Man who took box cutters onto jets questioned
I can understand the desire to hasten your 15 minutes in the spotlight along. No one wants to go through life feeling ignored, insignificant, and inadequate. The brutal reality, though, is that some people simply ARE insignificant and inadequate and worth ignoring. Mr. Heatwole would clearly seem to be one of these folks- at least he was until he decided to take matters into his own hands.
WASHINGTON -- The FBI was questioning a college student after box cutters made it past airport checkpoints onto at least two planes, piercing a security system rebuilt since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, in which the hijackers were armed with box cutters.
A federal law enforcement official said Saturday that investigators are interviewing the man in order to learn how he allegedly got through airport screeners while also carrying bleach, matches, modeling clay and notes that detailed his intention to test security.
Government prosecutors will decide what criminal charges to pursue, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
A man who said he had been interviewed by the FBI identified himself to the Greensboro News & Record in North Carolina as Nathaniel T. Heatwole, a 20-year-old junior at Guilford College in Greensboro. The federal official confirmed that he is the student being questioned.
A Bush administration official said the perpetrator had warned the government in an e-mail of his intention to conceal similar suspicious items on six planes and provided dates and locations for the plan but was not considered a threat....
"I have a ton of stuff I'd like to say, but I have to work with government before I work with the media," Heatwole told the newspaper in an interview from his home in Damascus, Md.
Heatwole, confirming the FBI interview, said, "They were pretty quick. I wasn't surprised," according to a story on the newspaper's Web site Saturday.
Perhaps a quick trip to Guantanamo Bay would cure him of his self-delusion. If Mr. Heatwole had a point to make, you would think that, being a college student (and, theoretically, in possession of some degree of native intelligence), he would find a way that didn't involve breaking federal law. Of course, If Mr. Heatwole hadn't suffered his brain cramp, he wouldn't be receiving his DUMASS AWARD- which he so richly deserves. Congratulations, DUMASS, let's hope that several years in a federal pokey will give you enough time to savor the rich, creamy goodness of your DUMASS AWARD- and to become someone's girlfriend.
