There were no air marshals around to shield passengers from a violent man on a United Airlines flight in March 2023 because they are being deployed to the southern border, a police advocate says.
The New York Post spoke with Sonya LaBosco, a retired supervisory federal air marshal with the Air Marshal National Council, the outlet said on Friday. According to LaBosco’s X profile, she is also a law enforcement advocate.
Major United in-flight attack could have been avoided if air marshals weren’t babysitting migrants at border, union says: ‘Worst fears coming true’ https://t.co/vW1C1x8RUu pic.twitter.com/keNCs2C5QM
— New York Post (@nypost) July 5, 2024
According to LaBosco, major flights are in danger because the federal government has been shipping air marshals to the border for deployments that last about 21 days.
LaBosco was aware that flights on the route from Los Angeles to Boston always included marshals. However, frightened passengers on Flight 2609 contacted her because they were forced to protect themselves, as there were no air marshals present when the incident occurred.
The man accused in the case was identified as Francisco Severo Torres of Leominster, Massachusetts, NBC Boston reported in September. He was accused of trying to open a plane door and stab a flight attendant in the neck. As a result, officials indicted him on a single count of interference and attempted interference with flight crew members and attendants while using a dangerous weapon.
Another passenger sitting a few rows away from Torres recorded him yelling at others during the flight. Moments later, he got out of his seat and walked down the aisle. He appeared to become aggressive with people blocking his way, per KTLA:
During her interview with the Post, LaBosco detailed what air marshals have allegedly been doing at the border. The Post continued:
That day — and any other day — air marshals have been deployed to the border, they’ve been there merely “handing out water, making sandwiches, Uber Eats runs … bringing diapers and stuff into the facilities and unloading trucks,” LaBosco said, adding that it’s “absolutely ridiculous.”
By taking air marshals away from their law enforcement duties, while also releasing millions of migrants crossing the southern border illegally who then often fly commercially, there are major concerns that the next 9/11 could easily happen, LaBosco said.
In 2022, Breitbart News reported that President Joe Biden’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was taking Federal Air Marshals off domestic commercial flights to do welfare checks on border crossers and illegals, according to Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ).
The outlet noted:
As Breitbart News previously reported, the Air Marshals are playing a small role in the Biden administration’s expansive Catch and Release network that has seen more than 1.4 million border crossers and illegal aliens released into the U.S. interior since February 2021.
However, some Republicans are trying to bring the deployments to a halt, the outlet reported in March.
“Reps. Ashley Hinson (R-IA) and August Pfluger (R-TX) have introduced legislation to prevent President Joe Biden from taking Federal Air Marshals off domestic commercial flights to deploy them to the United States-Mexico border, often to escort migrants into the U.S.,” the article read.
