Man arrested in Newark airport security breach
Associated Press
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100109/ap_on_bi_ge/us_newark_airport_evacuation;_ylt=ArKQiPWCAsUqydAsX8kOBgaek3QF;_ylu=X3oDMTNobW9ndDlhBGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMTAwMTA5L3VzX25ld2Fya19haXJwb3J0X2V2YWN1YXRpb24EY2NvZGUDbW9zdHBvcHVsYXIEY3BvcwMzBHBvcwMzBHNlYwN5bl90b3Bfc3RvcmllcwRzbGsDbWFuYXJyZXN0ZWRp

NEWARK, N.J. – A man believed to have breached security to bid his girlfriend goodbye, triggering the shutdown of a busy Newark Airport terminal that led to snarled flights worldwide, was arrested in New Jersey and faces a trespassing charge and a fine of up to $500, punishment a senator says should be much harsher.

"From every indication I've seen, everybody in there is good people," said Gene Wells, who lives next door to Jiang. "I've never had a problem with them."

New Jersey Sen. Frank Lautenberg...expressed anger that Jiang faces a charge he described as a "slap on the wrist" and will only be given a fine of about $500.

"This was a terrible deed in its outcome — it wasn't some prank that didn't do any harm — it did a lot of harm because it sent out an alert that people can get away with something like this," Lautenberg said.

The senator called Jiang's actions "premeditated" and said even though the his actions were relatively benign, "what he did was a terrible injustice" to the thousands of people who were inconvenienced.

Lautenberg, a New Jersey Democrat, had pressed for surveillance video of the security breach to be publicly released. He said he believes Newark airport is safe but will pursue airport security issues in upcoming Congressional hearings.

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I am all for security of our nation and the protection of people, duh, who isn't, but I am for freedom even more.  If I had wanted to live in a completely controlled society where my every move was pre-approved, I would have defected to the Soviet Union in the 1980's.  When, in the course of security, we surrender the very thing that made us free, we are no longer the America we believe we are.

Have the terrorist won?  Did 911 actually defeat the America of the Constitution, the free America?  If that is how we act, then that is what has happened.  Should people look for ways around security checkpoints, no, but I tried it when I wanted to walk my daughter to her plane.  I am old enough to have flown when anyone could see you off at the gate. I can only imagine how desperate a couple in a long-distance relationship would be, and what they would do to see each other till the last minute.

Sure, I know that ignorance of the law is no excuse, but then I'm the one that puts Justice above the Law.  Yes, airports around the world were affected, but then we designed a system that can't handle a delay or an emergency at any one airport without affecting many more airports.  We designed a security system with gaping holes and lapses in common sense.  We also designed a security system that by its very nature causes inconvenience for every single passenger.  On one hand we won't profile and inconvenience the guy that might actually have a bomb, but we will go for the throat of a love struck young man from a country that has never bombed, hi-jacked, or been responsible for random terror attacks on anything.  If we were talking Human Rights violations or Political atrocities, I could understand, but seeing your loved one to the gate?

The breakdown is not with the person trying to exercise freewill, it was with the security procedures or actions of security personnel.  If anything, it pointed us to another area that has left opportunities for real terrorist actions.  Every time our security is breached we learn more, and with wisdom, we insure that it cannot happen twice.

So Senselesstor, I'm sorry, Senator Frank Lautenburg, don't go after a boy that has a lapse in judgement over love, go after YOUR area of responsibility, the security of Americans in New Jersey from Bona Fide terrorist actions.  Your hot-air, blow-hard reaction is a defensive move to push blame away from those who's responsibility it is to make sure these things don't happen.  And as long as I'm inconvenienced every time I go to an airport, I'm not worried when others are.

So, I hope the Jury that will see this case only gives Jiang a "slap on the wrist", it will do more to enlighten China about justice, freedom, and compassion than anything we now have going on in this country.  It will show them what a Jury of the People can do, even in the face of ridiculous political pandering.

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If you want to actually diagnose the problem and its risk to our security, then...

"The union is reviewing reports that the officer was called from his post to investigate a disturbance in the seconds before the security breach, Thomas said."

Well that's not going to be a problem, its not like terrorist know how to use diversionary tactics.

"TSA officials then discovered that surveillance cameras at the security checkpoint had not recorded the breach and were forced to consult backup security cameras operated by Continental Airlines."

Nice to know that Airport Security Cameras are placed in a way that does NOT get the video that we need, thank you Continental (a Texas Company, of course), for being on the ball more than the actual airport itself.

"Within a minute, the guard leaves the podium again and disappears into the crowd...A bystander waiting for an arriving passenger noticed the breach and told the guard."

Now passengers are more effective than guards and video cameras, and they're free.  When I was in the military, the procedure was, "Do not vacate your Post until properly relieved", I guess in the civilian world this is an unknown concept.