Christmas Airplane Terrorist Attempt in Detroit
A young Nigerian man was taken into custody for an alleged attempt to blow up an airplane on Christmas Day.
Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab boarded a plane flying into Detroit, Mich. carrying an explosive device.
According to a CNN article, he was arrested and now faces criminal charges of attempting to destroy the plane and placing a destructive device on the aircraft.
Abdulmutallab had a multi-entry visa into the United States. But the 23-year-old was added to a watch list of 550,000 potential terrorists.
Abdulmutallab’s father - Umar Abdulmutallab – stated he contacted the National Counter-Terrorism Center providing information about his son and shared his concerns of what his son was capable of.
Abdulmatallum’s family further stated that he was studying abroad in London when he disappeared and no longer communicated with them.
His father claimed Abdulmutallab’s new attitude was something the family had never seen before. He further claimed that Farouk was becoming “radicalized” and he felt that his son was planning something.
He also contacted the U.S Embassy in Nigeria to alert them of his son.
A U.S. official stated that the embassy flagged his visa so when he tried to renew it in six months they could investigate his visa renewal.
But he was never stopped or questioned before he boarded the plane.
When Abdulmatallum boarded the flight leaving Nigeria; he went through “regular screening.” He walked through a metal detector and his bag went through an x-ray machine.
He flew into Amsterdam and went through a second screening.
Next Abdulmatallum boarded Northwest Airlines Flight 253 to Detroit. There were 290 passengers on board. He injected chemicals into the explosive device that authorities say he had hidden in his underwear.
The bomb device contained an explosive chemical called pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN). He had enough of the explosive to blow a huge hole in the side of the plane.
According to a CNN article - passengers heard a popping noise on the plane and then saw his seat go up in flames.
The passengers were able to put out the fire and tackle him before any further issues could arise.
Abdulmutallab was taken to a nearby hospital to treat his injury burns and was released into the custody of a U.S. Marshall - as of now he has been taken to an undisclosed location.
The bomb is said to be from Yemen and according an LA Times article, the Yemen sector of Al Qaeda has claimed to be behind the bomb attempt.
January 14th, 2010 at 8:25 am
We don’t need profiling to identify Individuals like the Christmas-Day Bomber! Virtually all media outlets are discussing whether we should be profiling all Arab Muslims; I will in the one-page explain why we don’t need profiling. Over 15 years ago, we at the Center for Aggression Management developed an easily-applied, measurable and culturally-neutral body language and behavior indicators exhibited by people who intend to perpetrate a terrorist act. This unique methodology utilizes proven research from the fields of psychology, medicine and law enforcement which, when joined together, identify clear, easily-used physiologically-based characteristics of individuals who are about to engage in terrorist activities in time to prevent their Moment of Commitment. The Problem Since the foiled terrorist attack by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the Nigerian national on Northwest Flight 253 to Detroit, the President has repeatedly stated that there has been a systemic failure as he reiterates his commitment to fill this gap in our security. This incident, like the Fort Hood shooting, exemplifies why our government must apply every valid preventative approach to identify a potential terrorist. The myriad methods to identify a terrorist, whether “no-fly list,” “explosive and weapons detection,” mental illness based approaches, “profiling” or “deception detection” - all continue to fail us. Furthermore, the development of deception detection training at Boston Logan Airport demonstrated that the Israeli methods of interrogation will not work in the United States. All media outlets are discussing the need for profiling of Muslim Arabs, but profiling does not work for the following three reasons: 1. In practice, ethnic profiling tells us that within a certain group of people there is a higher probability for a terrorist; it does not tell us who the next terrorist is! 2. Ethnic profiling is contrary to the value our society places on diversity and freedom from discrimination based on racial, ethnic, religious, age and/or gender based criteria. If we use profiling it will diminish our position among the majority of affected citizens who support us as a beacon of freedom and liberty. 3. By narrowing our field of vision, profiling can lead to the consequence of letting terrorists go undetected, because the terrorist may not be part of any known “profile worthy” group – e.g., the Oklahoma City bomber, Timothy McVeigh The Solution Our unique methodology for screening passengers can easily discern (independently of race, ethnicity, religious affiliation, age, and gender) the defining characteristics of human beings who are about to engage in terrorist acts. The question is when will our government use true “hostile intent” through the “continuum of aggressive behavior” to identify potential terrorists? Only when observers focus specifically on “aggressive behavior” do the objective and culturally neutral signs of “aggression” clearly stand out, providing the opportunity to prevent these violent encounters. This method will not only make all citizens safer, but will also pass the inevitable test of legal defensibility given probable action by the ACLU. As our Government analyzes what went wrong regarding Abdulmatallab’s entrance into the United States, you can be assured that Al Qaeda is also analyzing how their plans went wrong. Who do you think will figure it out first . . . ? Visit our blog at http://blog.AggressionManagement.com where we discuss the shooting at Fort Hood and the attempted terrorist act on Flight 253.