US officials on Thursday defended the deadly shooting of a threatening air passenger as necessary to protect the flying public and the White House said an investigation will determine whether there were lessons to be learned from the incident.
The two federal air marshals involved in the shooting of an American Airlines passenger were put on paid leave while the incident at Miami International Airport was investigated, said air marshal spokesman Dave Adams.
"In any law enforcement shooting, it's not just with the federal air marshals, they have to conduct an internal investigation," Adams said.
"At this time the [marshals] are on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of this investigation," he added.
The incident at the airport was the first time a passenger had been shot by air marshals since the enforcement program was beefed up after the Sept. 11, 2001, hijacked airline attacks.
"This incident demonstrates the critical role that air marshals play in aviation security today," Homeland Security spokesman Russ Knocke said.
Officials said the passenger, identified as Rigoberto Alpizar, 44, indicated he was carrying a bomb in his bag as he boarded the plane for a flight to Orlando.
Adams said the two air marshals followed "textbook training" when they shot Alpizar after he ran off the airplane and ignored demands to stop and put down his bag.
Witnesses said Alpizar appeared to be mentally ill. Law enforcement officials said later there was no sign of a bomb.
Alpizar had been agitated before boarding the plane and was singing Go Down Moses as his wife tried to calm him, a fellow passenger said.
"The wife was telling him, `Calm down. Let other people get on the plane. It will be all right,'" Alan Tirpak said on Thursday.
"I thought maybe he's afraid of flying," Tirpak said.
Tirpak took his seat, and Rigoberto Alpizar, 44, and his wife eventually boarded the plane. Then, a few minutes before the plane was to pull away, Alpizar bolted up the aisle and onto the jetway, where two air marshals confronted him.
"He was belligerent. He threatened that he had a bomb in his backpack," said Brian Doyle, spokesman for the US Homeland Security Department.
"The officers clearly identified themselves and yelled at him to `get down, get down.' Instead, he made a move toward the backpack," Doyle said.
Agents are trained to shoot to stop a threat, and the situation on the jetway at Miami International Airport on Wednesday appeared to pose one, said John Amat, a deputy with the US Marshals Service in Miami.
White House spokesman Scott McClellan also said on Thursday that the two air marshals appeared to have acted properly when they shot to kill.
Both air marshals were hired in 2002 from other federal law enforcement agencies and are now on administrative leave, as is routine, Doyle said.
A new online voting system aimed at boosting turnout among the Philippines’ millions of overseas workers ahead of Monday’s mid-term elections has been marked by confusion and fears of disenfranchisement. Thousands of overseas Filipino workers have already cast their ballots in the race dominated by a bitter feud between President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and his impeached vice president, Sara Duterte. While official turnout figures are not yet publicly available, data from the Philippine Commission on Elections (COMELEC) showed that at least 134,000 of the 1.22 million registered overseas voters have signed up for the new online system, which opened on April 13. However,
ALLIES: Calling Putin his ‘old friend,’ Xi said Beijing stood alongside Russia ‘in the face of the international counter-current of unilateralism and hegemonic bullying’ Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday was in Moscow for a state visit ahead of the Kremlin’s grand Victory Day celebrations, as Ukraine accused Russia’s army of launching air strikes just hours into a supposed truce. More than 20 foreign leaders were in Russia to attend a vast military parade today marking 80 years since the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, taking place three years into Russia’s offensive in Ukraine. Putin ordered troops into Ukraine in February 2022 and has marshaled the memory of Soviet victory against Nazi Germany to justify his campaign and rally society behind the offensive,
ENTERTAINMENT: Rio officials have a history of organizing massive concerts on Copacabana Beach, with Madonna’s show drawing about 1.6 million fans last year Lady Gaga on Saturday night gave a free concert in front of 2 million fans who poured onto Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro for the biggest show of her career. “Tonight, we’re making history... Thank you for making history with me,” Lady Gaga told a screaming crowd. The Mother Monster, as she is known, started the show at about 10:10pm local time with her 2011 song Bloody Mary. Cries of joy rose from the tightly packed fans who sang and danced shoulder-to-shoulder on the vast stretch of sand. Concert organizers said 2.1 million people attended the show. Lady Gaga
CONFLICTING REPORTS: Beijing said it was ‘not familiar with the matter’ when asked if Chinese jets were used in the conflict, after Pakistan’s foreign minister said they were The Pakistan Army yesterday said it shot down 25 Indian drones, a day after the worst violence between the nuclear-armed rivals in two decades. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif vowed to retaliate after India launched deadly missile strikes on Wednesday morning, escalating days of gunfire along their border. At least 45 deaths were reported from both sides following Wednesday’s violence, including children. Pakistan’s military said in a statement yesterday that it had “so far shot down 25 Israeli-made Harop drones” at multiple location across the country. “Last night, India showed another act of aggression by sending drones to multiple locations,” Pakistan military spokesman Ahmed
RSS