This is really getting out of hand.

[batonrougesooner]

From Foxnews.com

NEW YORK — Six Muslim imams who were forcibily removed from a US Airways flight last year and are now suing the airline for discrimination may also be suing some passengers who were aboard the flight.

In the lawsuit filed last week, the imams say that unnamed "John Doe" passengers at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport reported that they engaged in "suspicious" behavior — praying in the terminal — before they boarded the plane on Nov. 20.

Omar Mohammedi, the imams' New York-based lawyer, said that the imams have not yet decided whether to pursue this complaint, but if they do it would affect only those passengers who were prejudiced in their suspicions.

"I think there is a difference between someone reporting suspicious activity and someone making false reports about a fact that did not exist," Mohammedi said. "We are not saying that people should not report; we are saying people should not abuse that process just because someone was praying or someone looked religious."

He said that if the passengers were suspicious based only on the imams' appearance, "then they should be liable . . . these people should be careful not to abuse the process and be responsible."

(Story continues below)

The lawsuit alleges that US Airways unlawfully removed the six imams from Flight 300 for discriminatory reasons based on race, religion, ethnicity, or other outside appearances when they tried to board a flight to Phoenix after attending a North American Imams Federation conference.

Mohammedi said all six used credit cards to pay for round-trip tickets. US Airways says the imams used cash to buy one-way tickets.

The lawsuit says US Airways has "falsely claimed" the imams' "suspicious" behavior, including saying "God is Great" in Arabic on the plane, talking about President Bush and Iraq and purchased one-way tickets with cash. Passengers also reported that some of the imams asked for seat belt extenders and switched seats.

The suit says one of the imams was blind, and his friend asked another passenger if he would help him by switching seats. The passenger agreed, the suit says.

According to the lawsuit, the same imam regularly requests a seatbelt extension when flying.

The lawsuit also claims that a couple sitting behind some of the imams in the terminal were "purposely turning around to watch" them as they prayed, and that a "John Doe" then picked up his cell phone and made a call while he watched them pray.

According to the lawsuit, police arrived at the scene after receiving a call from the airline. The imams were forced off the plane, searched, handcuffed and held against their will for hours without explanation. The imams claim they were questioned by the FBI about where they were from, whether they did anything out of the ordinary in the airport and whether they wanted to do harm to the president of the United States.

"I'm not going to go after passengers who honestly thought they saw suspicious activity; however, I will not let go passengers who said something ... just because they didn't like the fact that an imam was praying," Mohammedi said.

"I think the major irresponsible person here was the airline," he added.

FOX News senior judicial analyst Andrew Napolitano said the imams have grounds against the passengers if they feel they were unjustly discriminated against.

"Can you sue somebody for complaining about them? Yes. Will you prevail in that lawsuit? You will if there's a reasonable basis for your complaint," he said. "These imams turned out not to be terrorists, they had no weapons, they had no bombs. As far as we know, they had no plan to harm anybody, so the harm was illusionary."

Napolitano said that if the case ever makes it to court, it will be up to a jury to decide whether the fears of the passengers who reported the "suspicious" behavior were founded, and whether the passengers were biased.

Mohammedi said he understands the concern following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, especially given the fact that the terrorists were Middle Eastern, but he said there are ways to take security precautions and also make sure people's rights aren't violated.

"We're all different, we all have our ignorance, we all have our prejudices, we all have our thing, but I think …the companies have to be responsible to find the balance [between] what they perceive to be lack of security and what is profiling … it's easy to discriminate against Muslims and Arabs and Asians on airlines," Mohammedi said.

But "I think it's very important now to be sensitive to people … a lot of them [Muslims in the U.S.] are contributing citizens to this country and they do a lot for this country and they love this country. It should be everyone against terrorism, including the Muslims. However, if you're targeting Muslims that live in this country, then there's a problem."

An internal probe by US Airways found there was no racial profiling in the incident.

Calls to the U.S. Attorney's office in Minnesota were not returned Friday.

[Jerk]

The whole thing was planned by the imams....

I'd bet a donut-hole to a dumbf*** on it.

[VeeJay]

If they're shoeless, facing east, kneeling and bent over double and worshipping Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden and making a spectacle in an airport, they needed to have their a$ses kicked.

