It's just another isolated incident

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http://radio.woai.com/cc-common/mainheadlines3.html?feed=119078&article=9273355
Five men in their twenties, described as French-Moroccan Muslims, are being questioned by the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force and by officials of the Department of Homeland Security after they were arrested inside the 120 year old Bexar County Courthouse in downtown San Antonio shortly before 2 this morning, 1200 WOAI news reports.


Officials say three of the men crawled through a window to get into the 120 year old Courthouse, which is a landmark in downtown San Antonio, and theother two were found in a van parked in front of the building.

Inside the van, officials say they found "photographs of infrastructure" including photos of shopping malls, water systems, courthouses and other public buildings which they say were taken in cities nationwide.

"They got travel documents, parking passes, they have been all over the country," one law enforcement officials who asked not to be identified told 1200 WOAI's Michael Board on the scene. "A lot of photographic equipment, a lot of documentation equipment inside their vehicle."

Officials say the five men entered the country legally on visas from Heathrow Airport in London. They didn't immediately know how long the men have been in the U.S., or what places they may have visited.

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Officials immediately blocked off a two square block area of downtown San Antonio around the Courthouse, and bomb sniffing dogs fanned out throughout the building. About two hours later, the streets were reopened, indicating nothing dangerous was found in the building.
"They are going to be held for interrogation by the FBI, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the joint terrorism task force," the law enforcement source said.

The men are described as in their early twenties. One law enforcement official said the men told him they climbed to the fourth floor of the courthouse at 2AM "to get a better view of the city."

There is a military intelligence convention underway at the city's Convention Center several blocks away, with top intelligence officials including White House officials set to speak, but investigators didn't say whether there was any connection.

Investigators were tight lipped about the incident this morning.

"All that, coupled with the fact why they can't explain why they are in the building at 1:22 in the morning raises questions," the law enforcement officer said.

[In2HiDef]

Passenger: 'You're all going to die'


Southwest flight makes emergency landing


Posted: October 18, 2011 - 10:42pm

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Amarillo Globe-News
Ali Reza Shahsavari, 29, of Indialantic, Fla., is escorted by Amarillo Police and FBI officers Tuesday at Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport after causing a disturbance on a Southwest Airlines flight from Los Angeles to Kansas City. Passengers onboard the flight said Shahsavari yelled, "You're all going to hell. You're all going to die. Allahu Akbar," during the onboard altercation.






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By Joe Gamm
[email protected]

Somewhere in the heavens above Amarillo, angry shouts rang out from the back of Southwest Airlines Flight 3683.
“You’re all going to die,” a man dressed in black screamed at passengers Tuesday afternoon. “You’re all going to hell. Allahu Akbar,” translated as God is great in Arabic.
Federal authorities arrested Ali Reza Shahsavari, 29, of Indialantic, Fla., onboard the Boeing 737 after pilots made an emergency landing at Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport at 3:30 p.m. He is being held in the Randall County jail on a federal charge of interfering with a flight crew.
None of the 136 passengers and five crew members on the flight from Los Angeles to Kansas City was hurt, said Brad Hawkins, spokesman for Dallas-based Southwest.
Police said the incident began with Shahsavari arguing with another passenger. The flight crew separated the men, said Amarillo police Cpl. Jerry Neufeld.
Shahsavari went into a bathroom and yelled obscenities from the rear of the plane, said passenger Doug Oerding, of Sacramento, Calif. Attendants tried to calm Shahsavari before a female flight attendant finally succeeded in quieting him. Oerding said.
As the tension mounted, the aircraft began to gain speed and descend, Oerding said. The slender Navy veteran said he put his shoes back on in preparation to act.
“All of us guys were looking at him like, ‘Are we going to have to do something?’” Oerding said after finishing a cigarette outside the Amarillo terminal while waiting to reboard the plane.
Amarillo Aviation Director Patrick Rhodes said an emergency call was placed about 3:30 p.m. to the control tower at Rick Husband. The caller initially reported a male passenger was attempting to break into the cockpit, Rhodes said. Amarillo police said the call came from the cockpit.
“He was being disruptive and unruly on the flight, but he was not specifically trying to break into the cockpit,” Rhodes said.
When the plane reached a gate at the airport, police boarded it and arrested Shahsavari without incident, Neufeld said.
“He was waiting at the door when we went in,” Neufeld said. “He cooperated with officers.”
FBI Special Agent Mark White, based in Dallas, said the event did not appear to be an act of terrorism. He described Shahsavari as a U.S. citizen who might have experienced an episode of mental illness.
“It sounded like he sort of lost control of himself,” White said.
The aircraft diverted shortly after the incident, authorities said. The plane taxied to Gate 7 after landing, Rhodes said.
More than a dozen Amarillo detectives went to the airport to gather affidavits from passengers, officials said. The passengers were escorted from the plane to a secure area of the airport and were questioned before reboarding, police said.
The plane took off for Kansas City shortly after 5:30 p.m. The aircraft’s final destination was Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Transportation Security Administration spokeswoman Sarah Horowitz said investigators were still gathering information on the incident Tuesday evening.
TSA agents removed Shahsavari’s luggage from the plane, searched it and turned it over to his unidentified sister, who was traveling with him, Neufeld said.
The sister stayed in Amarillo overnight, Neufeld said. He said there was a language barrier for investigators attempting to interview Shahsavari, who is of Iranian descent. Shahsavari was born in Mississippi, Neufeld said.
Neufeld said he did not know if there was an air marshal on the flight.
Aziza Musa, Michael Schumacher, Russell Anglin, Brittany Nunn, Jacob Mayer and Jim McBride contributed to this article.