WASHINGTON, 28 December — A US Secret Service agent of Arab-American origin, who was heading to Texas to protect President George W. Bush, was barred from taking an American Airlines flight. American Airlines said it prevented the agent from flying Tuesday because of discrepancies in the standard paperwork he filled out identifying himself as an armed law enforcement officer and denied that the decision was related to his ethnicity.
The incident revived questions about racial profiling by airlines after the Sept. 11 attacks. The agent, who was not identified by the Secret Service, was to fly from Baltimore Washington International Airport to Dallas to protect Bush on vacation at his ranch in Crawford, Texas. He was carrying a weapon because he was on official duty.
The agent’s first flight was canceled, forcing him to book himself on a second flight and to fill out the paperwork, which is standard for armed federal, state and local law enforcement officers flying on official business.
After boarding, the agent was asked to get off the plane for more security checks and ultimately was barred from taking the flight because the pilot found inconsistencies in the paperwork, said American Airlines.
"The captain saw an inconsistency in the way the paperwork was filled out and so he wanted to deny passage to this customer until the situation could be resolved," said American Airlines spokesman Todd Burke.
He declined to say how the forms differed.