Imams, praying in an airport is a likely sign of concern. Because they've been known to pray for success in blowing up airplanes.

[hurricane'bone]

And Christians have been known to pray for success in blowing up abortion clinics.

[KABOOKIE]

And Christians have been known to pray for success in blowing up abortion clinics.

yeah. good analogy there slick. :rolleyes:

[bri]

I think what he's trying to say is that zealots are zealots, no matter which God they're doing it for.

[VeeJay]

..and I wouldn't have a problem with abortion clinic bombers getting their a$$es kicked either.

Because blowing up legitimate legal businesses is teh succ. Be it porn shops, abortion clinics, airlines, or investment brokerage firms conducting business 80 stories above Manhattan.

I see a huge problem with taking out 3300 additional people with it. Hullo?

[yermom]

i'd imagine lots of Christians pray before flying

some of them might mention Iraq or Bush too

[Boarder]

Yeah, but they haven't hijacked any planes into a building lately. If a group of Christians were removed from going into an abortion clinic because they were praying out front I wouldn't have a problem with it. I'd just blame the fools who did the stuff to cause the problem in the first place.

The Muslims need to be mad at and blame the plane bombers.

Anyway, flying is a priveledge, not a right. If you don't like the way they do business, drive.

[usmc-sooner]

Yeah, but they haven't hijacked any planes into a building lately. If a group of Christians were removed from going into an abortion clinic because they were praying out front I wouldn't have a problem with it. I'd just blame the fools who did the stuff to cause the problem in the first place.

The Muslims need to be mad at and blame the plane bombers.

Anyway, flying is a priveledge, not a right. If you don't like the way they do business, drive.

exactly

[yermom]

that's like saying that black dude should be mad at the black dudes that robbed liquor stores and caused him to get funny looks


and that it's cool to kick one out of your liquor store for listening to rap music and talking to his friends outside

[VeeJay]

that's like saying that black dude should be mad at the black dudes that robbed liquor stores and caused him to get funny looks


and that it's cool to kick one out of your liquor store for listening to rap music and talking to his friends outside


No - you just have to have a big weapon in your liquor store, under the counter. Sort of like what we have with Air Marshalls.

[KABOOKIE]

that's like saying that black dude should be mad at the black dudes that robbed liquor stores and caused him to get funny looks


and that it's cool to kick one out of your liquor store for listening to rap music and talking to his friends outside


Aaaaaah man. Whats da world commin' to when a black man can't get his thang on and buy some malt liqour without gettin' kicked out the china man's store!

[yermom]

No - you just have to have a big weapon in your liquor store, under the counter. Sort of like what we have with Air Marshalls.

hey, if the Air Marshall wants to cap an imam when he actually starts some ****, then by all means cap the mother****er

but Muslim doesn't equal terrorist, just like Christian doesn't equal nutjob

[Boarder]

that's like saying that black dude should be mad at the black dudes that robbed liquor stores and caused him to get funny looks


and that it's cool to kick one out of your liquor store for listening to rap music and talking to his friends outside
That's what Bill Cosby says, isn't it? That's pretty much right. It's not right as in the way it should be, but that's pretty much the way it is.

And, if that happened, should the black guy sue the store owner? Or should they just take their business elsewhere?

[okienole3]

Don't hate the player...hate the game. Holler

[yermom]

That's what Bill Cosby says, isn't it? That's pretty much right. It's not right as in the way it should be, but that's pretty much the way it is.

And, if that happened, should the black guy sue the store owner? Or should they just take their business elsewhere?

it's not wrong to get freaked out, but i still don't think that should be applauded or the norm to act on it

i don't think that is quite what Bill Cosby was saying. i think he was talking more about how black people should stop blaming other people about their problems, not that they should expect/accept getting discriminated against

[olevetonahill]

**** em if they cant take a joke and Joke em if they cant take a **** .:cool:

[Okla-homey]

For the record, I've prayed for the Rose Bowl/LA Coliseum to blow up two years in a row now.

just saying.;)

[crawfish]

And Christians have been known to pray for success in blowing up abortion clinics.

And atheists have been known to torture and kill tens of millions.

I have no idea what our point is, by the way.

