Counterterrorism Blog: Air Marshals Kill Airline Passenger Near Plane at Miami Airport (updated 12/8)

Air Marshals Kill Airline Passenger Near Plane at Miami Airport (updated 12/8)

By Andrew Cochran

UPDATE 12/8: ABC News reports that there was serious concern about a possible shoe bombing plot, which partially explains and justifies the air marshals' actions. Passenger shot near American Airlines plane parked at gate at Miami International after originating in Columbia and bound for Orlando. AP, quoting DHS spokesman Brian Doyle: "The passenger indicated there was a bomb in his bag and was confronted by air marshals but ran off the aircraft, Doyle said. The marshals went after him and ordered him to get on the ground, but he did not comply and was shot when he apparently reached into the bag, Doyle said." CNN: Suspect had already deplaned and passed through customs, came back towards the plane to reboard for Orlando flight, approached the air marshals "aggressively" and reached into the bag, at which time the marshals shot him. MSNBC reports that wife trailed suspect trying to tell people that he was bipolar and off his medication.

This would be the first time an air marshal discharged a weapon on or near a flight since the 9/11 attacks (FBI agents shot a man on an Oregon flight in 1983 in similar circumstances). There was no bomb in the bag, and the 44-year-old suspect, a U.S. citizen identified as Rigoberto Alpizar, was killed. But bomb squads looked at every piece of luggage on board and detonated selected pieces.

This doesn't have a terrorism nexus, but we'll learn a lot from this incident for use in airline protection from possible terrorist attack. We've gone from 32 air marshals pre-9/11 to hundreds of them, and they have the toughest shooting accuracy standards to meet among all federal agents. Now we know that the air marshal system worked, and the terrorists have to consider it. I'll also predict that some group or commentator will complain about the use of deadly force when there was no actual threat, but I will not and hope we give the marshals the benefit of the doubt (UPDATE: that didn't take long - one of the trackback sites screams "Federal Airport Nazis execute unarmed citizen"). UPDATE 12/8: I was interviewed this morning by the Cox television affiliate in San Francisco about the event, and one of my points was that law enforcement agents want to capture suspects to obtain their info and possibly prevent a wider plot, not kill them. Anybody who accuses them of first wanting to fire doesn't know any real cops.

ONE MORE COMMENT, 3:40 pm ET, 12/8 (my last one): A wife's protestations are irrelevant to an agent when the suspect appears intent on using deadly force. A related party's claim of mental illness in the middle of a situation should and will be interpreted by the agent as part of the suspect's plan, especially after 9/11, and will be either ignored or considered part of an avoidance scheme.

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