Man arrested on Amtrak Train

Story here. Must have been the eastbound Southwest Chief.

Edited train name! I did not know the Chief went through Colorado!! (Thanks Trainman's Daughter!)

I believe it was the Southwest Chief, since it left from LAX, and the arrest was made close to LaJunta.

I just hope my daughter-in-law doesn't see this story. She won't let my granddaughter fly due to her fears of terrorism, etc. If she sees this, I'm afraid of what she'll do in regards to letting us take our little sweetie on train trips!

As the guy was released on bail, I am guessing he wasn't a real terrorist. Wonder how Amtrak will treat the unused portion of his fare?

Ed

caravanman said:

As the guy was released on bail, I am guessing he wasn't a real terrorist. Wonder how Amtrak will treat the unused portion of his fare?
Ed

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I wonder if the La Junta Police did a background check on this guy. He was an admitted anarchist coming from an anarchist book fair in LA. Claims he was a political prisoner of the USA, probably on Amtrak because they do not check the TSA no fly list.

Terrorist? At least a menace to society. Just remember google is your friend.

Lutalo was released from prison on Aug. 28th after serving 28 years for another anarchist plot.

He also was involved in a shootout with the Denver Police in 1975 after a botched bank robbery.

Incidents like this are only going to make Amtrak travel more of a hassle. We do not need a T(rack)SA.

:angry: :angry: :angry:

Apparently, he thought he could get out of jail pretty quick after committing a crime of that nature.

Which he did. He has already been released.

I thought they kinda keep an eye on you after release from prison?

I didn't see any info about that when I searched.

Here in the UK we have a principle that someone is presumed innocent, unless proven guilty at trial. I am not sure what he has been found guilty of yet?

He might be reading anarchist literature, I wasn't aware that having political views was a crime.. although come to think of it, I seem to recall McCarthyism is the politically motivated practice of making accusations of disloyalty, subversion, or treason without proper regard for evidence.

Let's not get all excited before the case is investigated.. he might have been hidding under his blanket to escape the aircon!

Ed

caravanman said:

Here in the UK we have a principle that someone is presumed innocent, unless proven guilty at trial.

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For now at least...

caravanman said:

Here in the UK we have a principle that someone is presumed innocent, unless proven guilty at trial.

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We do in the US as well; it's just that that is the standard for the actual legal system to follow. An everyday person, meanwhile, is free to speculate and presume as we please, and why not? It doesn't imprison anyone or change anything.

caravanman said:

Here in the UK we have a principle that someone is presumed innocent, unless proven guilty at trial. I am not sure what he has been found guilty of yet?He might be reading anarchist literature, I wasn't aware that having political views was a crime.. although come to think of it, I seem to recall McCarthyism is the politically motivated practice of making accusations of disloyalty, subversion, or treason without proper regard for evidence.

Let's not get all excited before the case is investigated.. he might have been hidding under his blanket to escape the aircon!

Ed

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Quoting from the article-The affidavit went on: "We have to work in small groups. They can hold you for 18 months.

Whatever he was up to, he was under the impression that they would be in jail for 18 months.

I was not referring to any political views he may have.

I guess it is just that there are two different systems.. My understanding is that here in the UK, the public or media would simply not be given access to witness statements or other evidence in that way, that the accused persons background would not be put in the public domain before they had their day in court. It seems wrong that anyone can make an allegation against another, which could be an honest case of misunderstanding what was overheard, and then that is treated as "gospel truth or fact" in the media, without the accused having a fair trial. It can be hard to get a fair hearing if everyone in the jury has had their opinions pre-influenced by gossip and rumour.

Anyway, as they say in the media, lets not let the facts stand in the way of a good story!

Ed

caravanman said:

I guess it is just that there are two different systems.. My understanding is that here in the UK, the public or media would simply not be given access to witness statements or other evidence in that way, that the accused persons background would not be put in the public domain before they had their day in court. It seems wrong that anyone can make an allegation against another, which could be an honest case of misunderstanding what was overheard, and then that is treated as "gospel truth or fact" in the media, without the accused having a fair trial. It can be hard to get a fair hearing if everyone in the jury has had their opinions pre-influenced by gossip and rumour.
Anyway, as they say in the media, lets not let the facts stand in the way of a good story!

Ed

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It's that Freedom of the Press thing here. And yes it sometimes interferes with the ability to have a fair trial.

Usually, the police will only allow a small amount of info to be available to the general public, & hold the more important details back for the trial.

I know they do that in the UK, too.

As far as his background, its sounds like he was pretty well known from his prior trials & convictions, there would a public record that anyone can access.

Since we were not there, we can't say if it was a misunderstanding or what. That's what we will find out at trial. Apparently there was enough for the Judge to charge him, but it still could get thrown out.

