All security systems–including those considered the best–are manned by humans. And humans are and will always be imperfect creatures.
So there will inevitably be times when security agents miss the assassin or terrorist intent on mayhem. For example:
- In September, 1975, two women–Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme and Sara Jane Moore–tried to assassinate President Gerald R. Ford on two separate occasions.
- Fromme was tackled by a Secret Service agent. Moore’s aim was deflected by Oliver Sipple, a Marine and Vietnam veteran, thus saving Ford’s life.
.jpg&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nbcnews.com%2Fnews%2Fother%2Farchive-lynette-squeaky-frommes-attempted-assassination-gerald-ford-f8C11011024&docid=J177meOGr7eR9M&tbnid=Lp2ODK8CN4s5GM%3A&w=1500&h=1324&ei=D4YXVL_xBanHigKxtIG4Bg&ved=0CAIQxiAwAA&iact=c)
Gerald Ford being hustled from danger by Secret Service agents
Until these incidents, the Secret Service profile of a potential assassin didn’t include a woman.
- On March 30, 1981, John W. Hinckley, a psychotic obsessed with actress Jodie Foster, gained access to a line of reporters waiting to throw questions at President Ronald Reagan.
- As Reagan got into his bulletproof Presidential limousine, Hinckley drew a pistol and opened fire. Wounded, Reagan escaped death by inches.
The Reagan assassination attempt
The Secret Service Service had failed to prevent the attack because no one–until that moment–had attacked a President from the section reserved for reporters.
- On September 11, 2001, Islamic terrorists armed with boxcutters highjacked four American jetliners and turned them into fuel-bombs.
- Two of the airliners struck the North and South towers of the World Trade Center, destroying both structures.
- A third hit the Pentagon.
- The fourth–United Airlines Flight 93–crashed when it was diverted from its intended target (the White House or Congress) by passengers who resolved to fight back.
- Three thousand Americans died that day–in New York City, Washington, D., and Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
Until this day of catastrophe, no highjacker had turned a jumbo-jet into a fuel-bomb. Passengers had been advised to cooperate with highjackers, not resist them.
So how will the next 9/11 happen? In all likelihood, like this:
A terrorist–or, more likely, several terrorists–will sign up for one or more airline “VIP screening” programs.
They will be completely clean–no arrests, no convictions. They may well be respectable citizens in their communities.
They will probably have amassed enough “frequent flier miles” to ingratiate themselves with the airlines and convince the Transportation Safety Administration (TSA) of their integrity.
Then, one day, they will breeze through their selected airports
- Without removing their belts and shoes;
- Without undergoing pat-down searches;
- Without being required to remove laptops and other electronic devices from their carry-ons;
- Without exposing their electronic devices to X-ray technology.
Then they will board planes–either as part of an individual terrorist effort or a coordinated one, a la 9/11.
And then it will be too late.
Memorial to the passengers and crew of United Flight 93
The TSA/airlines’ VIP programs are based on the assumption that someone who has completed a security check in the past need not be re-checked in the future.
This assumption has proven false for American Intelligence agencies such as the FBI and CIA.
- FBI agent Robert Hanssen spied for Soviet and Russian Intelligence services for 22 years (1979-2001). He’s now serving a life sentence in Florence, Colorado.
- CIA agent Aldrich Ames betrayed American secrets–including those Russians who had shared them–to Soviet and Russian espionage agencies from 1985 to 1994. He is likewise serving a life sentence.
Even requiring an agent to undergo repeated security checks is no guarantee of trustworthiness.
When asked about how he repeatedly passed CIA polygraph tests, Ames said:
“There’s no special magic. Confidence is what does it. Confidence and a friendly relationship with the examiner. Rapport, where you smile and make him think that you like him.”
Thus, as William Shakespeare warned in Hamlet, “one may smile and smile and be a villain”–or a highjacker.
The TSA introduced its Pre-Check program during the fall of 2011. By May, 2012, more than 820,000 travlers had received “expedited security” since the start of the program.
In early September, 2013, TSA announced that it would more than double its “expedited screening” program, Pre-Check, from 40 to 100 airports by the end of the year.
Nor is TSA the only organization giving big-spending fliers special treatment at potential risk to their country. For example:
- Delta Air Lines offers Sky Priority, described as providing “privileged access through security checkpoints” at select airports.
- Another private security program, Clear, collects several pieces of biometric data on well-heeled passengers. Once verified by a kiosk local to the security checkpoint, the passengers are allowed to skirt the security barriers that poor and middle-class folks must pass through.
- Priority Access, set up by TSA and the airlines, provides “expedited service” to first-class and business passengers. To qualify, you need only possess certain credit cards–such as the United Mileage Plus Club Card.
Some critics blast this two-tier passenger check-in system as an affront to democratic principles.
