Seatmate: Secret Service Agent Mistreated
N E W Y O R K, Jan. 4 -- An American Airlines passenger says he believes an Arab-American Secret Service agent who was kicked off a Christmas Day flight was targeted because of his ethnicity.
"I feel he was most likely removed from the plane — obviously I wasn't privy to the paperwork or that he was a Secret Service [agent] or such — but I think he fit a profile," the passenger, Mark Pueschel, said today on ABCNEWS' Good Morning America.
Pueschel had been seated next to the agent as the American Airlines flight prepared to take off from Baltimore to Dallas. The agent, who was armed, was on his way to work at President Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas. He was removed from the flight after the captain questioned the validity of his credentials.
Pueschel contacted the Council of Arab-American Relations after seeing a press release on the incident.
Bush 'Madder Than Heck' If Discrimination Seen
Bush told reporters last week he would be "madder than heck" if a government inquiry into the incident found that one of his Secret Service protectors was the victim of discrimination.
The agent demanded an apology from the airline through his attorneys at a news conference Thursday. The agent, whose identity has not been released, did not attend because he was on a security detail and not available for comment in person, his attorneys said. They read a statement in which he said he did not have a vendetta against American Airlines.
"It has never been my desire to make this incident personal," the statement said. "This case is only about the facts. I love my job, and I want to thank my fellow agents for all their support. God bless America."
American Airlines officials have said the agent was removed at the pilot's request because of "inconsistencies" in the paperwork he filed that is required of all federal agents flying on commercial airlines. Religion and ethnicity, American Airlines said, had nothing to do with his removal.
The pilot also released a statement saying the agent was "confrontational" and "abusive."
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