There was actually a more extensive story here. The guy got sent up for two violent crimes, 1975 and a reoffense in 1980. He spent the last twenty years in solitary confinement (23 hours a day alone in a jail cell) because of his Anarchist sentiments. He was returning from an Anarchist convention (a contradiction in terms, I know) and was overheard saying "I haven't killed anyone yet" on a cell phone. His fellow passengers were alarmed and I expect he was a pretty alarming looking and sounding person after 20 years in solitary confinement.

We had lots of craziness in this country of the type he was convicted and sentenced for (rightfully so it says here!)

With the current world situation re terrorists and terrorism ANY act out of the norm to others in public, whether on transportation or not, will result in suspicion and IMO reporting to authorities! Based on what I read in stories (must be true, I read it in the papers or saw it on TV!), this guy is probably looney as a bedbug, who wouldnt be after being locked up in solitaire so long, and no doubt received no treatment during this time! We dont do a good job in this country of treating mental illness, lock 'em up and throw away the key is not the answer to these kind of problems!

It's obvious the guy is dangerous, probably shouldnt be riding trains or let loose to wander around, needs to be in a safe/secure place and receive the medication and treatment he needsa so he isnt a danger to others!I wont hold my breath that this will happen! Probably, if tried and convicted he'll get 10 years and go right back into the hell hole that we call prisons! That'll solve the problem!(It costs more to lock up someone than it costs to send them to college!It's our biggest growth industry!)

and I suppose the rest of the world does it better

amtrakwolverine said:

and I suppose the rest of the world does it better

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Yeah. I some countries they still have the sense to summarily execute nutcases like this.

Wait! There's something wrong with this picture! What the hell has he been charged with? He must have been charged with something, since he's out on bail or so one would assume since he has another day in court coming up. But that brilliant news article doesn't even bother to cover that most important fact in this story.

Knowing what the charges are might help us assess the seriousness of this incident before we jump to conclusions.

Why wait? Why not execute him to be on the safe side, as GML seems to advocate !

Ed

George said:

Wait! There's something wrong with this picture! What the hell has he been charged with? He must have been charged with something, since he's out on bail or so one would assume since he has another day in court coming up. But that brilliant news article doesn't even bother to cover that most important fact in this story.
Knowing what the charges are might help us assess the seriousness of this incident before we jump to conclusions.

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I found another article.

Quoting from article "Lutalo, who was carrying literature from an anarchist group called the Afrikan Liberation Army, was charged with endangering public transportation, authorities said."

George said:

Wait! There's something wrong with this picture! What the hell has he been charged with? He must have been charged with something, since he's out on bail or so one would assume since he has another day in court coming up. But that brilliant news article doesn't even bother to cover that most important fact in this story.
Knowing what the charges are might help us assess the seriousness of this incident before we jump to conclusions.

Click to expand...

Too late...

No charges filed.

Witness changes story.

PetalumaLoco said:

No charges filed.Witness changes story.

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Hope Greyhound is on the lookout, even though the guy has been released he still potentially can be dangerous based on what his background is! Hope he gets the help he evidently needs, most dont in this sometimes cruel and uncaring society!

The guy has commited bad crimes in the past, and has spent a long time in prison. In truth, no threats now seem to have been made. Why can't the guy

catch a train or a bus in future? My feeling is that he deserves the chance to get on with his life now.

Few of us like to be ordered around, anarchy, a theory that regards the absence of all direct or coercive government as a political ideal and that proposes the

cooperative and voluntary association of individuals and groups as the principal mode of organized society, seems not so bad?

Ed

so if you sitting next to a person on the train or bus and that person is hiding under a blanket on there cell phone saying i havn't killed anyone yet down with this down with that we need to get a bunch of people together and do whatever that your just going to sit by and ignore it thinking eh there just talking.

Some of you guys take the biscuit!

The man was cold, he is allowed to have a blanket! He wasn't hiding, he was sitting in his seat with a ticket. He made no threats, all the allegations about

what was said were second hand and vague.

Still you want to believe gossip and rumour over the facts?

Good luck to you, but don't be surprised if you ever discover santa claus may not be real!

Ed

Hmmm... So why isn't everyone who is covered in a blanket arrested for felony threat to transportation? Interesting how passengers and an SA just HAPPENED to pick on a poor old man who happened to have anarchist affiliation & past serious criminal record.

The point is, he did SOMETHING that caused other passengers and the SA to be concerned. WAY better to be safe than sorry. And, so long as he decides that the Bus is his preferred mode of transit, I feel even more safe on the train.

If this dude acted the exact same way but was found to have 6 bricks of plastique on him, everyone who brought it to the attention of the authorities would be heros.