his cellular phone and made a phone call while
watching the Plaintiffs pray," then "moved to a corner" and "kept
talking into his cellular phone."
In retribution for this action, the unnamed couple probably will be
dragged into court soon and face the prospect of hiring a lawyer,
enduring hostile questioning and paying huge legal bills. The same fate
could await other as-yet-unnamed passengers on the US Airways flight who
came forward as witnesses.
The imams' attempt to bully ordinary passengers marks an alarming new
front in the war on airline security. Average folks, "John Does" like
you and me, initially observed and reported the imams' suspicious
behavior on Nov. 20. Such people are our "first responders" against
terrorism. But the imams' suit may frighten such individuals into
silence, as they seek to avoid the nightmare of being labeled bigots and
named as defendants.
Ironically, on the day the imams filed their suit, a troubling internal
memo came to light at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.
The memo revealed that our airport is at particular risk of terrorist
attack because of its proximity to the Mall of America, its employment
of relatively few security officers and other factors. The memo advised
heightened vigilance to counter "this very real and deliberate threat."
The imams may not be the only ones losing sleep and growing more afraid
of flying.
--
Fred Stone
aa# 1369
"The one thing we must not do is to confuse the real country of Iraq,
where there is a real war, a real population, and a real obligation to
protect them, with the parallel-universe "quagmire Iraq" of popular
imagination."
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