Family of infant who died at Honolulu Airport filing suit

[ConcernedCanuk]

Source: The Honolulu Advertiser

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Advertiser Staff

The family of an infant from American Samoa who died Friday morning at Honolulu Airport after his mother and a nurse were detained by immigration officials in a locked room plans to file a wrongful death lawsuit.

The Honolulu Medical Examiner's office today identified the infant as 14-day-old Michael Futi of Tafuna, American Samoa's largest village located on the east coast of Tutuila Island. Autopsy findings for cause and manner have been deferred.

Attorney Rick Fried of Cronin, Fried, Sekiya, Kekina & Fairbanks is calling a 1 p.m. news conference tomorrow to announce the lawsuit. Fried today would only say the child, who had come to Hawai'i for heart surgery, died after being detained by airport immigration following a flight from American Samoa.



Read more: http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080211/BREAKING01/80211079/1001/BREAKING01

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. What a horrible thing for that poor family to endure...

I am sickened by the actions of the immigration officials...

What the fuck is wrong with them?

K&R

:nuke:

[Earth_First]

2. Security.

We've become so fucking obsessed with 'national security' that this is what it's become.

Truly tragic.

[fortyfeetunder]

16. This was a little miracle for them....taken away....

You will be further outraged.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/6600ap_hi_dead_baby.html

The three had arrived after a 5 hour flight from American Samoa....and...


"The three were the first passengers to leave the plane, but after about 30 minutes in the warm, locked room, Michael had trouble breathing, Fried said. "We're way past the time now that this baby would have been in good hands at Kapiolani," he said...

Veavea checked the door, but found it locked, he said. She and Futi began to scream, but people outside the door told them to "stay calm, relax," he said. About five minutes later, someone arrived to help perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation and eight to 10 minutes after that the infant was taken to another hospital, Fried said....

..."Futi and her husband, Tony, 40, have a 14-year-old son and a 13-year-old daughter, but believed they could have no more children, so they adopted a son who is now 3, Fried said. "So this baby ... was a surprise to them, a real blessing. They were very excited about this," he said."

[kestrel91316]

3. Wow. I feel SO much safer now.

NOT.

[truthisfreedom]

4. Security resulting in innocent death. Beyond the pale. bushco gave us this gift... Lihop.

Never forget.

[Spacemom]

5. I can't imagine the heart break this family is going through

Here they are bringing their sick child to America to save his life, and what happens? He dies in a locked room because he might be a TERRA threat. We have seriously gone through the looking glass. :(

[LiberalEsto]

19. BTW they are from America

American Samoa is part of America.


A hideous tragedy, and it happened to American nationals.

[ConcernedCanuk]

6. I just noted, the time for the press is 1pm Today, its just after 12 noon in Honolulu

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So there should be SOME coverage in less than an hour.

Link to Honolulu Time

[Caria]

22. More info

http://www.rnzi.com/pages/news.php?op=read&id=38016

http://kgmb9.com/main/content/view/4083/40/

http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/hourlyupdate/224916.php

[LisaL]

23. If this child was that sick, I can't understand as to why it was

decided he did not need an air ambulance.
What if he stopped breathing on the plane?
The outcome likely would have been the same.

[KamaAina]

25. American Samoa is 2600 miles from Hawai'i

or roughly the distance from coast to coast of the mainland.

I know of no air ambulance, except possibly military, that is equipped for such a long haul.

[LisaL]

26. This is a quote from the article.

"The three flew aboard a Hawaiian Airlines flight after it was decided the child born Jan. 25 didn't require an air ambulance. It was also determined he could ride in a private car that was waiting curbside, instead of an ambulance, from the airport to the hospital, Fried said."

http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/hourlyupdate/224916.php
Unless this information is inaccurate, it sounds like an air ambulance could have been an option, but was decided against.
Apparently, there was also no ambulance waiting to take the child to the hospital.

[atreides1]

34. They Didn't Expect to be Detained?????

Maybe it was decided against because those making the decision didn't think that the Gestapo was going to detain a sick child. But here the the New Amerika, the Gestapo can do what they want, even if it means the death of a child, or anyone else.

