After several days of denying eyewitness reports of a second man from Northwest Flight 253 being arrested following the attempted Christmas Day bombing of the plane by a Nigerian passenger linked to al-Qaida, the chief U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer in the Detroit area has admitted another passenger was taken into custody. Ronald G. Smith sent an e-mail to the Detroit News, the paper reported, apologizing that the information provided to federal investigators by two attorneys aboard the plane had not been made available earlier.
As reported, Smith and other federal officials repeatedly denied accounts of the incident by Kurt and Lori Haskell of Taylor, Mich., who described authorities handcuffing and taking away a second passenger.
Following the foiled terrorist attack, Haskell said passengers were corralled into a small, evacuated luggage claim area of an airport terminal. Then, he says, bomb-sniffing dogs were brought in.
"During this time period, all of the passengers had their carry-on bags with them," he wrote in a posting on MLive.com. "When the bomb sniffing dogs arrived, one dog found something in a carry-on bag of a 30-ish Indian man." He said this man wore orange clothing.
"The man in orange, who stood some 20ft away from me the entire time until he was taken away, was immediately taken away to be searched and interrogated in a nearby room," Haskell explained. "At this time, he was not handcuffed. When he emerged from the room, he was then handcuffed and taken away."
Immediately after the questioning, Haskell said an FBI agent approached the remaining passengers and, referring to the man in orange, said, "You all are being moved to another area because this area is not safe. I am sure many of you saw what just happened and are smart enough to read between the lines and figure it out."
In his interview with MLive.com, Haskell said the agent's statement made him and other passengers believe an explosive may have been detected in the man's luggage. A second passenger, Daniel Huisinga of Fairview, Tenn., who was returning from an internship in Kenya, confirmed the account.
Haskell said authorities marched the remaining passengers out of the baggage claim area and into a long hallway.
"This entire time period and until we left customs, no person that wasn't a law enforcement personnel or a passenger on our flight was allowed anywhere on our floor of the terminal (or possibly the entire terminal)," he wrote. "The FBI was so concerned during this time that we were not allowed to use the bathroom unless we went alone with an FBI agent. We were not allowed to eat or drink, or text or call anyone."
Haskell said ever since the landing the FBI had insisted only one man was arrested for the airliner attack.
"However, several of my fellow passengers have come over the past few days, backed up my claim, and put pressure on FBI/Customs to tell the truth," he wrote.
Apparently, the pressure worked.
In Smith's e-mail, which he also sent to the Haskells, he said he had just received information he did not have before and hoped "it will clear up the matter."
As the couple reported, the second man was handcuffed and escorted to a room where he was interviewed and searched, confirmed Smith, but he was not arrested or detained because nothing was found.
"This information is consistent with eyewitness accounts," Smith said.
Previously, Smith had said the Haskell's account was not accurate and was a composite of two unrelated events that occurred with passengers from other flights at about the same time.
Smith had told the newspaper, "There was a second person taken into custody, but it had nothing to do with Flight 253. They did see dogs, but again, it was a totally different incident."
But Haskell stood by his story, claiming officials were "playing the American public for a fool." He said their explanation would require the public to believe the following:
- FBI and Customs officials allowed passengers from a separate flight to co-mingle with the passengers of Flight 253 during a critical investigation. Haskell insists that no one – aside from law enforcement and Flight 253 passengers – was allowed in the area while they were being detained.
- Despite prohibiting passengers from drinking, eating, making calls and using the restrooms, FBI and Customs officials allowed people from other flights to "trample through the area and possibly contaminate evidence."
- Haskell also added that no flights during that time allowed passengers to exit from the planes. The planes were held on the runway during the first hour of the detention period.
- "You have to believe that the man that stood 20 feet from me since we entered customs came from a mysterious plane that never landed, let its passengers off the plane and let this man sneak into our passenger group despite having extremely tight security at this time," he added.
- He said the public would be required to believe FBI and Customs officials were "hauling mysterious passengers from other flights through the area we were being held to possibly contaminate evidence and allow discussions with suspects on Flight 253 or to possibly allow the exchange of bombs, weapons or other devices between the mysterious passengers from other flights and those on flight 253."
"Seriously, Mr. Ron Smith, how stupid do you think the American public is?" he wrote.
Vindicated, Lori Haskell told the Detroit News Smith's e-mail was a small victory for the couple, yet it angered them as well.
"I just want them to look into our claims," Lori Haskell said. "Our story has been the same since Day One because we are telling the truth. This is the FBI's fourth story."
