<html>
<font size=3>unfortunately, noone at the airport was willing to talk with
the press -- i attempted multiple different avenues, all without
avail. it is an interesting problem: print a one-sided account or
don't print at all. since publishing the piece, i've received a
message from the airport assistant to the director, but have not had time
to follow up with him. dave (or other journalists), if you would
like to follow up, i can get you the guy's phone number.<br>
<br>
let me know or give me a call (384-5346), i should be home most of the
day today,<br>
<br>
--sascha<br>
<br>
At 11:40 PM 11/12/01 Monday, David Young wrote:<br>
<br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite>Sascha et al.,<br>
<br>
Are there any witnesses to Ms. Oden's mistreatment at the airport
besides<br>
Ms. Oden herself? This story tripped my skept-o-meter the first
time<br>
I read it. After reading the more detailed version, my brain
screams<br>
for corroboration.<br>
<br>
Dave<br>
<br>
On Mon, Nov 12, 2001 at 01:55:26PM -0600, Sascha Meinrath wrote:<br>
> Hi Everyone,<br>
> <br>
> I received this today from Nancy Oden (an activist who was detained
at<br>
> Bangor International Airport) in early November. There is an
interest in<br>
> forming a national "Bill of Rights Defense Committee" and
I thought that<br>
> both the IMC and AWARE might be interested in affiliating with
this<br>
> coalition.<br>
> <br>
> --Sascha<br>
> <br>
> <br>
> <br>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------<br>
> Date: Mon, 12 Nov 2001 01:32:15 -0500<br>
> From: nancy oden <cleanearth@acadia.net><br>
> To: nancyoden@greens.org<br>
> Subject: detailed account of airport incident<br>
> <br>
> Excellent Cartoon -<br>
>
<a href="http://seattlep-i.nwsource.com/horsey/viewbydate.asp?id=522" eudora="autourl">http://seattlep-i.nwsource.com/horsey/viewbydate.asp?id=522</a><br>
> >From Nancy Oden, Green Party USA<br>
> ,
<a href="http://www.greenparty.org/" eudora="autourl">www.greenparty.org</a>,
gpusa@igc.org<br>
> 1-866-GREENS2
(toll-free)<br>
> <br>
>
What's Happening with the Bangor Airport Incident<br>
>
- Nancy Oden, November 10, 2001<br>
> <br>
> Postscript: I have since gotten in touch with the Bangor
Airport manager<br>
> who assures me that it's fine with them if they fly out of there,
but that<br>
> it ultimately isn't their decision.<br>
> I've also been told by American Airlines' head of security in Texas
that I<br>
> am welcome to fly on their airline any time, and that they will
contact<br>
> Priceline.com about both of them giving my money back. This is
all good,<br>
> excepting that the military can arbitrarily, at any time, revoke my
right to<br>
> travel for no good reason, as they did November 1 in Bangor,
Maine.<br>
> So long as the military are in charge of civilian affairs, we
are not free;<br>
> we do not have our Bill of Rights protecting us because they've
abrogated it<br>
> and declared themselves the Law.<br>
> We are forming a national Bill of Rights Defense Committee,
and invite all<br>
> of you and/or groups you're affiliated with to help us form such a
coalition<br>
> based on defense of our civil liberties. Please email back
saying you'll be<br>
> part of this new coalition of groups and individuals, and include
your name<br>
> and phone number. Then we can call a meeting to decide what to
do.<br>
> We need a large, strong, united voice to tell the military
government we now<br>
> have (Bush, Sr., who used to be not only President but before that
head of<br>
> the CIA, Dick Cheney, Daddy Bush's fellow oil man and defense
contractor,<br>
> and the Pentagon brass) that we will not accept killing democracy in
order<br>
> to save it.<br>
> <br>
> We do not want corporations, with their only interest in next
quarter's<br>
> profits, running the world. We, the people, should be making
the decisions<br>
> that affect our lives. Real Democracy. Nothing less will
