Reassessment of Air Marshals Urgently Needed

It is now clear that two Air Marshals simply "executed" a bipolar Latino passenger at the Miami International Airport and lied about him saying that he had a bomb. Three passengers have now come forward to say the Mr. Rigoberto Alpizar never said "I have a bomb!". In addition, new information is emerging concerning hundreds of cases of misconduct within the Federal Air Marshal Service that were recently exposed by the Inspector General of the Homeland Security Department

The general public does not know but according to DHS Inspector General Clark Kent Ervin, hundreds of Air Marshals have lied on their job applications, slept on duty, worked under the influence of alcohol and drugs, and have "lost" their weapons. Many more are mentally unstable and some have criminal records. Under these circumstances, there is a high probability that one or both of the Air Marshals that cowardly shot Mr. Rigoberto Alpizar may have acted under the influence of drugs or alcohol and did so because they are racists (Air Marshals are mostly all of the White race).

In a report, Inspector General Clark Kent Ervin accused the Federal Air Marshal Service of being too lenient with agents who misbehave and of failing to identify applicants with unsavory pasts. "Many...were granted access to classified information after displaying questionable judgment, irresponsibility and emotionally unstable behavior," Ervin wrote. The Inspector General's report exposed serious deficiencies in disciplining Air Marshals. It says a review of personnel records revealed 753 documented cases of misconduct.

Ervin mentions 161 Air Marshals whose applications were approved for top secret security clearances during pre-hiring evaluations despite having financial problems, disciplinary issues and criminal histories. The Inspector General's investigation also turned up 104 Air Marshals who had 155 separate cases of misconduct on their previous jobs at the "Bureau of Prisons". The offenses included security breaches, sleeping on duty, verbal and physical abuse, an inappropriate relationship with an inmate's wife, and misuse of government property and credit cards.

There is more danger to passengers, especially to those of color and of Middle Eastern descent, from rogue Air Marshals than from actual terrorists. This is a lesson that was learned, albeit too late, by Mr. Alpizar's family on that fateful day in Miami. Today we are hearing here in Los Angeles that armed Air Marshals will now operate on passenger trains and buses. It will not take long before we hear in the news that a Latino or Black was shot on his way to work by a drugged and racist Air Marshal.