False Accusation Creates a 9/11 Footnote

[DoYouEverWonder]

September 9, 2006, 5:43 AM EDT

NEW YORK -- They were different men going in different directions -- one a visiting Egyptian student on scholarship, the other an ex-cop in a dead-end job as a hotel security guard. But an aviation radio left in a high-rise hotel brought Abdallah Higazy and Ronald Ferry together in an unfortunate footnote to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

In his zeal to fight terror, Ferry twisted the truth about the radio -- capable of contacting commercial pilots from the ground -- and triggered an investigation that needlessly landed Higazy in jail for a month.

<snip>

Citing his "confession," federal authorities charged him on Jan. 11, 2002, with making false statements. Three days later, a private pilot who was staying one floor below Higazy at the Millennium on Sept. 11, returned to the hotel looking for his aviation radio.

Ferry recanted his story on Jan. 16, court papers said. The same day, with no explanation, a deputy U.S. marshal removed Higazy's shackles and told him, "You're free to go."

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-sept-11-aviation-radio,0,40574.story?coll=sns-ap-nation-headlines


So who did the radio belong too? Seems that question was never answered?

[leftchick]

1. I want to know why Ferry wasn't given real jail time!

:grr:

This is outrageous! The innocent man is jailed and his family threatened and this moron gets off easy....

<snip>

Ferry, who pleaded guilty on Feb. 27, 2002, to lying to the FBI about the radio, served his sentence of weekends in jail for six months, then faded back into obscurity. His motives remain murky as well.

"That was during a time of patriotism," he said at his sentencing, "and I'm very, very sorry for that mistake."

[Jed Dilligan]

3. Yeah, and what about a punishment

for the FBI pigs who threatened his family?

[tanyev]

8. So patriotism = lying in order to puff up your own importance and not

caring what the consequences are to anyone else.

Is that what's in the dictionary?

[Jed Dilligan]

2. Right here in your post

"a private pilot who was staying one floor below Higazy at the Millennium on Sept. 11, returned to the hotel looking for his aviation radio."

Weekends in jail for six months was not nearly enough for the scumbag Ferry.

[DoYouEverWonder]

4. Thanks

Did they ever ID this pilot? Do pilots normally carry around their aviation radios?

[Jed Dilligan]

5. Don't know about his ID but

maybe he bought the radio on his trip to NY and he was going to take it home? There are all kinds of reasons why he might have had it, the vast majority of which have nothing to do with terrorism (govt. or otherwise).

[DoYouEverWonder]

6. So if you're Muslim and have an aircraft radio

you are subject to imprisonment and are automatically a suspected terrorist, but if you're a white American it's no big deal?

[Jed Dilligan]

7. Yes, that's the way "justice" works in America

Just like a 20-year-old black man with 1000 bucks cash is automatically suspected of being a drug dealer, while a 50-year-old white man with 1000 bucks cash is no big deal.

[Danascot]

10. No radio needed

In the days, weeks, and months following September 11, federal agents rounded up hundreds, if not thousands of Arab, Muslim and South Asian men, holding many for weeks without charges, in solitary confinement, and treating them as direct suspects of the September 11 attacks. The round-ups and detentions were based principally, or solely on religion, ethnicity or national origin. All of the detainees were eventually cleared of terrorism charges, yet the average detainee was held for 80 days, often on minor civil violations of immigration laws, such as not filing a change of address within 10 days of a move.

http://www.nyclu.org/post911_immigration_enforcement_tstmny_071904.html

[acmavm]

9. Ferry was sorry for his mistake? Isn't a 'mistake' an act that causes harm

unintentionally? An error in judgement made without malice?

Mistake my ass.