do.<br>
> <br>
>
***********************************************************<br>
> <br>
> Bangor Airport Incident, November 1, 2001<br>
> - Nancy Oden, Jonesboro, Maine<br>
> <br>
> On Thursday, November 1, 2001, I left my farmhouse on the North
Coast of<br>
> Maine, where I'm an organic grower, and headed for the Bangor
International<br>
> Airport in Bangor, Maine. I was dressed conservatively in a
long, brown<br>
> skirt with a matching jacket and turtleneck sweater, no jewelry, no
buttons<br>
> or other political indications attached, looking very like other
women my<br>
> age in this part of the world.<br>
> <br>
> I am a relatively well known environmental, social, and political
activist<br>
> who has run for public office. It should be noted that, while
I've been an<br>
> activist for over thirty years, I've never been arrested, nor has
there been<br>
> anything in my life that would signal I meant harm to anyone.<br>
> <br>
> Also, this was the third time this year I had traveled out of (or
attempted<br>
> to, in this case) Bangor Airport on American Airlines using an
e-ticket<br>
> purchased from Priceline.com bought weeks before with my own credit
card.<br>
> They had no reason for profiling and singling me out. It had
to have been<br>
> because of my political views which, of course, is not a good reason
(see<br>
> U.S. Constitution's first Ten Amendments, otherwise known as the
Bill of<br>
> Rights).<br>
> <br>
> I was headed for Chicago for a Green Party USA National
Coordinating<br>
> Committee meeting, where I was to speak the next night on
biochemical<br>
> warfare and pesticides as weapons of war. I was also scheduled
to interview<br>
> job applicants, present several proposals and financial reports, and
so on.<br>
> I am a lead person on the National Coordinating Committee of the
Green Party<br>
> USA (the original Green Party, although there is now another which
took a<br>
> very similar name).<br>
> <br>
> I arrived at the Bangor Airport the now-requisite two hours ahead of
the<br>
> flight and walked in to the airport to the sight of a couple of
dozen<br>
> National Guard troops carrying machine guns in their hands wandering
around<br>
> the lobby. I walked down to the American Airlines ticket
counter, where<br>
> there were no other passengers, and told the airlines ticket agent
my name.<br>
> I was holding out my picture ID and the printed itinerary they told
us to<br>
> bring, but he barely glanced at them. I remember thinking,
"Does he have a<br>
> picture of me under that counter? Why didn't he look at my
ID?"<br>
> <br>
> No one checked my ID at any time. They all knew what I looked
like and, it<br>
> became clear, my antiwar stance. I am not that well known that
they would<br>
> have known me on sight. Why were they briefed about me before
I arrived at<br>
> the airport? What were they told? Was it the FBI or some
other agency?<br>
> Which one?<br>
> <br>
> The ticket agent spent an inordinate amount of time on his computer,
then<br>
> finally produced a boarding pass with a large "S" written
on it. I asked<br>
> him what that meant, and he said I had been picked to have my bags
searched.<br>
> Well, one expects that now, so I said, "Oh, that's
okay." But I had a<br>
> feeling there was more.<br>
> <br>
> Since there was no one else around, I turned back to him and looked
him in<br>
> the eye - he seemed a decent guy - and asked him, "My being
picked wasn't<br>
> random, was it?" He hesitated a moment, but then said,
"No, your name was<br>
> already flagged in the computer and you would have been searched in
any<br>
> case." Well, still possibly coincidence.<br>
> <br>
> Then to the x-ray for my bags and me. I said to the two women
sitting by<br>
> the machine that scans the bags. sort of apologetically,
"I've been picked<br>
> to have my bags searched. I know this might sound silly, but