“It’s stratifying consumers by class and wealth, because the people who travel a lot usually have higher incomes,” said Ralph Nader, consumer advocate and frequent business traveler.
But there is an even more important reason to immediately disband these programs and require everyone–rich and middle-class alike–to undergo the same level of security screening:
The 3,000 men and women who died horrifically on September 11, 2001, at the hands of airline passengers whom authorities thought could be trusted to board a plane.
Tribute to the vanished World Trade Center
.jpg)
Bureaucracybuster's Blog 
ABC NEWS, ARMED ROBBERY, BLACK LIVES MATTER, CNN, CRIME, FACEBOOK, GANG ACTIVITY, HEROISM, MARIO WOODS, MSNBC, NBC NEWS, OAKDALE MOB, SAN FRANCISCO BOARD OF SUPERVISORS, SAN FRANCISCO MAYOR ED LEE, SAN FRANCISCO POLICE DEPARTMENT, THE CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE, THE LOS ANGELES TIMES, THE NEW YORK TIMES, THE WASHINGTON POST, TWITTER
TURNING CRIMINALS INTO HEROES
In Bureaucracy, History, Law Enforcement, Social commentary on January 27, 2016 at 8:56 amDictionary.com defines “hero” as: “A man of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities.”
So how did Mario Woods, a known gang member, armed robber and car thief, become an official San Francisco hero?
He did it by
Mario Woods
At 26, Woods–born on July 22, 1989–had a well-documented history of criminality:
As for the actions that led to his death–and his near-deification by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors:
On December 2, 2015, San Francisco police officers took a report from a 26-year-old Bayview man who had been slashed in the left shoulder.
He and a female friend had been eating in a car parked in front of an apartment building. They saw a man “walking back and forth on the sidewalk talking,” according to the police report.
The man–wielding a knife–reached into the passenger’s side of the car. The passenger opened the door to push the assailant away.
When he got out of the car, the man slashed him across the left shoulder. Bleeding heavily, the passenger fled to San Francisco General Hospital.
Two officers responded to the crime scene. Aided by a witness to the attack, they spotted the attacker and then lost him. Police radioed in a description, and more officers joined in the search.
Minutes later, two officers spotted Mario Woods, who matched the suspect’s description. He was waiting to board a bus–until he saw the officers get out of their car.
Woods seized a knife from his jeans pocket and said: “You’re not taking me today.”
The two officers drew their pistols and ordered Woods to drop the knife.
“You better squeeze that motherfucker and kill me,” said Woods.
More officers arrived. Some of them carried weapons that fire nonlethal beanbags filled with lead shot.
Still refusing to drop the knife, Woods was hit with a beanbag fired from a 12-gauge weapon.
It had no effect.
12-gauge Beanbag shotgun rounds
Two more rounds struck Woods–but he still refused to drop the knife.
On a video of the incident, a woman can be repeatedly heard yelling to Woods: “Oh, my God, drop it! Drop it!”
A fourth beanbag from a 40mm gun hit Woods. Although he crouched on one knee, he still held the knife. Then he quickly regained his balance and stood up.
Then came a dose of pepper spray–with no apparent effect on him.
A crowd began to gather–and an officer moved toward them to warn: “Back up!”
Suddenly, Woods moved toward the crowd.
The officer stepped into Woods’ path, to keep him from reaching the bystanders.
As Woods kept advancing, the officer fired his pistol. So did four other officers, riddling Woods with bullets.
Two of the officers were black–as was Woods. But in Uber-liberal San Francisco, police are widely regarded with suspicion, if not outright hostility.
And this is especially true when a black suspect is involved.
Predictably, Black Lives Matter called for a protest and vigil on December 3.
And on January 25, San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee requested a federal investigation into Woods’ death.
Lee had previously sought to meet with Woods’ mother, on January 15. But when word of the planned meeting leaked out, Gwen Woods canceled it.
San Francisco Supervisor David Campos introduced a resolution to name July 22–Woods’ birthday–as “Mario Woods Day.”
And on January 26, the Board of Supervisors–whom many San Franciscans sarcastically refer to as “Stupidvisors”–unanimously passed Campos’ resolution.
The effort sparked outrage from the San Francisco Police Officers Association (POA) which represents rank-and-file officers.
In a letter addressed to the Board of Supervisors, POA President Martin Halloran wrote:
“It will be a hurtful day to [the families of SFPD officers killed in the line of duty] if this city’s elected officials decide to recognize and honor an individual that preyed upon our most vulnerable citizens.”
Woods’ mother, Gwen, was elated by the vote: “Sometimes you have to stand up and look life in the eye. Everyone can’t be bullied.”
She could–and should–have been speaking for the victims of her gangbanger son.
Share this: