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Detained Secret Service Agent Targeted Because of Ethnicity: Witness
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Attorneys Relman, right, and Lopez, left, discuss their client's plight in Washington Thursday.
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WASHINGTON, Jan. 4 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - American Airlines passengers say an Arab-American Secret Service agent, who was kicked off a Christmas Day flight, was targeted because of his ethnicity, and that the agent behaved professionally through out the ordeal, never acting in an angry manner or becoming confrontational, news agencies reported.
"I feel he was most likely removed from the plane - obviously I wasn't privy to the paperwork or that he was a Secret Service [agent] or such - but I think he fit a profile," the passenger, Mark Pueschel, said Friday on ABCNEWS' Good Morning America.
Pueschel had been seated next to the agent, Walied Shater (as reported by media sources, Secret Service has not confirmed), as the American Airlines flight prepared to take off from Baltimore to Dallas. Pueschel described Shater as "well dressed" and "confident," and said he did not appear "uncomfortable or nervous or fidgeting." He also said he saw no angry behavior on the agent's part, reported CNN.
CNN also spoke with Molly Reeve, who believes she saw and spoke to Shater several times in the terminal Christmas night. She said she saw the agent after the events on the airplane, and that even at that point, he appeared calm.
Reeve described Shater as "very nice and professional" and said she never "witnessed any yelling or hostile behavior."
Pueschel told CNN a flight attendant twice patted down a leather jacket the agent had left behind and also examined a book about the Arab world Shater had left in the sleeve of the seat in front of him and when the attendant put it back, she made a hand gesture "like she was grossed out." This led him to believe that the flight attendant found the book offensive, he said.
Pueschel said the flight attendant then asked him if he found the agent suspicious. Pueschel said he did not. At another point, Pueschel said, the flight attendant asked him "to cover me, keep an eye out for me." After the flight left the Baltimore Washington International Airport, the attendant Pueschel Shater had made the flight crew "uncomfortable."
The agent, who was armed, was on his way to work at President George W. Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas. He was removed from the flight after the captain questioned the validity of his credentials.
Shater is a member of Bush's protective detail.
Bush told reporters last week he would be "madder than heck" if a government inquiry into the incident found that one of his Secret Service protectors was the victim of discrimination, ABC news reported.
The agent, Shater, demanded an apology from the airline through his attorneys at a news conference Thursday.
American Airlines officials have said the agent was removed at the pilot's request because of "inconsistencies" in the paperwork required of all federal agents flying on commercial airlines.
Shater's lawyers traded accusations over the incident with airline officials Thursday. American defended its pilot, saying the seven-year Secret Service veteran was confrontational, argumentative and hostile when questioned about his credentials. Religion and ethnicity, American Airlines said, had nothing to do with his removal, ABC news reported.
Shater’s attorneys denied the accusation he was confrontational and said he was singled out because of his ethnic background, reported CNN, saying a single telephone call to the White House would have confirmed his identity.
The agent's lawyers said he was carrying his Secret Service badge and photo identification. They said that during a 75-minute exchange with the pilot, the agent offered a White House telephone number to assist security checks.
Christy Lopez, an attorney for the agent, said the agent was a victim of discrimination. "We believe the captain is using that as an excuse for taking him off the plane, but it is quite clear he took him off the plane for other reasons," she said.
“Pure and simple, this is a case of discrimination. Our client believes he was denied the right to fly ... because he is an American of Arab descent,” lawyer John Relman told a news conference.
Countering American Airlines accusations that the agent was behaving abusively, Lopez said, “It was the pilot who was rude, unprofessional and demeaning.”
The agent has not ruled out filing a lawsuit against American Airlines, Lopez said. He still seeks an amicable resolution of the incident, but he wants Airlines officials to review their practices so no one else is victimized, she said.
Lopez said her client did not want the pilot fired or suspended and was not seeking financial compensation.
The pilot was so worried that the agent boarding his flight was an impostor that he sought mug shots of terrorists while trying to check the agent's identity, airline records say.
The Airlines captain doubted the authenticity of the agent's badge and photo identification and kept him off the Christmas Day flight for hours before ultimately taking off late without him, according to reports filed by the pilot and a manager of the airline's operations center.
In a statement, American Airlines has called the agent's claims "frivolous" and supported the pilot's actions, saying they were based on concerns for the security and safety of the passengers and crew.
"American carries out its security obligations according to the guidelines provided by the federal government," the airline's statement said. "Those guidelines are applied equally among all passengers, and the company vigorously resents any suggestion of racial discrimination."
Shater, for his part, said in the statement released by his attorneys that, "It has never been my desire to make this incident personal.
"This case is only about the facts. I love my job, and I want to thank my fellow agents for all their support. God bless America."
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