Just my thoughts on the passenger shooting by the Air Marshals in Miami…
From what I’ve read, it sounds like the Air Marshals did exactly what they were created to do – take out a threat on an airliner. Unfortunately, you get crappy headlines like the article below:
At the end of the article, they -do- outline the report of how and why the man was shot. Basically, he was acting strangely and said out loud that we would detonate a bomb in his bag – then reached for the bag – and was shot.
Is there even a question about this? Had the man ACTUALLY had a bomb, everyone on board would have been dead, and there would have been no record as to what happened… although Newsweek might have had a headline like "What is the Air Marshal Program Good For?" – likely stating that a marshal was on board, but neglected to stop the event that he was supposed to be there for.
My biggest issue – a quote from Newsweek in the above article – "Others may be dismayed that the marshals were too quick to pull the trigger." TOO QUICK?! Should the Marshal have let the man pull out the bomb first? Is SAYING that you’re going to detonate a bomb in your bag and reaching for that bag not enough?!
Yes, it’s too bad the man died, but I’m truly thankful for those Marshals. I hope they shoot dead ANYONE who says they have a bomb in their bag and reaches for it.