[SoonerStormchaser]

I hope they lose and look like fools doing it!

[jk the sooner fan]

if only a group of christians had highjacked 4 planes and flown them into buildings......

if.........only

[yermom]

yeah, because a group of Christians have never done anything that hurt anyone

[jk the sooner fan]

lets keep it in scope here...i mean, next you guys will be bringing up the timely retort of the crusades

the profiling occured at the airport.....not an abortion clinic......im sure when you go to an abortion clinic, the profiling will be different

at the airport, you profile with what you know to be a real threat.....its really very simple

[JohnnyMack]

And atheists have been known to torture and kill tens of millions.


****in' A I have.

Every. Damn. Morning.

[WILBURJIM]

Jihad by litigation. Average Joe on the airplane reports suspicious behavior. Now, he's involved in a lawsuit. The Imams have deep pockets(saudi arabia).
What happens to average Joe when he cannot afford a good lawyer. What happens now to people who want to report something suspicious but, are too afraid to report because they do not want to be broought into any legal entanglement? These imams planned for this to go to court before they got onto the plane.

[OUDoc]

Well, when I see five weirdos dressed in togas, stabbing a man in the middle of the park in front of a full view of 100 people, I shoot the bastards, that's my policy.


IMO, the airline did nothing wrong, not very wrong anyway. They reported suspicious behavior, something we are all supossed to be watching. Where it went wrong from there didn't involve the airline.

[yermom]

Jihad by litigation. Average Joe on the airplane reports suspicious behavior. Now, he's involved in a lawsuit. The Imams have deep pockets(saudi arabia).
What happens to average Joe when he cannot afford a good lawyer. What happens now to people who want to report something suspicious but, are too afraid to report because they do not want to be broought into any legal entanglement? These imams planned for this to go to court before they got onto the plane.

i can't imagine you can be successfully sued for complaining to an airline about something that scares you

[WILBURJIM]

i can't imagine you can be successfully sued for complaining to an airline about something that scares you

I wouldn't think so, but your life could be disrupted somewhat.

[MamaMia]

Jihad by litigation. Average Joe on the airplane reports suspicious behavior. Now, he's involved in a lawsuit. The Imams have deep pockets(saudi arabia).
What happens to average Joe when he cannot afford a good lawyer. What happens now to people who want to report something suspicious but, are too afraid to report because they do not want to be broought into any legal entanglement? These imams planned for this to go to court before they got onto the plane.I agree, otherwise what were these innocent Middle Easterners doing scoping out the actions of the passengers while they were suppose to be praying? It was a set up.
The lawsuit also claims that a couple sitting behind some of the imams in the terminal were "purposely turning around to watch" them as they prayed, and that a "John Doe" then picked up his cell phone and made a call while he watched them pray.

[yermom]

that's an interesting thought, i mean they could set this up to either expose the nature of the airline's overreactionary policies or to try to make things easier for another airline attack. in theory this could have been some sort of dry run attempt as well

i still say that they probably won't try a 9-11 type takeover again, i mean even if they did try, it ain't gonna work anymore

[Sooner98]

http://www.religioustolerance.org/abo_viol.htm

Just to put some perspective on the whole "abortion clinic bombing" analogy that some people invariably use, whenever the subject of Muslim violence comes up, there have been TWENTY-FOUR murders or attempted murders at abortion clinics since 1989 (roughly 1.3 per year). During the same time frame, atheists around the world have tortured and murdered countless thousands, and Muslim murders are no doubt in the millions. So, honestly, comparing these is about like comparing the magnitude of a Giant Redwood in northern California, to the dandelion currently growing in my front yard, that I must have missed with the weed spray last week.

[yermom]

well, how about the Crusades? :D

[Boarder]

Blaming current Christians for the crusades is as bad as blaming current Jews for killing Christ.

[rufnek05]

they wanted to cause a scence, if they didn't they would have prayed before they got to the airport, found a secluded spot. i don't feel sorry for them

[jk the sooner fan]

well, how about the Crusades? :D

booooooooooooooooooooo

;)

[StoopTroup]

Abortion Clinics are teh suc.

