“I don’t know. I can see it making some sense, under the circumstances. They were able to make sure there was no threat in the luggage anymore. Sometimes it pays to sit and watch the target for a while to see who else they might try to contact, or what tactics they are working on, before they move in.”
I get all that, and would agree that it makes perfect sense to observe these characters to see what they are up to, if they were on the ground and not traveling at 30,000 feet with a plane full of other passengers. I guess, having dealt with lots of federal agents over the years, most of which were excellent law enforcement officers, I just do not have complete confidence anymore that someone would not screw something up that would put a plane full of passengers at risk.
They had checked them and everything in their (other) checked luggage, and I’m sure the people sitting all around them were probably air marshalls. I was worried about somebody else having stashed something on the plane that they could get up and use, but even if that had been the case, I doubt that they could have gotten anywhere near it.
This was a test run to see how our system works. In this case, it seems to have worked well. But it has also informed them that they (a) can’t fly separately from their checked luggage; (b) we don’t arrest people unless there are actual explosives or traces of explosives in their luggage (meaning that they will find something else to use); and that we will release them without serious questioning, no matter how unlikely it is that they were up to anything innocent.
I am a little confused, These two came into ORD on different flights, One was suppose to go to DC and had his bag checked to that destination. He got off that flight late in the process and then boarded the flight where the other person was going over seas. If they knew about the luggage why was it not taken off and not found until it was in DC? It flew without him. I think that was the dry run. Can we get a bag on a flight then get off.