since you<br>
> handle all these people's bags and belongings--with the Anthrax
scare and<br>
> all--I'd like it if whoever searches through my clothes and things
wash<br>
> their hands first." They looked at me with hate and
loathing and one said,<br>
> "We don't want YOUR germs, either." (Turns out they
wear rubber gloves.)<br>
> <br>
> "Whoa," I thought, "either I'm back in kindergarten
or these normally quite<br>
> civil women have some reason for being hostile." I
had the distinct<br>
> feeling they had been told awful things about me - I want to know
what they<br>
> were told about this profiled individual coming to their
airport.<br>
> <br>
> Neither my bags nor I set off any beeps in the machinery so we
walked right<br>
> through to the boarding area. Here I sat down with the other
passengers.<br>
> There was one National Guard soldier in the boarding area; he was a
short<br>
> man with a black eye wearing camo gear and carrying a machine
gun.<br>
> <br>
> Soon after I sat down, the National Guardsman looked at the dozen or
so<br>
> passengers, his eyes stopping at me and he yelled, "Bring those
bags over<br>
> here!" Since he didn't call my name, how did he
know which person was me,<br>
> since I did not look appreciably different from the others?<br>
> <br>
> When I didn't move fast enough, he yelled again, "Hurry
up! Move! Bring<br>
> those bags up here!" This did not make me move
faster. By now people were<br>
> beginning to stare at me as if I might possibly be someone bent on
doing<br>
> something wrong.<br>
> <br>
> I set my two smallish bags on the table where two women were waiting
to<br>
> search my bags. As one of them had trouble with a zipper on my
older bag, I<br>
> said, "Oh, that zipper is not right, here, let me open it for
you," and I<br>
> reached over the table to undo the zipper. Immediately, the
soldier yelled<br>
> out, "Get your hands away from there!" By now the
other passengers were<br>
> getting nervous, of course.<br>
> <br>
> He was standing at the end of the table with the women on one side
looking<br>
> in my bags and me standing on the other side of the table. I
turned to face<br>
> him, which put my back towards everyone else, and he grabbed my left
arm and<br>
> began loudly spouting pro-war nonsense into my face.
"Don't you understand<br>
> we have to get them before they get us? Don't you understand
what happened<br>
> September 11?" and so on.<br>
> <br>
> I immediately pulled my arm away from him and said, "Do not
touch me. You<br>
> cannot do that," and stepped back a foot or so, saying that I
didn't want to<br>
> hear his views on why he thought we should kill starving, helpless
people in<br>
> Afghanistan.<br>
> <br>
> He grabbed for me again. I stepped back further stating
emphatically, "Do<br>
> Not Touch Me," and further emphasizing that I did not want to
listen to his<br>
> views on the war. He was about to leave his position and come
after me<br>
> again, but I saw the senior security man who is usually there shake
his head<br>
> "No" at the soldier, who then backed off, but he was angry
that I would not<br>
> submit to his holding me while he forced his views on me.<br>
> <br>
> I turned and there just a couple of inches away was the man with
the<br>
> metal-detecting wand. I stepped back a foot or two so he
wasn't right up<br>
> against me, and he did the wand thing. I was the only one
whose bags were<br>
> searched. For a woman of a certain age such as myself to stand
there with<br>
> arms outstretched while a man skimmed my body with a device was
very<br>
> embarrassing and demeaning.<br>
> <br>
> I asked him not to touch me with the wand, as I didn't know what it
was,<br>
> but, of course, he had to touch my shoulder with it. I ignored
this, just<br>
> wanting to get out of there. While he was doing the wand
thing, I heard the<br>
> soldier, who was behind me, say, "Don't let her on the