I guess this must be one of those freedoms the military is fighting for in Iraq, the freedom to kill a sick child just because you can!!!!!!!!!

[LisaL]

38. It's a five hour flight.

Yes, it happened when the infant was detained, but who would be to blame if it happened during the flight?
It's not like the infant was detained for days.
It looks like he died about 30 minutes after the flight ended.
And by the way, the flight could be delayed without anyone getting detained. Happens all the time. Just last week I flew the flight was delayed because some extra part needed to be put on.

[Vinca]

7. Detaining a sick infant in the name of national security?

This is insane. People need to be fired (at the very least). A manslaughter charge might not be out of line either.

[Kitty Herder]

8. I agree. A manslaughter charge would be appropriate.

This story just makes me ill. Is this what the US has become?

[smoogatz]

9. An atrocity.

What a horrible place the U.S. has become.

[Hekate]

10. Some aloha, dat.

x(
:cry:

Hekate

[RC]

11. American Samoa is America territory.

American Samoa (Samoan: Amerika Sāmoa or Sāmoa Amelika) is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean,...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Samoa


American (Amerika) Samoa is a group of six Polynesian islands in the South Pacific. Fourteen degrees below the equator, it is the United States' southern-most territory. It is known as the heart of Polynesia. If you drew a triangle from Hawaii, New Zealand and Tahiti you would find Samoa in the middle. Western Samoa is a neighboring independent country that shares the same culture. American Samoa became an unorganized U.S. territory in 1900.
http://www.ipacific.com/samoa/samoa.html

[alarimer]

12. Then why was immigration even in the picture

They should have been able to enter without any problems.

[RC]

13. Good question. Maybe that was the reason for the lawsuit.

Immigration should not have been involved in the first place. Maybe they were bu$h appointees and didn't know their geography.
Brown people, not Hawaiian. Speak with an accent. Must be furneers.

[xxqqqzme]

17. When we lived on Guam in the early 70s

we had to go through customs every time we flew back to the states. I didn't understand it then, don't understand it now.

[fortyfeetunder]

14. As a mom, I am filled with rage.

This is a fricking NEWBORN, in nearly grave condition, with his mother and a nurse, already stressed from a plane ride for life-saving surgery. And the fricking INS and TSA could not have provided priority treatment to save this child's life? My heart weeps for the parents. This is just horrifying and fricking unacceptable!!!!!



:cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry:

[LisaL]

24. And why exactly was this baby on the plane to begin with?

I would think he should have been flown on the air ambulance into the hospital, not send on the regular airplane, if his condition was that bad. It's a five hour plane ride, for crying out loud. And anything can happen in the airport even if one is not detained by customs. Planes get delayed all the time.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

37. It's been explained to you already, lizzy

How many times are you going to ask the same question?

(See posts above.)

[LisaL]

39. Hah?

I have no idea as to what you are saying.
If it has been explained to me, then I somehow missed it, cause I fail to see any explanation in the posts above.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

41. Read Kama'aina's post

n.t.

[drm604]

15. Not the first death caused by Homeland Security.

Some more examples:

http://www.thebody.com/content/legal/art42839.html
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0HST/is_2_7/ai_n12937368
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/06/26/2096/
http://www.aamovement.net/news/2007/ice_detention.htm

I have to wonder if they haven't caused the loss of more lives than they've saved.

[ellie]

18. I hope they

end up owning the airport. The only time people listen is when money is involved.

[DCKit]

20. Is your legacy secure yet Mr. pResident? n/t

[ConcernedCanuk]

27. YES-SIR-BOB!! - sure is - "Worst President Ever, now try and beat THAT"

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[Caria]

21. The baby and nurse were citizens with US passports!

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/6600ap_hi_dead_baby.html
"Veavea had told officials at the airport that even if there was a problem, she and the child, both naturalized U.S. citizens with U.S. passports, should be allowed to leave the airport to go to the hospital"

[DFW]

28. The wrongful death suit is not only justified

But the immigration, oh, excuse me, homeland "security," official who oversaw this
action needs to be prosecuted for manslaughter. A crime is a crime, and wearing a
uniform while committing it does not legitimize it in America any more than it did
for the SS in the Third Reich. "Wrongful death," in this case, is putting it mildly.

