I don't know how to feel about this one:
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Couple Kicked Off Plane After Fears They Abducted Their Child
POSTED: 12:11 pm EDT June 11, 2004
ERIE, Pa. -- A white couple and their adopted daughter were ordered off an airplane because police were concerned they had abducted the Chinese toddler.
Richard and Ruth Feiock, of Tallahassee, Fla., said the actions of police were bigoted and that they may file a civil lawsuit against Erie International Airport.
"It was a very racist thing to do, ordering us off of the plane," said Richard Feiock, a political science professor at Florida State University. The family was in Erie on Tuesday night to see an older daughter graduate from Northwest Pennsylvania Collegiate Academy.
Two people aboard the Delta flight became concerned when the Feiock's 2-year-old daughter began crying incessantly as the airplane sat on the tarmac, police said.
Race was not a consideration when the couple were asked to get off the plane, said David Bagnoni, director of public safety and chief of police at Erie International.
"The baby was screaming, 'Mommy, Mommy, Mommy,' and fussing, trying to get out of the hands of the woman holding her," he said. "I'm sorry they had to miss the flight, but I don't care if the baby was white, pink, blue or whatever color. Two people in particular voiced concern that the baby might not belong to them, and we had to check it out."
Police questioned the couple for 15 minutes while officers from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services examined their passports, Feiock said.
The officers then called the Children's Home Society of Florida, the agency that handled the child's adoption.
The Feiocks missed the Erie flight and were forced to take a bus to Cleveland to fly from there.
Officials with the adoption agency said they were appalled.
"This just incensed me," said Helen Ervin, program supervisor of adoptions. "It is just unforgivable. There are about 4,500 Chinese children being adopted into the U.S. every year."
Copyright 2004 by The Associated
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Couple Kicked Off Plane After Fears They Abducted Their Child
POSTED: 12:11 pm EDT June 11, 2004
ERIE, Pa. -- A white couple and their adopted daughter were ordered off an airplane because police were concerned they had abducted the Chinese toddler.
Richard and Ruth Feiock, of Tallahassee, Fla., said the actions of police were bigoted and that they may file a civil lawsuit against Erie International Airport.
"It was a very racist thing to do, ordering us off of the plane," said Richard Feiock, a political science professor at Florida State University. The family was in Erie on Tuesday night to see an older daughter graduate from Northwest Pennsylvania Collegiate Academy.
Two people aboard the Delta flight became concerned when the Feiock's 2-year-old daughter began crying incessantly as the airplane sat on the tarmac, police said.
Race was not a consideration when the couple were asked to get off the plane, said David Bagnoni, director of public safety and chief of police at Erie International.
"The baby was screaming, 'Mommy, Mommy, Mommy,' and fussing, trying to get out of the hands of the woman holding her," he said. "I'm sorry they had to miss the flight, but I don't care if the baby was white, pink, blue or whatever color. Two people in particular voiced concern that the baby might not belong to them, and we had to check it out."
Police questioned the couple for 15 minutes while officers from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services examined their passports, Feiock said.
The officers then called the Children's Home Society of Florida, the agency that handled the child's adoption.
The Feiocks missed the Erie flight and were forced to take a bus to Cleveland to fly from there.
Officials with the adoption agency said they were appalled.
"This just incensed me," said Helen Ervin, program supervisor of adoptions. "It is just unforgivable. There are about 4,500 Chinese children being adopted into the U.S. every year."
Copyright 2004 by The Associated
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, Yes...it just might work.
