Thread: Imposter U.S. Marshal Attempts to Deport Woman

Originally Posted by artclam

Law enforcement is clearly broken. There are thousands of honest, hard-working, family men who want to work as Federal Marshalls and deport illegal aliens--a job which Americans clearly don't want to do The only problem is the government refuses to issue them documents. Congress must pass an amnesty bill immediately and legalize all of these undocumented law enforcement officials.

I like this so much that I dressed it up a little (I put some lipstick on the pig) and posted it on another site, or 2.

AMNESTY FOR UNDOCUMENTED LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS.

Originally Posted by Dixie

Mr. Denny may be mentally ill or may be protected under using citizen's arrest. However, he sure is effective at deportation and it didn't cost the US taxpayers a dime. I say sign him up.

Dixie

While this lady might not have been illegal, I must say though I admire his initiative and methods, they are cheap and effective!!

Seems to me I heard that this man had what could have been a loaded gun when he passed through airport security.

Now that really makes me feel safe.

There is very little mention of this in the media.

Originally Posted by Skip

Seems to me I heard that this man had what could have been a loaded gun when he passed through airport security.

Now that really makes me feel safe.

There is very little mention of this in the media.

It was a replica gun. (Not real)

Police said they arrested Denny after he came to the station for questioning wearing a fake badge and a replica pistol.

Originally Posted by JohnDoe2

Originally Posted by Skip

Seems to me I heard that this man had what could have been a loaded gun when he passed through airport security.

Now that really makes me feel safe.

There is very little mention of this in the media.

It was a replica gun. (Not real)

Police said they arrested Denny after he came to the station for questioning wearing a fake badge and a replica pistol.

I agree, but those morons at TSA did not know that.

Tale of fake U.S. marshal bypassing airport security, prompts concern

06:49 PM PST on Friday, February 5, 2010

By JOHN ASBURY
The Press-Enterprise

No one questioned Greg Denny when he flashed a fake U.S. Marshal's Service badge at San Diego's Lindbergh Field and was cleared to illegally deport a Hemet woman to the Philippines, authorities said.

But national security experts say someone should have stopped him. Authorities and former law-enforcement officers say the issue shows how easily current security measures can be breached.

The Transportation Security Administration said that Denny wore a marshal's jacket and presented a fake badge and credentials to airport security workers Jan. 15 and was cleared by TSA officers who believed he was a U.S. marshal.

Denny was wearing a fake gun in a holster at the time, police said.

This may the first time someone has posed as a federal agent in order to bypass airport security, said retired FBI Special Agent Craig Dotlo.

"That's pretty brazen to pull this at an airport. It takes a lot chutzpah," Dotlo said. "The TSA was obviously duped by this."

The episode came after multiple airport incidents in recent months, including a Nigerian man who flew from Europe to Detroit with explosives in his underwear and planned to blow up a plane on Christmas Day, and a man who bypassed security to kiss his girlfriend goodbye in Newark, N.J.

"To protect every airport in this nation is a daunting task and virtually impossible to do," Dotlo said. "If the American people think airports are protected 100 percent of the time, they're severely misinformed."

Police said Denny went to the Hemet home of Craig and Cherriebelle Hibbard and declared he was there to deport the woman to the Philippines. Denny showed the badge, handcuffed the woman at gunpoint and forced her husband to buy her a plane ticket to send her to the Philippines where she still remains, police and Hibbard family members said.

Denny's attorney said Friday that his client never declared himself a U.S. marshal or took part in any kidnapping.

Alex Mendoza of Ontario said airport-security footage would prove Denny showed only his driver's license to airport security and was not armed. Denny did carry a non-law enforcement-issued badge in his capacity as a bounty hunter and bail bondsman, Mendoza said.

"My client isn't out pretending to be a U.S. marshal and taking people willy-nilly to the airport to get flights home," Mendoza said. "We're confident we'll see this didn't happen."

Craig Hibbard reported the incident to Hemet police Jan. 18, and they arrested Denny on suspicion of kidnapping and impersonating an officer. Officers notified TSA officials of the incident the same day. The federal agency now is reviewing procedures and training the Lindbergh Field supervisor how to properly screen law-enforcement officers.

Law-enforcement officers go through a different screening process at airport security and follow specific procedures, TSA spokeswoman Suzanne Trevino said.

It appears Denny followed those procedures when he passed through security wearing a U.S. marshal's jacket, Trevino said. She declined to detail the process, citing security measures.

Denny is Craig Hibbard's cousin, but Craig Hibbard said he had met Denny, his first cousin, only twice in his life and thought he was a federal agent.

Mendoza, Denny's attorney, said the Hibbard family told Denny that Cherriebelle wanted to go home to the Philippines. He said she was not handcuffed.

Craig Hibbard's mother drove Denny and Cherriebelle Hibbard to the San Diego airport where Denny passed through security and watched her board the flight, police said.

Denny could face federal kidnapping and impersonation charges. An FBI spokesman said he could not confirm whether the bureau is investigating. The Riverside County district attorney's office is reviewing the case.

Wake-up Call

Marshall McClean, president of the Los Angeles Airport Peace Officers Association, said the nation's airports need to hire more officers to assist the TSA and look for suspicious activity. That can be a struggle in the face of the state's budget crisis. At Los Angeles International Airport, vacant positions on the airport's police force have been eliminated, he said.

"It's a concern ... that this could have been someone extremely bad or a test run. I would certainly hope there's not a repeat," McClean said. "The good point is he was actually caught and didn't go unchecked, but there was still a breakdown that he got as far as he did. There are a lot of incidents where people test the system and don't get as far."

TSA agents were hired quickly en masse following 9/11, Dotlo said. Many of the TSA agents may not have gone through the same level of training as other federal agents, he said.

TSA officials said they could not comment on training, but officials are conducting a review of the incident.

At airports, law-enforcement personnel may go through special security screening only while on duty and must show credentials, identifying themselves as armed, Dotlo said. Denny may have been able to pass through security by acting the part, using knowledge of law-enforcement procedures.

The incident should prompt federal authorities to create new protocols to instantly verify the credentials of law-enforcement officers going through airport security, said Thomas Ruskin, a security and counterterrorism expert for the New York-based CMP Protective and Investigative Group.

Airport staff needs greater training to spot imposters, Ruskin said.

"The key here is to use this as a learning experience at every airport in the country to make sure nothing like this happens ever again," Ruskin said. "This guy should be made an example of. He used the system and somehow learned procedures to exploit it and deport someone while flaunting a weapon through security."

Reach John Asbury at 951-763-3451 or jasbury@PE.com

PRESS ENTERPRISEl

Alex Mendoza of Ontario said airport-security footage would prove Denny showed only his driver's license to airport security and was not armed. Denny did carry a non-law enforcement-issued badge in his capacity as a bounty hunter and bail bondsman, Mendoza said.