On The Miami Airline Shooting
By Justin Gardner | Related entries in The War On Terrorism
Apparently the man who was shot in Miami was mentally ill. That doesn’t excuse his actions at all. Let that be known right now.
But what really went down?
TIME has more.
At least one passenger aboard American Airlines Flight 924 maintains the federal air marshals were a little too quick on the draw when they shot and killed Rigoberto Alpizar as he frantically attempted to run off the airplane shortly before take-off.“I don’t think they needed to use deadly force with the guy,” says John McAlhany, a 44-year-old construction worker from Sebastian, Fla. “He was getting off the plane.” McAlhany also maintains that Alpizar never mentioned having a bomb.
“I never heard the word ‘bomb’ on the plane,” McAlhany told TIME in a telephone interview. “I never heard the word bomb until the FBI asked me did you hear the word bomb. That is ridiculous.” Even the authorities didn’t come out and say bomb, McAlhany says. “They asked, ‘Did you hear anything about the b-word?’” he says. “That’s what they called it.”
When the incident began McAlhany was in seat 24C, in the middle of the plane. “[Alpizar] was in the back,” McAlhany says, “a few seats from the back bathroom. He sat down.” Then, McAlhany says, “I heard an argument with his wife. He was saying ‘I have to get off the plane.’ She said, ‘Calm down.’”
Alpizar took off running down the aisle, with his wife close behind him. “She was running behind him saying, ‘He’s sick. He’s sick. He’s ill. He’s got a disorder,” McAlhany recalls. “I don’t know if she said bipolar disorder [as one witness has alleged]. She was trying to explain to the marshals that he was ill. He just wanted to get off the plane.”
An interesting and tragic event.
To be fair to the dead, he was probably a very sick man and didn’t understand the full gravity of his actions. Still, am I glad the air marshals did what they did? Yes. They can’t screw around with these things anymore. The cost of inaction is too great. That’s just the reality of our life and times. Like it or not, that’s the situation.
In any event, rest in peace Mr. Alpizar.
I hope you’ve found peace.
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December 9th, 2005 at 12:44 pm
Perhaps the best question that arises from this incident is the boradest one: When our government (or agents thereof) takes an action that are perfectly legal, prudent and in good faith, but the end result of that action is that innocent people are harmed, or in this case killed, what are society’s obligations toward (1) those victims and/or their families, and (2) society itself, to prevent a similar incident from happening again (to the extent that it’s possible to do so)?
This applies not only to situations like the tarmac shooting, but also to things like wrongful executions, or any manner of mistaken law enforcement actions.
December 9th, 2005 at 3:57 pm
Apparently the man who was shot in Miami was mentally ill. That doesn’t excuse his actions at all.
Actually, from a judicial standpoint, it does, doesn’t it? I mean, if he hadn’t been killed, but rather caught, charged, and tried, wouldn’t he likely be acquitted on grounds of insanity?
That’s not to say that the Marshals weren’t justified in what they did — maybe they were, maybe they weren’t. I’m inclined to give them the benefit of that doubt.
December 9th, 2005 at 4:40 pm
Frankly I think the fear-mongering tactics this administration has constantly used since 9-11 as a way of boosting its ratings at the expense of common sense is at least in part to blame.
Yeah, I know, yet another moonbat blaming Bush for everything, but seriously, they’ve blown it way out of proportion, and this level of paranoia is the result.
I think that everyone who is saying, “tut tut, poor guy, but he was asking for it” is being horrendously insensitive and irresponsible. At absolute worst, the marshals should have taken ONE shot, and that specifically to the foot or leg to keep him from running.
Better yet, they should have been equipped with nonlethal apprehension methods such as tasers – shooting off guns in a plane is a BAD thing. Of course tasers might be just as bad, considering they don’t want you to even use your cell phone…
We are taking the first steps down the slippery slope to George Orwell’s 1984 – and I for one do not intend to allow it to happen without protest.
December 9th, 2005 at 10:55 pm
I certainly don’t think that Alpizar “had it coming.” He was no threat, he was apparently not in possession of his faculties, and he deserved nothing more than to be removed from the plane and given whatever help he needed.
That said, the reason that I am inclined to give the Marshals the benefit of the doubt is that they couldn’t have known that. If he *was* claiming to have a bomb, and if he *did* reach into his bag, it’s not clear what choice the Marshals had other than to shoot to kill.
If he were carrying a bomb, shooting to wound would not stop him from triggering it. I’d be afraid that a taser would cause him to trigger a bomb, were he carrying one — setting aside the possibility of a “lucky” shot sending the right currents through the detonator.
Again, this is tragic, and Alpizar didn’t deserve to die. But, if the Marshals really believed he had a bomb (and this is what the issue hinges upon in my opinion) it was very likely that he was going to die, whether or not he deserved it.