plane." I thought he<br>
> was talking to himself.<br>
> <br>
> Then they were done with the searching, and I walked the three feet
to the<br>
> boarding gate. The American Airlines agent said, "You
can't get on the<br>
> plane." I asked why. He replied, "Because he
[indicating the soldier] says<br>
> you didn't cooperate with the search." I said, "But
you were standing here<br>
> the whole time. Didn't you see him grab my arm and talk loudly
into my<br>
> face?" He said he couldn't see that because my back was
to people, only saw<br>
> me back off.<br>
> <br>
> I then told the American Airlines agent that I needed to get to
Chicago and<br>
> stated what I had to do there. The American Airlines
agent then said,<br>
> rather softly, probably so the guardsman soldier couldn't hear,
"We'll put<br>
> you on the four o'clock plane; that's the last one out today that
you can go<br>
> through Boston and still get to Chicago tonight." I
replied, "Fine, let's<br>
> just do this. I don't care if I'm late so long as I get
there."<br>
> <br>
> Unfortunately, the Guardsman overheard, and he wasn't done with
me.<br>
> Clearly, this non-subservient female had to be punished for not
being<br>
> sufficiently obsequious. He saw me picking up my bags to
go out into the<br>
> lobby and wait for the 4 o'clock plane, and yelled (that seemed to
be his<br>
> only means of communication), "Come With Me!" I
asked, "Why? Where are we<br>
> going?" He replied, louder, "Come With
Me!"<br>
> <br>
> A few people to whom I've told this insist the government/military
is trying<br>
> to "criminalize" me and other political activists who
don't have criminal<br>
> records. This is what's done to people of color. When
they're harassed<br>
> and/or beaten by police, they eventually, of course, do something to
protect<br>
> themselves and then get arrested for hitting an officer or
whatever. If<br>
> they then get convicted of a felony, they've go to prison and
probably a few<br>
> years of parole when one's rights are mostly non-existent, and
draconian<br>
> restrictions are put upon one's activities. Convicted felons
lose a lot of<br>
> rights in this country: their travel is henceforth limited, in
some states<br>
> they can't vote, own a gun, and various other limitations.<br>
> <br>
> Under the circumstances, and because I had a few hours until four
o'clock<br>
> anyway, it seemed best to go with the guardsman. The
circumstances being<br>
> that each individual soldier/national guardsman seems to be The Law
unto<br>
> themselves. Each of them makes it up as they go along,
punishing people who<br>
> don't hop to. Military law is not democracy.<br>
> <br>
> He took me to the entrance area, apart from anyone else. Then
he ordered,<br>
> loudly, "Sit Down!" I gave him a look and then
sat. The soldier found the<br>
> airport policeman and told him to stay with me. Upon
reflection, I probably<br>
> wasn't free to leave, but I thought I was waiting for the next plane
so just<br>
> stayed there.<br>
> <br>
> The Airport policeman was a pleasant local man and we talked about
what had<br>
> just happened as well as people we knew, etc. Within minutes I
looked up to<br>
> see 5-6 National Guardsmen in their camo gear all carrying machine
guns<br>
> marching in a sort of formation towards me. I was sitting down
quietly<br>
> talking with the policeman. The situation looked like a bad
movie.<br>
> <br>
> It occurred to me that this is how people get
"disappeared," which has<br>
> happened to over 1,200 Americans so far since September 11. We
used to hear<br>
> about this only in repressive military regimes in other places
(usually<br>
> bolstered by our tax dollars). I'm sure they were ready to
arrest me for<br>
> allegedly "not cooperating with a security search," with
which I had,<br>
> indeed, cooperated.<br>
> <br>
> All of a sudden the ludicrousness of the situation struck me.
