“Security disturbance:” Shoebomb attempt on DC to Denver flight?; suspect ID’d as Qatar diplomat; Update: NBC: Smoking in bathroom and joking about shoebomb?!; Report: He was wearing…sandals; no charges to be filed
Scroll for updates…latest update….4/8 no charges to be filed…
Coming across Twitter…reports that there was an alleged shoebomber attempt on a DC to Denver flight.
At Ace of Spades, Gabriel Malor is doing breaking news reporting and contacted Denver International Airport. He’s got fresh details:
(9:56) Talked to media contact at DIA. They’re calling it a “security disturbance”. The plane was from Reagan to DIA. It was met upon arrival by the TSA, FBI, and airport PD. It will have no impact on airport operations. There are no flight holds at present.
Later (9:59) He’s got a diplomatic passport and is claiming diplomatic immunity.
The passport is from Qatar.
More via ABC News: “Suspect identified as a diplomat in Qatar embassy: Mohammed al Modadi.”
Nice immunity shield strategy there. Is this the new thing in shoebomber recruitment?
And more on how air marshals tackled the suspect:
Federal air marshals subdued a man who authorities say attempted to “light his shoes on fire” on a United flight from Washington Reagan to Denver Wednesday night, federal law enforcement officials told ABC News.
Authorities say an explosive team is on the way to the airport, and that while the presence of explosives has not yet been confirmed, they believe it was an attempted “shoe bomb.”
The suspect was identified by authorities as a diplomat in the Qatar embassy in Washington, Mohammed al Modadi. The FBI said the man had full diplomat immunity as the 3rd secretary and vice-consul.
Screen-capping the story since news outlets are now changing it without noting the edits:
Two jet fighters were scrambled from Buckley Air Force Base to accompany the plane as it flew its last 40 miles into Denver, according to authorities.
Chills up my spine. I’ve traveled on this United flight many times over the last year and a half.
Never fear. We’ve got the Whitewasher-in-Chief to paint all our troubles away.
***
Taking bets on the amount of time before al Modadi has his Miranda rights read to him.
***
Flashback 2007:
Flashback 2005:
Flashback: The other shoe bomber.
***
Jihadi motto: If at first they don’t succeed, light, light again.
God bless our air marshals.
***
Update: Via 9News here in Colorado:
A spokesperson for DIA says United Flight 663 landed at 7 p.m.
Both the FBI and the TSA have responded to the incident. Other federal law enforcement agencies have also responded, 9Wants to Know has learned.
A passenger on the plane contacted 9NEWS and says they were held on the plane as it sat on the tarmac for around an hour.
He says all the passengers were taken off the plane and are now being interviewed by the FBI.
***
Via NBC:
A half hour before landing, an air marshal smelled smoke and confronted a man emerging from a bathroom who claimed he was trying to set his shoes on fire, WNBC reported.
It was uncertain if anything actually was on fire or if this was a joke, NBC reported. Investigators were looking to see what might be in the man’s shoes.
…The latest incident comes a week after the United States announced new security measures to replace the mandatory screening of air travelers from 14 countries that had angered some allies when it was imposed after a failed bombing on Christmas Day. Qatar is not among the 14.
NBC’s Pete Williams is now suggesting it was a “misunderstanding,” via Allahpundit. Hmmm:
When the marshal asked him what he was doing in the bathroom, al-Modadi supposedly said, “I was trying to light my shoes on fire.” In fact, he might have simply been having a smoke and was being sarcastic with the marshal. Again, this is all from Williams. I’ll update when I see something contradictory. Incidentally, until a few minutes ago, MSNBC.com’s own headline for this story was “NBC News: Airline bombing foiled.” Now it’s “NBC: Passenger subdued aboard United jet.”
I’m reminded of how the early reports on the Christmas Day bomber downplayed the incident and initially referred to it as “firecrackers” going off.
But stand by…
***
Just a friendly reminder that smoking on an airplane is a federal crime. Are Qatar diplomats immune?
Flying imams/CAIR-esque lawsuit/press conference to follow in 3, 2, 1…
Waiting for Obama intel adviser John Brennan to condemn marshals as “over the top” in 3, 2, 1…
***
Latest update: NBC reporting that the jerk was wearing sandals on which he tried to extinguish his illegal cigarette.
***
Via reader Lynne, a commenter at AoSHQ links to a picture of one Embassy of the State of Qatar official identified as Mohammed Yacoub Al Madadi. News reports say the al-Modadi on UAL 633 was about 25-26, so it’s possible this is him.
If there’s any “misunderstanding,” it’s not from the air marshals who took their jobs seriously, it’s from the arrogant jerk who thinks treating national security with sarcastic shoebomb jokes when questioned by our homeland security watchdogs has any place at all on a plane in flight over American skies.
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Diplomatic immunity test case?
3… 2… 1… Janet Napolitano… “The system worked”…
Miranda rights read to the scumbag in 5 … 4 … 3 …
Sure glad there are NO JIHADI ISLAMIC TERRORISTS!!!!