[yermom]

http://www.religioustolerance.org/abo_viol.htm

Just to put some perspective on the whole "abortion clinic bombing" analogy that some people invariably use, whenever the subject of Muslim violence comes up, there have been TWENTY-FOUR murders or attempted murders at abortion clinics since 1989 (roughly 1.3 per year). During the same time frame, atheists around the world have tortured and murdered countless thousands, and Muslim murders are no doubt in the millions. So, honestly, comparing these is about like comparing the magnitude of a Giant Redwood in northern California, to the dandelion currently growing in my front yard, that I must have missed with the weed spray last week.

Muslims have flown THREE planes into buildings in that time

those numbers don't mean that much, i mean TWENTY-FOUR murders or attepted murders at abortion clinics are being compared to all of the murders world-wide by atheists and Muslims? how many other murders have Christians committed?

[soonerbrat]

isn't US airways the same one that told the parents of the unruly toddler to get off the plane?

[rufnek05]

i thought that was american airlines

[NormanPride]

they wanted to cause a scence, if they didn't they would have prayed before they got to the airport, found a secluded spot. i don't feel sorry for them

I believe there are specific times of the day for prayer, so that would not have worked.

[Harry Beanbag]

If they truly are totally innocent, then I can't blame them too much, except for the whole frivolous lawsuit thing of course. I pray everytime I have to fly because it scares the crap out of me. :)

On the other hand, an airline is a business and businesses have the right to refuse service to anybody, they just have to make it look like it has no racial or cultural undertones behind it.

[Ike]

IMO, the airline did nothing wrong, not very wrong anyway. They reported suspicious behavior, something we are all supossed to be watching. Where it went wrong from there didn't involve the airline.


I completely understand this argument, however, I submit that there is something more than just a little ****ed up about us calling "suspicious" the same behavior that approximately 22% of the worldwide population considers normal. But thats just me.

[OUDoc]

I completely understand this argument, however, I submit that there is something more than just a little ****ed up about us calling "suspicious" the same behavior that approximately 22% of the worldwide population considers normal. But thats just me.
22% of the world may eat dogs. Doesn't mean I won't think it's unusual.

[SoonerGirl06]

hey, if the Air Marshall wants to cap an imam when he actually starts some ****, then by all means cap the mother****er

but Muslim doesn't equal terrorist, just like Christian doesn't equal nutjob

At what point do you wait to see if a particular group of men from the middle-east are terrorists or not... before or after they aim the plane toward a building...or... before or after they kill innocent people?

I don't know about you... but I'll take my chances and report suspicious activity before it reaches the point of lives being taken.

Actually, I don't care WHAT nationality the person(s) is... if they're acting suspicious or behaving in a manner that makes me uncomfortable or makes me feel threatened... damn straight I'm going to report them.

[Ike]

22% of the world may eat dogs. Doesn't mean I won't think it's unusual.
unusual is one thing...I think 95% of the world is unusual...I don't go calling the cops in on all of them.
suspicious is a whole other ballgame.

[SoonerGirl06]

Jihad by litigation. Average Joe on the airplane reports suspicious behavior. Now, he's involved in a lawsuit. The Imams have deep pockets(saudi arabia).
What happens to average Joe when he cannot afford a good lawyer. What happens now to people who want to report something suspicious but, are too afraid to report because they do not want to be broought into any legal entanglement? These imams planned for this to go to court before they got onto the plane.


Personally, if they tried to sue me for reporting suspicious activity... I'd hunt them down myself and shoot em... then blame my actions on temporary insanity.:D

[yermom]

At what point do you wait to see if a particular group of men from the middle-east are terrorists or not... before or after they aim the plane toward a building...or... before or after they kill innocent people?

I don't know about you... but I'll take my chances and report suspicious activity before it reaches the point of lives being taken.