There I am,<br>
> sitting down with my bags, a woman clearly not a physical threat,
and this<br>
> phalanx of soldiers in formation descends upon me ready to arrest me
for<br>
> something I did not do. I gave a little laugh and said to the
lead man,<br>
> "What, all this, just for me?" Then, I asked,
"What's this really about?<br>
> What's going on here?"<br>
> <br>
> He replied, "We understand you didn't cooperate with a security
search." I<br>
> said, "That's ridiculous. They searched my bags and they
did the wand<br>
> search. The only problem was your man here [I indicated the
short guy with<br>
> the black eye] grabbing my arm and spouting pro-war views loudly in
my<br>
> face." The lead soldier (I don't know his rank)
said, astonishingly, "He<br>
> told me only hit your arm."<br>
> <br>
> I looked at the lead soldier wide-eyed with a few unbidden
(certainly<br>
> unwanted when I'm trying to look fierce) tears in my eyes, and
asked, "Even<br>
> if that's all he had done, would that be okay?" I think
he then realized<br>
> the guardsman had been way out of line and said, "Wait
here." They left,<br>
> and the policeman stayed with me. I don't really think I was
free to go,<br>
> although I had not been arrested.<br>
> <br>
> I found out later they had gone upstairs and told the Bangor Airport
manager<br>
> to tell all airlines in the Airport not to allow me to fly out of
Bangor<br>
> that day, and possibly more than just that one day. Since the
military are<br>
> in charge of our airports and they can override civilians in charge,
this<br>
> was made to happen.<br>
> <br>
> I was to be punished for the crime of questioning their
authority,<br>
> especially for the guardsman to hold my arm and force me to listen
to his<br>
> brain-washed rantings.<br>
> <br>
> Every airline in the Bangor Airport was given my name and told that
I did<br>
> not cooperate with a security search. Not cooperating with a
security<br>
> search at an airport is a federal crime. If, indeed, I had not
cooperated,<br>
> they would have arrested me right then and there. But I had
been searched<br>
> so they couldn't say that.<br>
> <br>
> However, now I have to wonder if every airline in the world doesn't
have me<br>
> in their computer as a person who didn't cooperate with the security
search,<br>
> which means they can deny me passage in their airplanes. We
will find out<br>
> as time goes on.<br>
> <br>
> They told the policeman this news and had him tell me that I
wouldn't be<br>
> allowed to fly out of Bangor that day. So I said I had to go
American<br>
> Airlines and get my money back. The policeman came with
me.<br>
> <br>
> The same AA clerk was at the counter. He stepped outside the
counter to<br>
> converse with the policeman and me. He confirmed that they had
been told<br>
> not to allow me to fly out of Bangor that day. I asked him
about the next<br>
> day and he said he didn't know. This is not a small matter for
me since the<br>
> Bangor Airport is 100 miles from where I live.<br>
> <br>
> The AA clerk then suggested I drive to Boston (5-1/2 hour drive) and
fly out<br>
> of there. There were several problems with that, I told
him. First, my old<br>
> car barely made it the 100 miles to the Bangor Airport and might not
make it<br>
> to Boston or back again. Then there were the parking fees in
Boston as well<br>
> as the fact that I might not be allowed to fly out of there or might
not be<br>
> able to get a seat once I got there. Also, if they would not
honor my<br>
> now-expired ticket, I'd have to pay full fare, which I couldn't
afford. Not<br>
> a serious option.<br>
> <br>
> I then asked the American Airlines clerk for my money back so I
might<br>
> consider some alternative means of transport. He said he
couldn't refund my<br>
> money. I asked him why and he said, "It's a
non-refundable ticket." This<br>
> was so ridiculous that all three of us laughed a little. All
the airlines<br>
> issue tickets on other tickets all the time. So I asked him
again and he<br>
> said he couldn't refund the ticket, indicating it wasn't his
decision, which<br>
> I understood, and told him I'd take it up with the airline
later.<br>
> <br>
> Then the policeman, half apologetically, told me I'd been banned
from the<br>
> Airport for that day, and that he had to escort me out. I told
him I<br>
> understood that he was under the military's rule, and that I would
call it<br>
> his walking me to the door, rather than escorting me out of the
Airport. We<br>
> walked to the exit. I thanked him for being kind and
considerate, which he<br>
> had been, and left with the sinking feeling that something bad is
happening<br>
> to our country. And this is how it begins.<br>
> <br>
>
**********************************************************<br>
> <br>
> <br>
> <br>
> _______________________________________________<br>
> IMC mailing list<br>
> IMC@urbana.indymedia.org<br>
>
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<br>
-- <br>
David
Young
On the Job Consulting<br>
dyoung@onthejob.net Urbana, IL * (217)
278-3933<br>
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