Colo. city to pay man wrongfully arrested from train

[RTOlson]

Interesting story from the Denver Post about the city of La Junta settling a lawsuit filed by a man wrongfully detained for three days. According to the story, Amtrak called local police in Jan. 2010 after a couple of passengers allegedly overheard Ojore Lutalo of New Jersey make statements on the phone about bombing the train and al-Queda. Other passengers nearby reportedly didn't hear any threatening comments.

The city isn't admitting liability in the settlement. Mr. Lutalo's background is definitely ... colorful -- he was involved in two shootouts about 30 years ago and he was coming back from an event called the "Anarchist Book Fair" in Los Angeles.

Regardless of his past, I think it's an interesting civil liberties and security issue. Whaddya think?

 

[Ryan]

Interesting, indeed.

We discussed the original incident here, the last post says that he was filing suit.

http://discuss.amtraktrains.com/index.php?showtopic=30833

 

[Tracktwentynine]

There's a scene in Airplane! 2, I think, where this couple is in the airport terminal standing next to a sign that says "HIJACKING IS A FEDERAL OFFENSE". The wife says to the husband, "Hey, isn't that your friend?" And the Husband replies, "Yes it is." Waving, he shouts, "HI JACK!" At which point, he is immediately tackled by security officers.

Now, jokes aside, I'd rather Amtrak err on the side of caution here. I don't think we need random bag checks or magnetometers for everyone while boarding. But if I hear someone next to me say they're going to blow up the train, I'm going to find my way to the nearest Amtrak employee, and I'm going to report it. And I would hope that Amtrak contacts the police and they investigate.

I don't know if the local police violated his rights, or how he alleges they did so, but I don't think detraining him was overkill.

 

[amamba]

I don't think detraining him was necessarily overkill. But the problem becomes that he then sat with the police for three days. 72 hours is a ridiculously long time to be detained for doing nothing.

 

[Montanan]

Erring on the side of caution is one thing, but our society has gotten downright paranoid, often beyond what is rationally called for. And ultimately I think that's far more dangerous than not being watchful enough.

 

[RTOlson]

Interesting, indeed.

We discussed the original incident here, the last post says that he was filing suit.

http://discuss.amtra...showtopic=30833

Thanks for the pointer. I didn't think to search for older threads (I checked for the past few days).

 

[ThayerATM]

There's a scene in Airplane! 2, I think, where this couple is in the airport terminal standing next to a sign that says "HIJACKING IS A FEDERAL OFFENSE". The wife says to the husband, "Hey, isn't that your friend?" And the Husband replies, "Yes it is." Waving, he shouts, "HI JACK!" At which point, he is immediately tackled by security officers.

Now, jokes aside, I'd rather Amtrak err on the side of caution here. I don't think we need random bag checks or magnetometers for everyone while boarding. But if I hear someone next to me say they're going to blow up the train, I'm going to find my way to the nearest Amtrak employee, and I'm going to report it. And I would hope that Amtrak contacts the police and they investigate.

I don't know if the local police violated his rights, or how he alleges they did so, but I don't think detraining him was overkill.

I think it was Henry Ford who once said: "Thinking is the hardest work of all. That's probably why so few engage in it."

Using that old chestnut --- shouting "FIRE" in a crowded theater --- as an example, there are just certain things one does not say in an airport or on a plane, or in a train station or on a train. Hijack, bomb, blow up... all come to mind. Just don't!! :wacko: If you do, it'll probably take quite a while, and be quite inconvenient, to explain why you didn't think before you spoke. <_<