Florida Professor Arrested for Having a "Suspicious" Bagel on a Plane

[marmar]

Florida Professor Arrested for Having a "Suspicious" Bagel on a Plane
Passengers claimed man had suspicious package in the overhead compartment

By TODD WRIGHT
Updated 11:45 AM EST, Thu, Jan 6, 2011


A Florida professor was arrested and removed from a plane Monday after his fellow passengers alerted crew members they thought he had a suspicious package in the overhead compartment.

That "suspicious package" turned out to be keys, a bagel with cream cheese and a hat.

Ognjen Milatovic, 35, was flying from Boston to Washington D.C. on US Airways when he was escorted off the plane for disorderly conduct following the incident.

Monday's incident is another example of other passengers essentially becoming the authority on terrorist activity on planes. ...........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local-beat/Florida-Professor-Arrested-for-Having-aSuspicious-Bagel-on-a-Plane-112825029.html

[seabeyond]

1. we have willingly allowed ourselves to be put in a criminal prison system. i refuse. i have

purposely followed laws in this land (within reason) to ensure i am never in a prison environment where i lose all individual rights. with flying? we pay to be put in a prison environment.

[Nye Bevan]

7. A little overdramatic, I think.

Simply follow the flight crew's instructions and you will be fine. Smile at them and treat them nicely, and they will be nice to you. I follow this approach and they have never once treated me as though they were "prison guards".

[hlthe2b]

10. If you had an accent or dark skin or were otherwise "different"

you might likewise feel differently.

I may be a more typical looking American than this man, and am female, but I agree that flying now puts one at risk of serious loss of personal liberty, dignity, and even at risk for illegal detainment or arrest despite ones innocence.

[Nye Bevan]

20. How do you know what this man looks like? His pic is not in the story (nt)

[hlthe2b]

30. Try reading more slowly...

I said: If you had an accent or dark skin or were otherwise "different" you might likewise feel differently.

The use of the word IF implies a possibility or a hypothetical

I may be a more typical looking American than this man, and am female, but I agree that flying now puts one at risk of serious loss of personal liberty, dignity, and even at risk for illegal detainment or arrest despite ones innocence.

The use of the word MAY implies a possibility or a hypothetical


Do you get it now? A possibility or a hypothetical...... :shrug:

[seabeyond]

11. i think you perfectly describe it. make sure all of who you are is such not to upset tsa

eyes down, tail between legs, meek..... and by all htat is holy, if say you are off to some emergency and you are sad, or running late and are mad, or need a cig and are ansy, show none of that. smile, be nice and follow all orders, regardless of necessary, relevent or needed.

no, i dont think i am being overdramatic at all. i think that is EXACTLY what you describe and what they have created and you have told me how to walk the line in such an environment. i think your post absolutely reinforces what i just said.

what IF i dont want ot be nice. what IF i dont want to smile.

[Recursion]

15. What if

what IF i dont want ot be nice. what IF i dont want to smile.

Then the TSA (or other passengers) may give more attention to you. I'm not seeing the horror here.

[seabeyond]

25. did i say "horror". the point is, we should not have to smile and be nice in order NOT to be harras

harrassed. we are allowed to not smile. we are allowed to be angry as long as it doesnt project out. we dont have to meet the "be nice and smile" and dont rock the boat of what THEY want from you.

[Nye Bevan]

19. "be nice and follow all orders". You nailed it.

I agree that some of the rules are really stupid. Like having to turn off my Kindle until the plane is airborne. It is obviously completely impossible for a Kindle to affect the flight systems, so this rule makes no sense. But the flight attendants don't make these rules, but they have to enforce them. These folk work long hours for not that much money, and it can be a fairly stressful job, so I just smile and turn my Kindle off. Acting like an asshole and treating them like "prison guards" does not improve the flying experience for anyone involved.

[seabeyond]

27. and you missed it. nt

[woo me with science]

45. Great post.

Well said. We used to be respected as paying customers. Now we are expected to assume an attitude of submission.

[spanone]

2. 'bagelbomb' 'bagelgate'

[rfranklin]

6. "Let's roll....er...schmeer?"

It's a wake up call played on a bugle...er...bagel!

