By David Hanners
The Metropolitan Airports Commission has told a judge that six Muslim imams who sued after being kicked off a flight almost two years ago shouldn't be allowed to add an FBI agent as a defendant in the case.
Lawyers for the imams claimed last week that they should be allowed to amend their suit because the FBI agent's involvement in the incident was "new evidence," but lawyers for the airports commission said that wasn't the case.
"The FBI's specific role was disclosed in the police report and in court filings, well before the deadline to amend passed," the commission argued in a document filed earlier this week.
Attorneys for both sides will argue their positions in a hearing Tuesday in U.S. District Court in St. Paul.
The airports commission's co-defendant, US Airways, said in a motion this week it wasn't taking a position on the imams' request to add the FBI agent as a defendant.
The imams were kicked off a US Airways flight at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport in November 2006 after a passenger passed a note to a flight attendant saying the men had prayed loudly in Arabic and made "anti-U.S." statements.
The pilot of the Phoenix-bound flight had them removed from the plane. But attorneys for the imams are trying to determine who had the men detained, handcuffed and questioned. Five airport police officers also are named as defendants in the case.
The imams claim they were discriminated against because of their religion and because they are Middle Eastern.
Last week, the imams filed a motion to amend their pleading to add FBI Special Agent Michael N. Cannizzaro Jr. as a defendant. They said that in pretrial depositions, an airport police officer testified that Cannizzaro determined there was probable cause to detain the men.
The imams' lawyers argued that the airports commission was trying to shift the blame for the men's detentions to the FBI, and therefore the agent should be a defendant in the case.
Five imams were from Arizona and one was from California. They had been attending a conference in Minneapolis.
After they were removed from the flight and taken to the airport police station, agents with the FBI and U.S. Secret Service questioned them, determined they posed no threat and let them go.
The Metropolitan Airports Commission has told a judge that six Muslim imams who sued after being kicked off a flight almost two years ago shouldn't be allowed to add an FBI agent as a defendant in the case.
Lawyers for the imams claimed last week that they should be allowed to amend their suit because the FBI agent's involvement in the incident was "new evidence," but lawyers for the airports commission said that wasn't the case.
"The FBI's specific role was disclosed in the police report and in court filings, well before the deadline to amend passed," the commission argued in a document filed earlier this week.
Attorneys for both sides will argue their positions in a hearing Tuesday in U.S. District Court in St. Paul.
The airports commission's co-defendant, US Airways, said in a motion this week it wasn't taking a position on the imams' request to add the FBI agent as a defendant.
The imams were kicked off a US Airways flight at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport in November 2006 after a passenger passed a note to a flight attendant saying the men had prayed loudly in Arabic and made "anti-U.S." statements.
The pilot of the Phoenix-bound flight had them removed from the plane. But attorneys for the imams are trying to determine who had the men detained, handcuffed and questioned. Five airport police officers also are named as defendants in the case.
The imams claim they were discriminated against because of their religion and because they are Middle Eastern.
Last week, the imams filed a motion to amend their pleading to add FBI Special Agent Michael N. Cannizzaro Jr. as a defendant. They said that in pretrial depositions, an airport police officer testified that Cannizzaro determined there was probable cause to detain the men.
The imams' lawyers argued that the airports commission was trying to shift the blame for the men's detentions to the FBI, and therefore the agent should be a defendant in the case.
Five imams were from Arizona and one was from California. They had been attending a conference in Minneapolis.
After they were removed from the flight and taken to the airport police station, agents with the FBI and U.S. Secret Service questioned them, determined they posed no threat and let them go.
Source: Pioneer Press
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