Tagged with transportation security administration
WASHINGTON, D.C. (BNO NEWS) — Ali Bin Fahad Al-Hajri, the Qatar ambassador to the United States, on Thursday said that media reports saying one of his diplomats was responsible for a security alert aboard a Denver-bound plane were inaccurate.
Mohammed Al-Madadi was reportedly arrested because he allegedly smoked on the lavatory and made a comment about a shoe bomb. Ambassador Al-Hajri said Al-Madadi was not engaged in any threatening activity.
“We respect the necessity of special security precautions involving air travel, but this diplomat was traveling to Denver on official embassy business on my instructions, and he was certainly not engaged in any threatening activity,” Al-Hajri said. “The facts will reveal that this was a mistake, and we urge all concerned parties to avoid reckless judgements or speculation.”
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) are investigating the incident.
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WASHINGTON D.C. (BNO NEWS) – Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano expressed her remarks on Wednesday to female law enforcement agents and officers from across the Department at the U.S. Secret Service’s headquarters, as part of President Obama administration’s commemoration of National Women’s History Month, the DHS Press Office informed.
During the ceremony Secretary Napolitano honored the service and sacrifices of women in law enforcement on U.S. frontlines. She highlighted the exemplary service of women from the U.S. Secret Service, the U.S. Coast Guard, the Transportation Security Administration, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center.
Secretary Napolitano also remembered her own career as a woman in law enforcement. She was the U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona, the first female Attorney General of Arizona, Governor of Arizona and the first woman to serve as Secretary of Homeland Security.
There are currently more than 35,000 women in law enforcement positions across the Department.
The event included a presentation of the U.S. Secret Service Valor Award to the family of Special Agent Julie Y. Cross, the first female Secret Service agent to die in the line of duty, on June 4, 1980.
DENVER, COLORADO (BNO NEWS) – A Colorado man was indicted on charges of attempting to corrupt a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) database, prosecutors said Wednesday.
Douglas James Duchak, age 46, of Colorado Springs, Colorado, knowingly transmitted code into the Colorado Springs Operations Center (CSOC) server, which loads data received from the federal government’s Terrorist Screening Database, and the United States Marshal’s Service Warrant Information Network.
Duchak worked at CSOC between the years 2004 and 2009 as a data analyst, responsible for updating information that was received from the government. On October 15, 2009, Duchak was informed that his employment at CSOC would be terminated as of October 30, 2009. He allegedly manipulated the system on October 22 and 23, 2009.
“While this threat was an attempted internal attack on a cyber-based system by a U.S. citizen, the FBI will invest the time, resources, and hard work necessary to pursue prosecution of these cases,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge James H. Davis. “The tampering with a computer that is used as a tool to protect National Security of the United States will not be tolerated.”
Duchak surrendered to U.S. Marshals Wednesday morning, and if convicted, he faces a maximum term of 10 years in federal prison, and a fine of not more than $250,000 for each of the two counts which he is indicted for.
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NORFOLK, VIRGINIA (BNO NEWS) — A passenger’s package briefly caused a bomb scare at Norfolk International Airport on Friday morning, officials said. The package was later cleared.
According to Wayne Shank, a spokesman for the airport, an airport employee left a passenger’s package unattended after it got separated from its owner during a Delta airlines flight. “It arrived before or after the passenger arrived,” Shank said.
Police officers later spotted the box and, following protocol, alerted the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). The TSA then swapped the box and received two false positives for explosives inside.
Airport officials requested assistance from the Norfolk Police Department, Shank said, who x-rayed the box and found no explosives. Although the airport has K9 teams, they were not available at the time of the incident.
Some parts of the airport had been closed during the investigation, but operations have now returned to normal.
NORFOLK, VIRGINIA (BNO NEWS) — A passenger’s package briefly caused a bomb scare at Norfolk International Airport on Friday morning, officials said. The package was later cleared.
According to Wayne Shank, a spokesman for the airport, an airport employee left a passenger’s package unattended after it got separated from its owner during a Delta airlines flight. “It arrived before or after the passenger arrived,” Shank said.
Police officers later spotted the box and, following protocol, alerted the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). The TSA then swapped the box and received two false positives for explosives inside the box.
Airport officials then requested assistance from the Norfolk Police Department, Shank said, who x-rayed the box and found no explosives.
Some parts of the airport had been closed during the investigation, but operations have now returned to normal.
