Texan Learns To Rue Remark
`Rifle' Mention At Airport To Cost Him

August 3, 2002
By PAUL MARKS, Courant Staff Writer

Eighty-year-old Fred Hubbell, tired and cranky after facing a gantlet of searches at Bradley International Airport, made a sarcastic remark about a rifle that he quickly came to regret.

Suddenly he found himself in handcuffs - with a firsthand sense of what the Transportation Security Administration means by "zero tolerance."

It was a new experience for the retired engineer and World War II veteran. He got to stroll through the crowded concourse Thursday escorted by a state trooper while onlookers wondered if he was some kind of terrorist.

He had a mug shot taken. He was fingerprinted. He spent about 20 minutes in a locked holding cell, as his worried wife waited outside. He was read his Miranda rights and offered the chance to phone a lawyer, which he declined.

What Hubbell said, by his recollection, was innocent enough.

Near the end of the second full-scale pat-down he and his wife, Grayce, had undergone by Transportation Security Administration guards, just steps from boarding a 7:30 a.m. flight they had almost missed, he saw the screener poking into his wallet.

Having been a first lieutenant in the Army and owner of his own metal-plating business for 25 years, Hubbell said he is used to speaking his mind. Sometimes, he admitted, it has got him in hot water.

"I said, `What do you expect to find in there, a rifle?'" he said. When the trooper asked me, `Do you think that was an appropriate remark?' I said, `I do.'" That's when Hubbell was taken into custody by Trooper Wayne Foster.

Dana Cosgrove, head of the federal security force that moved into Bradley last week, sees it differently.

"What he said [regarding the wallet] was, `You better look at it real good; there may be a rifle in there.' And all that the people around him in the waiting room heard was the word `rifle.'"

Anxiety levels after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks are high enough at airports, Cosgrove said, which is why cracks about guns, bombs or terrorism are cause for arrest. The airport's public address system issues regular reminders in both English and Spanish.

"I want to be sure that when people step on that plane they're 100 percent comfortable," Cosgrove said.

The exact words Hubbell said and how he said them are immaterial now. A Stratford native now living in Texas, he was on his way home after visiting a boyhood friend in Madison. The last thing he wants, he said, is a trip back to Connecticut to contest the charge.

Issued a citation for "creating a public disturbance," Hubbell said he will settle the matter by mailing a check to state Superior Court to cover the $78 fine plus court costs.

"I was a bad boy, and I know that," he said during a telephone interview Friday, "and I shouldn't have said what I said, especially under the circumstances that we're living under today."

But his misstep - which, of course, caused him and his wife to miss their Dallas-bound plane and got them home several hours later than expected - is an object lesson on what the Transportation Security Administration means by "zero tolerance." Hubbell actually got off easy: Most such arrests result in misdemeanor "breach of peace" charges, which require a court appearance.

State police Sgt. Paul Vance said the lesser charge was used for Hubbell because no threat was made, and "it wasn't a situation where a person became obnoxious or irate."

Hubbell had a similar impression of the way he was treated by the state police. Foster was firm but not accusatory, he said, and the two spent considerable time discussing the incident. "It was really quite a friendly affair," Hubbell said, "except for the fact that I have to pay 78 bucks."

"I want to be sure that when people step on that plane they're 100 percent comfortable," Cosgrove said.

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There are some days when I'm convinced that this country has passed the point of no return. That the America I grew up loving, is irretrievably gone.

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As a young man of only 26 years, I feel the same way.  The America I remember from my youth has eroded away before my eyes, and I was helpess to do anything for a large portion of it.  I take my ability to make change seriously, but I fear someday soon that we will be too far gone.  Those of us who understand the limitations placed upon the federal government by the Founding Fathers were shaken off long ago are few and far between.  Too many people are just too apathetic to do anything or just genuinely don't care.

Remember the Alamo, and God Bless Texas...

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This is a clear example of our Republic in decline.

Pathetic...

