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News :: Miscellaneous |
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Peace Activists Detained at Milwaukee's Mitchell Airport |
Current rating: 0 |
by BobbyG
(No verified email address) |
20 Apr 2002
Modified: 01:23:18 PM |
"no-fly" list keeps group grounded
by BobbyG
Milwaukee, Friday, April 19 |
A group of mostly student peace activists bound for the April 20th peace marches in Washington, D.C. was detained at Mitchell International Airport (MKE) this evening by orders of federal air marshalls who presented the Milwaukee County Sheriffs and Midwest Express Airlines a "no-fly" list, as group leader Sara Backus called it.
The group was prevented from boarding until members on this list could be questioned about their purposes in traveling to Washington D.C. Rather than allowing themselves to split up the entire group remained grounded in Milwaukee until the matter could be resolved.
The group represented a wide geographic base in Wisconsin, with at least seven members from UW-Stevens Point, as well as UW-Oshkosh and Sheboygan students. Several high school students were among the group at the airport, which also included peace activists of all ages along with Father Bill of St. Patrick's church in Milwaukee.
In recent weeks a number of groups have organized contingents to attend the coalition of peace marches in Washington. Among the Wisconsin group are members of the School of the Americas (SOA) Watch and its Colombia Committee, Peace Action Milwaukee along with Student Peace Action Network and other groups.
A cell phone call from SPAN leader Kelly Clark, who had arrived in Washington earlier, alerted local people to the situation. Several local television stations sent reporters and camera people to cover the incident.
Midwest Express Airlines held the flight as long as possible to allow the matter to be resolved. Sara Backus, an organizer of the group, stressed that the delay and eventual missed flight was not Midwest Express' fault. In fact after some discussion, representatives of Midwest Express provided hotel accommodations for all who needed them, along with meal vouchers good anywhere in the airport.
Many of the students expressed a feeling that their right to free speech was being infringed. One student noted that on Monday, April 22nd, many members of the group were to meet with congressional representatives in Washington to attempt to lobby on such issues as closing the School of the Americas in Georgia, and reducing the US military's role in Colombia's internal civil warfare, some of it in the guise of "War on Drugs." Other groups marching in Washington will stress ending the Israeli occupation in Palestinian areas, and limiting US military activity in the rest of the middle east region.
An important question presented by this incident is: Who is preparing such "no-fly" lists and on whose authority? Where does the authority come from to decide that some US citizens should not be allowed to travel to Washington to express their opinions? Is there a real threat to civil liberties when such "black lists" are being prepared, and is this reminiscient of the McCarthy era practice of "taking names"? At the time this file is being prepared it appears that some accommodation has been made to allow the peace activists to fly out on Saturday morning on a 7:50 a.m. flight. Whether further interference will be presented by federal law enforcement officers remains to be seen. For their part Midwest Express had re-booked morning flights for all those delayed.
http://www.burning-wheel.org/nofly.htm |
See also:
http://madison.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=4125&group=webcast
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Link to Milwaukee Newspaper Article on This |
by ML
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
20 Apr 2002
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http://www.jsonline.com/news/metro/apr02/36643.asp |