Obama you POS.
This pisses me off, BIG TIME!
And…body scanners are supposed to catch this? Hardly. Wait until they start putting bombs up their…well, use your imagination there.
Definitely a test case, they are testing us each and every day yet Dear Leader Obama FAILS to see this.
18 months ago this dude would be headin to Gitmo. Tomorrow he will be back in Qatar a hero.
They’re coming for ya, Michelle.
If the terrorists have infiltrated the diplomatic corps it will certainly change diplomatic immunity rules. I wouldn’t have used a shoe bomb though. I would have had my “useful fanatic” place the bomb in a diplomatic pouch, handcuffed to the wrist. A success would cause quite a stir around the world.
I think we need to take a lesson from the lethal weapon movies:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiXNUaSjXRY
How’s that appeasement working for you, Obama?
Presidents past would consider this an act of war and respond accordingly.
I guess i better get to the ariport a bit earlier than planned tomorrow now (the family and I are headed to Hawaii for vacation). I am sure that my wife, four small boys, and I will be given extra scrutiny seeing as I am a Conservative, mid 30′s male, Iraq War vet, that does not believe in Obama’s hope and change…yep makes me a prime suspect for Napolitano’s profile of a terrorist.
What?
On the very day our Dear Leader removes the words “Islamic radicalism” from national security documents…
Shocking! Didn’t the shoe-bomber-diplomat-immunity crying Mohammed get the memo?
Not this president or government. Both would ask for “talks”.
It won’t phase him in the slightest. Fort Hood didn’t either.
Does this mean we almost had a man made disaster?
Has the man made disaster questioning group been notified of this?
Has Obama actually staffed the man made disaster questioning group?
Are we looking at another confused action by the man made disaster group management team?
I imagine someone flashing diplomatic ID wouldn’t be subjected to normal screening procedures, as I can’t see someone with an overinflated sense of self worth taking off their shoes and being screened like everyone else.
(Of course I don’t know enough to say that for certain, just my own speculation). If he got on with explosives, it looks to be another case of “if the government would do their job in the first place, this wouldn’t happen” (like not letting people on the terrorist watch list get on a plane would have prevented the UndieBomber from having a shot at anything).
Bring umbrellas!
Tomorrow we will read that these marshals were arrested for assault and battery and committing a “hate crime” along with racial profiling.
Will Qatar waive diplomatic immunity?
Why should they, Zyzyg?
Nah, we are from WA ST so the rain you guys are getting is normal everyday for us
True, true, but yours is free.
And for tomorrow’s MSM headline “Islamophobia and heightened security due to threats of Tea Party violence lead to vicious police brutality on innocent Muslim man.”
Given the treatment Ramos and Campellan (sp?) received (from GWB’s men, nonetheless), I can only imagine the fate of this poor Air Marshall trying to keep our country safe.
FIFY.
…to be replaced with “concerned person of a faith community” or some such drivel.
Reminds me of Madeline Halfbright from Clinton’s years announcing with great fanfare rename “Rogue States” with “States of Concern”.
…and we see now even North Korea nuked up after being treated so nice by her.
If this turns out to be an act of terrorism, will this make all the difference for you?
I sincerely doubt that our CinC or our government can defend us from attack on our communities or country. The officers and men of our armed forces certainly can, but their leadership, on top, leaves a lot to be desired.
Well, didn’t he know that second-hand smoke could be fatal to everyone on board? It’s just slower acting than a bomb.
The dude is lucky that the Marshall didn’t pull out his gun to extingish the threat.
Sooooo…We have a muslim punk with diplomatic immunity,eh?
Obama is so stupid. He’s either pure evil, or incredibly stupid. I can’t decide.
I’m leaning toward pure evil.
Forgive my ignorance but, don’t they
employ super sensitive smoke detectors in aircraft lavs? I wonder why there was no alarm??
So is it now okay to profile? I hope so.
What an arrogant twit or was he just testing the system?
Close enough for an Aggie.
Just exactly what did they think the fighters were going to do – strafe the shoebomber, or shoot down the plane so he couldn’t blow it up?
Can the TSA put him on a flight to Qatar naked?
The fed marshal was acting “stupidly”.
Time for a beer.
I really did an Aggie spelling job on that one, didn’t I?
I guess I could have done worse and spelled it “Compehyawn”
At least I don’t employ the Official TOTUS Pronunciation Guide (with such hits as “corpseman” and “Cominskey Field”), God knows what I’d end up with.
Obama will say that it is only “The Israeli occupation” of the West Bank and “settlements in East Jerusalem” that drove the Poor man from Qatar to desperation and to misbehave on the plane. Obama will say that if you end the “Occupation”, then there will be no smoking on airplanes. Obama will also say that his speech in Cairo changed everything.
I don’t know if it still is, but it used to be a felony to say something like that in an airport or on a plane, it’s the whole yelling “Fire” in a theater problem. I saw someone joke about it to a screener about 20 years ago and he had the pleasure of having his luggage searched thoroughly and completely, and had to repack it himself. It could have been much worse because he was active duty military at a MAC airport and certainly should have known better.
