An Al-Qaeda Probe at Miami?

Yeah, I know. It’s one of those “black helicopter” reactions, the knee-at-jerk response of a quivering kook.

OK. I agree. 🙂

But the thought flickered briefly in my mind when I read this breaking story:

A passenger who claimed to have a bomb in a carry-on bag was shot and killed by a federal air marshal Wednesday on a jetway to an American Airlines plane that had arrived from Colombia, officials said. No bomb was found in the bag, a U.S. official said.

Homeland Security Department spokesman Brian Doyle said the dead man was a 44-year-old U.S. citizen. It was the first time since the Sept. 11 attacks that an air marshal had shot at anyone, he said.

“Yeah,” this theory goes, “the guy was probing airline security and the presence of federal air marshals. His job was to test their alertness, their procedures, and their willingness to use force (and what kind of force). They weren’t supposed to shoot before…something.”

The theory fizzles with this next paragraph:

According to a witness, the man frantically ran down the aisle of the Boeing 757 while his wife tried to explain that he was mentally ill and had not taken his medication.

Oh. The wife is alleged to have said her husband was bipolar (a mental illness also known as manic-depression).

Well, maybe that lays the probe theory to rest.

Wait! Maybe the woman is in on the plot also.

I don’t believe any of it for a bit. But in case it turns out to be true, I (and perhaps you) read it here first.

All that aside, pray for the widow and any other families that may be involved. Pray for the federal agents involved (and be thankful for them). Pray for others who witnessed the tragedy.

Because even if it was an Al-Qaeda probe, it is still a human tragedy. That should never be overlooked or forgotten.