and got arrested for making terroristic threats on his cell phone. While wearing a blanket. He's also black. Check it:
LA JUNTA, Colo. -- An Amtrak passenger who alarmed fellow passengers by talking about terrorist threats on a cell phone was pulled from a Chicago-bound train and is being held in Colorado.
The 64-year-old man from Elizabeth, N.J. was arrested Tuesday on a train from Los Angeles to Chicago. Passengers alerted authorities after hearing the man mention al-Qaida and make threats in a cell phone conversation.Police said in an affidavit that passengers overheard the man saying he hadn't killed anyone yet and talking about going to jail.
Passengers say the man said, "We have to work in small groups. They can hold you for 18 months. Do they have security on these trains? Are you with me or not?"
One passenger said he heard the man mention al-Qaida, saying, "17th century tactics won't work, we have 21st century tactics."
The conductor said the man had a tan blanket over his entire body so the conductor could not see what he was doing.
The man was taken into custody at the La Junta train station in southeastern Colorado. Police said he was not armed or carrying explosives. He was carrying propaganda for an anarchist group called Afrikan Liberation Army.
The man is being held in lieu of bond in Otero County.
-- Associated Press
A week later, the District Attorney dropped all charges. There seems to be no one who can testify that he actually said or did anything out of the ordinary, including the original complainant. I don't think this was a case of police intimidating "witnesses" into silence. Here are the laugh a minute pages regarding that (click to view the images if they don't load properly in your browser):
Whoops! Sorry guy, you were just black and had a blanket on! Free to go now!
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