If they decide to do anything, and they should, the most we could expect is that he be expelled for violations of the law. However, I don’t think anyone believes this administration or Dept of State would even think of doing that, some of the career staffers might, but the politicians who rule won’t allow it.
I suspect the big “O” will brush it off with a “well, he didn’t really do anything wrong, and those air marshals did a great job and made sure, just keeping them on their toes!” If so, I dare a reporter to try this on Air Force one and live to tell about it.
If his claim to diplomatic immunity is valid I think the only avenue available to State is to declare him “Persona non grata” and expel him from the country never to return. To do anything to him through our legal system exposes our overseas diplomats to the whims of tin horn dictators and despots where we keep embassies.
Obama: “Our air marshals acted stupidly…I shall have the diplomat over for a beer, and a smoke or two…”
Why are sandals important?
You can’t fit C-4 into sandals?
Smokin’ in the boys’ room. Diplomatic immunity in the Friendly Skies. A twentysomething diplomat rubbing our collective noses in it…priceless. Time to spank the air marshals I guess. /sarc_off
I have a great idea for a new airlines:
Cheddars’s Totally Nude Airlines!
There’ll be lot’s of free cheesy snacks and the inflight movie will just be a video camera panning all the passengers!
Motto: Safety first!
I just need some seed money (holds out palm) who’s going to help me out here?
TOTUS?
Oh, my.
It’ll bring whole new meaning to carry-on baggage!
I’m waiting for the Ciggie Summit at the picnic table, out back next to Michell-o’s septic tank-fertilized vegetable garden…
Rogue, do we get to pick our seats?
CNN reporting that no charges will be filed.
Sure, they’ll be plenty of Purell on board.
they’ll s/b there’ll (slap)
“Fly the friendly skies!” is destined to become, “Fly the skies without your skivvies!”
there should be a lot of leftover space in the overhead bins…perhaps I could bring my cat?
The TSA is nothing but a joke. Minimum wage pedophiles watching little kids going through the naked machine is no way to keep terrorists off of a plane.
Be prepared to pay for that convenience!
He’d should be on a flight out of the U.S. today and his government would get the bill for all of the expenses incurred for the whole incident.
Another entitled idiot.
Yeah its a test case , but a test by Al Queada, or one of its many clones, for weakness in our system.
Clearly posted in may airline lavatories are signs that say smoking in there is a federal offense.
What do you think our FAA and State Department will do now?
P.S. I avoid flying United out of Denver as much as possible, they are rarely on time and the security line for concourse A (Frontier) is always much shorter.
As I understand, this idiot “sarcastically” said he was going to set his shoe on fire.
Did I mention, idiot?
Who, in this day and age, thinks they can “joke” about something like that without causing a major incident?
Most “diplomats” are not stupid enough to deliberately cause a kerfuffle like this.
Knowing cats like I do, I know they would be appalled that you’d even think of putting them in the overhead. Sorry, you’ll just have to purchase an extra ticket for the seat next to you.
How do you say “Persona non Grata” in Arabic?
D’oosh bagh.
double Oh My!! Can I bring my camcorder?
Will the seats be covered with plastic?
Well, no need to walk through a metal dectector, or suffer the indignity of a ‘pat down’, so the convenience factor goes up. I’m warming to the idea…
Of course, but it would be redundant, as all passengers will be shown on the in flight movie, some more than others, as you’ll get to vote for your favorite passengers/actors. And for a nominal fee you can purchase the movie as a keepsake at the end of the flight.
No, only the finest of velvets designed and endorsed by George Constanza.
We spare no expense. A little harder to clean, but I think you’ll really appreciate this upgrade.
Oops Constanza = Costanza
I was referring to adding to my video collection. My two old aunts and aged grandfather who never fly will love the home movies I show after my trips!
Oooooh, I love velvet. Me and George C.
Dex: Given the state of (un)dress, you will likely not be warm all the time, especially in Denver!
Air Marshal arrest record:
4.2 arrests per year for the entire air marshal program since 2001. That’s $200 million per arrest.
http://duncan.house.gov/2009/06/22062009.shtml
Well, Cheddar will have to keep the cabins at a toasty 80 deg or so. Of course, getting to the car may be a problem. Especially if there is several inches of the cold stuff covering it. Hmm.
Guys named Mohammed should be especially careful when joking about lighting their shoes on fire.
Like this idiot can’t afford a box of nicotine patches or the gum?
A neighbor that works for one of the big airlines out of DFW used to tell me stories about the planes coming in from Asia, mostly Japan. Passengers would go in the restrooms and disable the fire alarms, smoke, then put the cover back on. Guess they’re not that vulnerable now to tampering.
Ummm, what happened to post #81? When I posted it wasn’t there but it’s a glaring skip from cousin vinnie #80 to my #82? Uh oh, did someone get banned?
and…get this..he was on the flight to visit a jailed Al-Qaeda operative! Some nerve!