Box Cutter Idiot Suspect Charged, Released
BALTIMORE (AP) - A college student who told authorities he placed box cutters and other banned items aboard two airliners to test security was charged Monday with taking a dangerous weapon aboard an aircraft and was released without bail. Nathaniel Heatwole, 20, told federal agents he went through normal security procedures at airports in Baltimore and Raleigh-Durham, N.C. Once aboard, he said he hid the banned items in compartments in the planesâ rear lavatories. A preliminary hearing was set for Nov. 10. Assistant U.S. Attorney Harvey Eisenberg said the government was not seeking detention, and U.S. Magistrate Judge Susan K. Gauvey freed Heatwole on his own recognizance. Although Heatwole sent an e-mail to federal authorities saying he had placed the items aboard two specific Southwest Airlines flights, it took authorities nearly five weeks to find them.
This is the real problem.
The judge set a number of conditions for Heatwoleâs release, including that he not enter any airport or board any airplane. Heatwole sat stoney faced during the hearing. His parents were in the courtroom but did not greet or acknowledge him during the hearing and did not comment afterward.
And just try to persaude your father to pay your tuition bill this winter!
The charge against Heatwole, a junior at Guilford College in Greensboro, N.C., carries a sentence of up to 10 years in prison.
Wonder if Heatwole pondered that one at all?
Discovery of the items Thursday 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 But after consulting with the FBI, the Transportation Security Administration rescinded the inspection order and no other suspicious bags were found. Deputy TSA Administrator Stephen McHale said Mondayâs court action ``makes clear that renegade acts to probe airport security for whatever reason will not be tolerated, pure and simple... Amateur testing of our systems do not show us in any way our flaws. We know where the vulnerabilities are well sorta, maybe we do, weâre not sure and weâre not talking and we are testing them ... This does not help.ââ An FBI affidavit obtained Monday by The Associated Press said Heatwole 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. His bags contained box cutters, modeling clay made to look like plastic explosives, matches and bleach hidden in sunscreen bottles, the affidavit said. Inside were notes with details about when and where the items were carried aboard. They were signed ``3891925,ââ which is the reverse of Heatwoleâs birthday: 5/29/1983. On Sept. 15, the TSA received an e-mail from Heatwole saying he had ``information regarding six security breachesââ at the Raleigh-Durham and Baltimore-Washington airports between Feb. 7 and Sept. 14, the FBI affidavit said. The TSA did not send the e-mail to the FBI until last Friday. FBI agents then located Heatwole and interviewed him.
Ah, so the screw-up is with the TSA and not the Bureau.
Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge, whose department includes TSA, said officials ``will go back and look at our protocolââ for handling such e-mails. He said the agency gets a high volume of e-mails about possible threats and that officials decided that Heatwole ``wasnât an imminent threat.ââ The e-mail provided details of where the plastic bags were hidden - right down to the exact dates and flight numbers - and even provided Heatwoleâs name and telephone number. It was 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 âact of civil disobedience with the aim of improving public safety for the air-traveling public,âââ the affidavit said. The e-mail was signed ``Nat Heatwole.ââ
I sorta see why the TSA blew him off.
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. Heatwole, a double-major in political science and physics, refused to register for the draft when he turned 18 as required by law, according to the Guilfordian interview. Instead, he sent the Selective Service System a blank registration form and a letter explaining his opposition. ``I wanted to let them hear the voice of dissent,ââ he told the newspaper, ``just in case they were listening.ââ
Congrats! You got their attention. Now what?
Posted by: Steve White 2003-10-21 |