[marshall]

30. I wonder how long it would have taken to clear it up

If the child hadn't died twenty minutes after the plane landed I assume the mess would have been cleared up, whether it would have been sooner or later is debatable. But even allowing a mere five minutes for them to collect their things and make their way off the plane it would have been difficult to rush them through security and get them to a vehicle and get to the hospital in fifteen minutes. Things should have been set up bettery by whoever made the arrangements for the trip.

[DFW]

31. If I read the article correctly,

They were put in a detention area with no air circulation and high heat.
Over time, this is deadly to anyone with a heart condition (like me),
and to a tiny infant, it was deadly very quickly. The medical personnel
who said it was OK to fly to Hawai'i obviously didn't anticipate such
a reception, or they would have indeed made more specific arrangements.
But no family of American citizens, especially after explaining their
situation to the uniforms, should have had to endure the reception they
did. If it were up to me, the charge of manslaughter would stand.

[marshall]

32. I am anxiouis to see the report from the other side

It just seems odd to me that the child would be so frail that he would die fifteen minutes after landing. I've lived in Hawaii for two years and have been to the airport numerous times. It is warm and for the most part the hallways are not air conditioned. But I can't imagine the climate is that different from Samoa.
I've also just recently adopted a child from Vietnam. He was accustomed to the extremely warm weather of Ho Chi Minh City and seemed very comfortable when we were sweating and very hot.
Right now it appears we just know one side of the story, and there are questions left to be answered.

[DFW]

33. I've been to the Hawaiian airports, too

However, I have not been stuck in a sweaty, airless detention room.
That is one part of the airport I have not had the pleasure of visiting.

[atreides1]

35. The report from the Governments Side???

I'm sure taking into consideration that this administration survives on lies and half truths, it will be found that the parents were totally at fault and that the little facist pin-heads were doing their job and protecting America against a midget terrorist.

By the way I was born and raised in Hawaii, I currently live in Virginia but my mom's side of my family stil lives there and I do keep in touch.

You did read this form the story?

It is unknown how long immigration officials detained the mother, nurse and child in the room and the reason they were held up.

[marshall]

36. Both sides need to be out

I do expect the government's report (or the airport's report) to be slanted--but my point is that the information we have so far is coming from the attorney hired by the family, which is just as likely to be slanted. It will be easier to form some kind of judgment when both stories are out.

Since the child died twenty minutes after landing, and allowing for at least five minutes for them to be taken to the room where they were held, the unknown amount of time they were detained couldn't have been very long.

I wouldn't hold the parents accountable, but I do think the blame will be spread around. Whoever organized the trip, whoever trained the security people, etc.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

40. Both sides, huh?

Precisely what was Immigration's reason for not seeking medical attention till 25 minutes after the child became "unresponsive"? Especially when the mother and nurse were pounding on the door and screaming?

Or let's go back further. Precisely what was Immigration's reasons for detaining a woman with a frail baby accompanied by a nurse, all three of them American nationals? It's not as if the Honolulu Airport is unused to having Samoans come through. There's a huge Samoan community in Hawaii.

Yeah, they're going to have to spin this one hard.

But why should I be surprised to see people trying to explain away this particular foul-up by the INS (the Portland, Oregon, branch of which was so abusive to foreign visitors that the national office had to come in and "clean house")?

[marshall]

42. I don't see the problem with wanting to hear everything

We've only heard details from the trial attorney who is hoping to cash in. Not that what has been said isn't partly or even wholly right--but it has to be recognized that he has a vested interest in portraying the events in a certain light.

Why have a court system if we don't expect to hear an argument from two sides?

[Blue_Tires]

29. beyond shameful

if this family was "american" (note the quote marks of irony), there would be full-scale, 24-hr news coverage of this on every station...and every talking head would be demanding the dismantlement of DHS