Actually, I don't care WHAT nationality the person(s) is... if they're acting suspicious or behaving in a manner that makes me uncomfortable or makes me feel threatened... damn straight I'm going to report them.

they were already on the plane "acting suspicious"

if they were being uncooperative, then they deserved to be kicked off. if they were just praying, and talking in Arabic and about George Bush and Iraq, and generally looking suspicious, then that is another matter

there are two parts though, there is passengers getting scared and reporting activity and there is the response by the airline

i'm saying the line is where they stop being suspicious and start trying to take over a plane

good luck trying that unarmed now though. now that the world knows what happens, no one is going to let it go that far. hell, on 9-11 that tactic stopped being effective

[SoonerGirl06]

they were already on the plane "acting suspicious"

if they were being uncooperative, then they deserved to be kicked off. if they were just praying, and talking in Arabic and about George Bush and Iraq, and generally looking suspicious, then that is another matter

there are two parts though, there is passengers getting scared and reporting activity and there is the response by the airline

i'm saying the line is where they stop being suspicious and start trying to take over a plane

good luck trying that unarmed now though. now that the world knows what happens, no one is going to let it go that far. hell, on 9-11 that tactic stopped being effective

If I were a passenger on a plane and there were men behaving as they were, I would be fearful for my safety. This is coming from someone who's basically non-judgmental, has taken care of basic wacko's and pretty much know when to let it go and when to become concerned.

I'm not going to wait for them to take over the plane before I express my concerns about their behavior to someone in authority.

As far as the response from the airline regarding how they handled the situation... if they hadn't done what they did and those men had harmed innocent people I believe the reprocussions would have been greater. I think I'd take my chances and remove them from the plane no matter what. I applaud the airlines for doing what they did.

[olevetonahill]

Hell Hon Fly with ME . Aint no ******* gonna hijack a plane with me on it .;)

[PhxSooner]

I think what concerned the flight attendants wasn't that they were praying, but that they switched from their assigned seats and asked for seat belt extenders when they didn't need them.

[yermom]

If I were a passenger on a plane and there were men behaving as they were, I would be fearful for my safety. This is coming from someone who's basically non-judgmental, has taken care of basic wacko's and pretty much know when to let it go and when to become concerned.

I'm not going to wait for them to take over the plane before I express my concerns about their behavior to someone in authority.

As far as the response from the airline regarding how they handled the situation... if they hadn't done what they did and those men had harmed innocent people I believe the reprocussions would have been greater. I think I'd take my chances and remove them from the plane no matter what. I applaud the airlines for doing what they did.

i agree on the complaining part, i'm not saying other passengers shouldn't have said anything

i'd imagine though, that things got out of hand and it was more than the praying and such

it is pretty funny that i end up defending the Muslims when i think they are just as crazy as you guys are ;)

[Jerk]

This whole thing was planned!

Why are some of you defending them???

[MamaMia]

This whole thing was planned!

Why are some of you defending them???Some people would argue with a brick wall. :D

[TexasLidig8r]

Jihad by litigation. Average Joe on the airplane reports suspicious behavior. Now, he's involved in a lawsuit. The Imams have deep pockets(saudi arabia).
What happens to average Joe when he cannot afford a good lawyer. What happens now to people who want to report something suspicious but, are too afraid to report because they do not want to be broought into any legal entanglement? These imams planned for this to go to court before they got onto the plane.

Attorneys will be lined up to assume the defense of the passengers... for free. The publicity from press conferences, and the pub you would get from throwing down an aggressive defense would be worth countless additional clients and fees coming through your doors in the future.

I'd jump at it and the first words from my mouth would be.. "there will be no settlement, not now, not ever. We will be aggressively defending my client's rights which will include asking the court for sanctions for having to defend these spurious, frivolous charges."

[crawfish]

Come on, you people.

Dying is a small price to pay for multicultural tolerance.

[leavingthezoo]

isn't US airways the same one that told the parents of the unruly toddler to get off the plane?

i think we can all agree unruly toddlers are terrorists. :mad:

[85Sooner]

Personally, if they tried to sue me for reporting suspicious activity... I'd hunt them down myself and shoot em... then blame my actions on temporary insanity.:D


Finally, a sane solution. I love this Idea!

[rufnek05]

i think we can all agree unruly toddlers are terrorists. :mad:

biggest threat in the sky's. espesially with the biological warfare that can come out of their rear. and the tourture of crying and kicking the seats

[Vaevictis]

This whole thing was planned!

Why are some of you defending them???

I encourage you to review the history of the Civil Rights movement here in our very own country; we have a pretty strong history of staging events to provoke official responses that can then be litigated and/or protested.

(I'm not saying that this is an exact parallel, I'm just saying that the fact that it was staged is not particularly relevant.)