[Nye Bevan]

3. Totally incorrect headline.

When confronted by the US Airways crew about his "suspicious package," Milatovic got on his cell phone. The crew asked him to hang it up and sit down. When he refused, he was cuffed.

He was not arrested for his bagel. If he had cooperated and shown them the bagel everything would have been fine. He was arrested for not shutting off his phone and sitting down when instructed to do so.

[marmar]

5. You need to take that up with NBC Miami.

nt

[Nye Bevan]

8. Yes, I know, you used their headline for your post.

My criticism was directed at your source, not at you.

[hlthe2b]

12. he may well have been calling his lawyer or some other official..

A thought that would occur to many of us being the subject of gang mentality that was obvious here.

[Nye Bevan]

22. If a flight attendant asked to look at my bag because it was making a strange noise

my first reaction would be to show the flight attendant my bag. Not to stand up, call my lawyer on my cellphone, and refuse to turn my cellphone off when instructed to do so.

But then I'm not an asshole.

[hlthe2b]

31. I beg to differ...

The article is not clear on those points-- i.e., whether or not he gave them the bag or not.

Again, I beg to differ.

[LisaL]

42. I am having a hard time understanding how a bagel can make

strange noises.

[Sabriel]

4. Sounds like a schmear campaign to me

But that's a hole other story....

(Come on...how many bagel puns are there, anyway?

[Warren DeMontague]

44. Ouch!

That's gonna leave a mark.

[pinboy3niner]

9. Did they lox him up? nt

[Lochloosa]

14. Booooo

:toast:

[HopeHoops]

13. I had a suspicious bagel once. I don't think those were green onion flakes in there.

:hippie:

[opihimoimoi]

36. this is HIGHLY suspicious.....LOL

[Initech]

16. You can have my bagel when you pry it from my cold dead hands.

[proud2BlibKansan]

17. Ognjen Milatovic

Sounds like a terrorist :sarcasm:

[WinkyDink]

18. It was the POPPY SEEDS!

[Dappleganger]

21. This article completely misconstrues what happened...

Here's a better one: http://jacksonville.com/news/crime/2011-01-03/story/unf-math-professor-booted-boston-flight

BTW, this professor has an excellent reputation at the school where he's employed, I truly hope that he is vindicated and this is all just a simple misunderstanding.

[Nye Bevan]

23. A respected university professor should really know better than to act like such an asshole (nt)

[Dappleganger]

28. Neither you not I were there...

and there are more facts to come out, no doubt. Who is to say just how you or I would behave when put into a difficult situation on a plane like that? You think you can predict it but you never know--are you a perfect person, too?

[Nye Bevan]

29. I'm not perfect. I'm just not an asshole (nt)

[hlthe2b]

32. Me thinks thou doth protest too much...

:eyes:

[Nye Bevan]

34. Hmmm. Let's count how many times in this thread I said that I wasn't an asshole.

OK, one time. So that's "protesting too much"? :eyes:

[hlthe2b]

35. you know, if you have to tell the world that many times...

that you are not an "asshole," .....

[Nye Bevan]

38. I don't think you understand the difference between "many times" and "once".

:patriot:

[DainBramaged]

24. What's worse are the comments by readers, disgusting

[Dappleganger]

26. Yep, that's my city...

that was one reason I posted that article, so you could get a glimpse of the nastiness we have to endure.

There was an online article I read about the AZ shooting yesterday (on another local online news agency) and nearly 7 out of 10 comments had been removed for violating the terms of service (that means the comments were especially nasty).

[XanaDUer]

33. This is taking avoiding carbs to a new extreme

nt.

[readmoreoften]

39. +1

[Fire Walk With Me]

37. I need my papier-mache bagel and cream cheese paperweight!

[petronius]

40. Almost certainly a test run. We should ban carry-on bagels immediately, just in case

:patriot:

[LisaL]

41. No doubt TSA is on it as we speak.

[eppur_se_muova]

43. Clearly, banning peanuts just didn't go far enough.

The cream cheese was the test run. Next time -- peanut butter.

[old mark]

46. K&R- Perhaps they thought it was the Bagel Of Doom!!!!

I'm hungry now...


mark