Feds Charging Moms and Others With Terrorism Aboard Planes
Is an irate mother aboard a plane who spanks her child a terrorist? Are the feds going too far charging people on planes with acts of terrorism? Could be.
By Ralph Vartabedian and Peter Pae
Los Angeles Times
Reporting from Los Angeles and Oklahoma City — Tamera Jo Freeman was on a Frontier Airlines flight to Denver in 2007 when her two children began to quarrel over the window shade and then spilled a Bloody Mary into her lap.
She spanked each of them on the thigh with three swats. It was a small incident, but one that in the heightened anxiety after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks would eventually have enormous ramifications for Freeman and her children.
A flight attendant confronted Freeman, who responded by hurling a few profanities and throwing what remained of a can of tomato juice on the floor.
The incident aboard the Frontier flight ultimately led to Freeman’s arrest and conviction for a federal felony defined as an act of terrorism under the Patriot Act, the controversial federal law enacted after the 2001 attacks in New York and Washington.
“I had no idea I was breaking the law,” said Freeman, 40, who spent three months in jail before pleading guilty.
For Full Story
Read Tamera Jo Freeman Criminal Complaint
OTHER STORIES OF INTEREST
Posted: January 21st, 2009 under FBI, News Story.
Tags: Patriot act, planes, terorrism
Comments: 1