The other ten (one has left the Senate) have declared that it is "unethical" to intervene at the MSPB level, because it's still within the executive branch. So we are now hoping they will join the amicus curiae now being drafted for my appeal to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
It'll be interesting to see if they do. Do you
feel betrayed by your country?
No. I could be tortured, jailed, or dead if I were in other countries. Instead,
the U.S. government employs armies of lawyers to slowly bleed you out
financially. My law enforcement and military peers, my local community in
Orange County, my own congressman, Ken Calvert, and many other politicians and
non-partisan, non-government organizations inside the Beltway have all strongly
supported me. There's no time to have self-pity, you just have to keep fighting
and exposing them so that the public tosses out the bad apples. This is still
the best country on earth.
What are you doing these days in order to put
food on the table?
I'm an executive protection agent in the corporate security industry. I have a
California Concealed Carry Weapons (CCW) permit for the State of California and
CCW permits for 35 other states. The work is either abundant or there are long
periods of no cash coming in. I'm always searching for more potential work.
And what about flying? You stuck your neck out in order to make American
passengers safer. Are we?
Not by much when it comes to "in-flight
security." We need to reassign the majority of current Federal Air Marshals
(FAMs) to be Special Agent/Criminal Investigators to conduct ground-based
operations in order to prevent hijackers from boarding aircraft, to prevent
improvised explosive devices (IEDs) from exploding in airports, and to prevent
IEDs being smuggled into aircraft.
No matter what scenario you think of, the flight
deck is by far the most vulnerable and more attention needs to be focused there,
not controlling unruly passengers.
Good point, Bob. Is it hard for you to
fly, knowing what you know?
Anyone who tells you they are not scared to death of a tiny bit of high-powered
explosive being smuggled onto a jet is lying! This is the most serious threat
facing commercial aviation. This is why I rather have air marshals on the
ground preventing terrorists and IEDs from boarding than having them sit and
wait for one, because then it's way too late.
Anything you'd like to add before we wrap this up?
I don't believe we have a right to fly; it is a privilege. The September 11,
2011 attacks have changed the rules forever. Passengers need to be willing to
succumb to more intrusive screening, but the TSA has to exercise more common
sense and not be ham-fisted in everything it does.
It is a miracle that an air marshal has not yet been identified, attacked, and
disarmed. It is only a matter of when, not if, a small IED brings down an
entire aircraft. This is why we need to re-prioritize how the TSA deploys its
law enforcement resources.
Thanks so much for talking with me, Bob. Good luck with your appeal!
***
A big thank you to Gabe Bruno for his editorial help.
This corroborating article appeared in USA Today a few days after Maclean's disclosure.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
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