"I said, `What do you expect to find in there, a rifle?'" he said. When the trooper asked me, `Do you think that was an appropriate remark?' I said, `I do.'" That's when Hubbell was taken into custody by Trooper Wayne Foster.

Dana Cosgrove, head of the federal security force that moved into Bradley last week, sees it differently.

"What he said [regarding the wallet] was, `You better look at it real good; there may be a rifle in there.' And all that the people around him in the waiting room heard was the word `rifle.'"

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I will not be nice to those mental midgets when flying.  The whole thing is just so damn stupid it makes my blood boil.  They pretty much admit that it's window dressing to make the sheeple feel warm and fuzzy.

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I have no prob with the vet being arrested.

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You must be joking, right?

I have a serious problem with the vet being arrested.
While they were wasting time and resources on this individual, they were not there watching for real threats to our safety.

But, the fact that so many other individuals get through, without incident is quite scary.

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'The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.'

[red]Seems that paragraph is worth the feces that you would get by using it to wipe your ass...[/red]

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Yeah.. I know. But the truth is, you don't have to give them sugar cookies; but if you wanna fly, you can't exactly tell 'em how you feel. After all, they are just trained monkeys. (No offence to any actual trained monkeys that may be reading this!)

So, take off your shoes, co-operate, and for fuk's sake [size=4]Don't get in [b]ANY MD-[flame][/b] aircraft![/size=4]

*no offence to any MD-XX aircraft that may be reading this...

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Why?  Boeing owns McDonnell Douglas lock, stock and 401k now...don't they?  As such, aren't they [you?] all one big happy Boeing family now?  And...doesn't that make Boeing now responsible for all things...good and bad about MD aircraft?

And what does this teach us?
1. DO NOT FLY. Stay out of the gestapo controlled airports. This is the home turf of the thought police and the BoR does not apply here. It is also the training ground for those that will be manning road blocks and checking your papers in the near future.
2. As a nation, we have failed to maintain the vigilant fight for our freedoms, and we have lost them. They will not be returned.
3. The terrorists have won. Women are fondled by strangers, old people are arrested/detained, children have toys confiscated, every thought and action is controlled. The majority of citizens live in fear, expect the govt-monkeys to protect them, never consider protecting themselves, and agree with these 'reasonable' actions.
4. While the security services (SS) were detaining and locking up this vet for being irritated that a gov-monkey was 'rifling' through his wallet, real guns and knives were passing through security.
5. Did I mention that the terrorists have won.

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this will show you that the people who work the metal detectors are morons. when i was going on vacation in may, was standing in line at the mag waiting my turn when i heard the tool working the mag next to the one i was in say "i need a screen check."  i looked over and saw a white male in a business suit standing there, i also saw the tv monitor. from where i was standing i see what the tool was trying to figure out what was in the guys bag. it was the metal bucket that locks the breifcase.  the tool had not a clue.  the second one was my girlfriend got pulled out for the "random" personall check.  i wasn't looking when i saw my gf get pulled a side or i would have pulled out my id from work. i'm a county police guard that work the metal detectors at the courthouse and family/juvenile courthouse. and the best is now that the screeners are going federal, they are doing interviews in pittsburgh.  guess what we are doing as an extra detail with the sheriffs, searching the future screeners for the airport.

enough to piss off the pope

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Do any of you guys have a place I can Vent My Rage

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It wasn't a joke. It was a snide comment. A joke involves a setup, delivery, and punch line. A prank involves leading someone to believe something untrue for amusement purposes. (Not webster's definitions.) This fits neither. Neither the screener, nor the trooper expected to find a rifle in the guy's wallet.

This man's crime, is that he got snippy with the screeners.

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The  first ammendment has never protected all forms speach, for example you can't yell fire in a crowded place.  Having said that it's a joke to think that just hearing the word "rifle" would casue a panic.  

If they really want me to feel completely at ease maybe they should provide a topless stewardess for me.

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People overlook the fact that a theatre is private property. Would you want someone to walk onto your fron/back yard and yell words?

"I want to be sure that when people step on that plane they're 100 percent comfortable," Cosgrove said.