FBI Agents Search Hotels; Several People Detained
Car, Evidence Seized From Logan Airport
Three people detained from a Boston hotel earlier in the day may have been released, according to media reports.
SWAT teams stormed the Copley Westin hotel where three people, two women and one man, who were shouting in Arabic, were taken into custody during a major search Wednesday.
According to The Boston Globe Web site, the three people were released later Wednesday night.
In Boston earlier in the afternoon, witness described the search effort there.
"I heard a loud popping noise. I thought it was the backfire of a car or something. When I came back out into the lobby, the hotel staff started to look a little frantic, everybody was running around. Shortly after that, one of my colleagues grabbed me and said, 'They think they have a terrorist here. Let's get out of here,'" one hotel witness told NewsCenter 5.
"SWAT teams were all around holding machine guns," said
witness R.J. Ryan of Boston, who joined hundreds of other onlookers
outside the Westin Copley hotel.
"They put somebody in the van. Then they started moving
everybody," he said.
NewsCenter 5's David Boeri reports that the hotel search was apparently triggered by the discovery that a credit card which was used to purchase at least some of the airline tickets Tuesday was also used at the Westin Hotel.
Starting around noon time, SWAT Teams searched the Westin Copley Hotel in downtown Boston, dressed in bullet-proof vests and accompanied by ambulances. They were reportedly searching for terrorists and the hotel was evacuated.
Investigators were hampered by massive crowds of onlookers who arrived on scene to trying to see what was happening at the hotel.
Reports are that investigators received information that two men fitting the description of suspects in the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks had been staying on the 16th floor of the hotel recently and had a "Do Not Disturb" sign on their door.
Law enforcement officials in Washington, D.C. confirmed that two hotel rooms in the Boston
area believed to have been used by the hijackers were searched by
the FBI. The officials found information linked
to a name on the manifest of one of the hijacked flights. They
declined to identify the man.
NewsCenter 5 has also learned that at least 10 FBI investigators are searching a second hotel on Route 9 in Newton's Chestnut Hill, the Park Inn. Newton police said the detectives have been in the hotel and have collected evidence.
Meanwhile, in Providence, R.I., police stopped a train, detaining a turbaned man who allegedly had a knife. The Boston to Washington, D.C. train was stopped in Providence, passengers were ordered off and one man was taken in for questioning. He had a long beard and was wearing a dark green headdress.
Providence Mayor Vincent Cianci Junior said that the arrested man was carrying a
knife. He says police told him that they were looking for as many as four
people. Bystanders cheered as the arrested man was carted away.
Police later said that the man who was taken from the train did not necessarily have any connection to the terrorist attacks.
Sources have told NewsCenter 5 that the FBI has identified at least 12 suspects in Tuesday's terrorist attacks and they have been preparing to make arrests.
WPLG-TV in Miami reported that there were three terrorists on each flight and three who gave south Florida phone numbers. CNN reported that arrests were made in Florida.
The agents on scene in Boston were using fiber-optic equipment to search hotel rooms.
Sources told NewsCenter 5 that Middle Eastern men who boarded the two planes bound for New York Tuesday bought one-way tickets and paid in cash, and there may be a connection to Springfield, Mass., which could link them to the USS Cole bombing.
NewsCenter 5's David Boeri reported Wednesday morning that sources say at least four suspects, described as Middle Eastern men, arrived late to the airport, purchased one-way tickets and paid in cash for them, all of those factors being known security risk flags.
He said security personnel are trained to question late-arriving passengers who pay in cash for tickets. Two of the suspects had first-class tickets and another had a seat in coach. There appears to have been two teams consisting of a total of five to six men.
Sources also told NewsCenter 5 that two of the men arrived from Maine, taking the Yarmouth ferry. Wednesday morning the Portland, Maine police chief, Michael Chitwood, confirmed that two individuals did board a plane from Portland to Boston early Tuesday morning.
Chitwood said that Portland police also impounded a car that may have been driven by the men. He described it as a rental car, a Blue Nissan Altima, that has been sent to the state police crime lab in Augusta, Maine.
Sources also said that the white Mitsubishi the investigators impounded at Logan had been traveling between Logan and Springfield, Mass., in recent days.
Boeri reports that investigators say there is a known connection between groups in Springfield and the plotting of the USS Cole bombing last year.
Boston FBI Chief Charles Prouty would not confirm those reports at a Wednesday morning news conference at Logan, saying only that the FBI, together with numerous other federal agencies, is aggressively investigating the case.
Asked about security breaches at the airport, Logan Aviation Director Thomas Kinton said that while MassPort runs the airport, the individual airlines are responsible for hiring security companies and personnel.
"There are a number of airline requirements in accordance with FAA regulations," Kinton said. "Security checkpoints are the responsibility of the air carrier ... we are [now] taking that extra step of going to the security checkpoints and looking at those issues going forward, as to whether [security workers] should be federal employees, or employees of law enforcement, or airline employees."
At the time of the attacks Tuesday, the airport was in the
middle of "re-badging" process in which the 12,000 Logan
employees turn in old badges and receive new ones.
They said the
process was about half complete. This re-badging was not mandatory;
federal regulations allow up to 5 percent of badges, or about 600
in Logan's case, to be missing before a re-badging is required.
Sources also said that documents were found inside luggage in the Mitsubishi Mirage that had Virginia license plates, including an information manual in Arabic on how to fly a 767, a copy of the Koran and a fuel consumption calculator.
The suspects also reportedly had airport employee ramp badges and crew uniforms, which were left in a suitcase that did not make it onto the plane.
The car was moved to an out-of-town FBI garage for processing last night.
NewsCenter 5's Janet Wu says that the rental car was in and out of the central parking garage several times in the past week. An airline crew identification tag was found in or around the car that may be connected to one of the suspects, WCVB reports. The crew tag ramp pass, which allows employees access to the airport, may be for either United Airlines or American Airlines.
Investigators in Boston are looking for members of a local terrorist group affiliated with Osama bin Laden.
The Boston Herald reported Wednesday that five Arab men, including one who was a trained pilot, are being identified as suspects.
While the FBI has refused to comment on any possible suspects, a number of past reports link Boston-area members to bin Laden's terrorist organization.
In February, the Boston Globe reported on a pair of former taxi
drivers investigated for their alleged involvement with terrorist
plots financed by bin Laden.
Another former cabbie -- Raed Hijazi -- lived in Everett, Mass., for
several years and was sentenced to death just last year in Jordan
for plotting a terrorist attack.
There also are two Boston residents counted as members of a
Montreal-based bin Laden cell. Authorities intercepted that group
before it could set off a millennium bomb in the U.S.
American Flight 11 from Boston was hijacked after takeoff from Logan Airport en route to Los Angeles Tuesday morning and later crashed into the World Trade Center. Ninety-two
people were on board, including the pilot, John Ogonowski, 52, of
Dracut, Mass.
United Airlines officials said that Flight 175, bound from
Boston to Los Angeles, also crashed into the World Trade Center.
FBI agents are telling a Venice, Fla., couple that two men who stayed with him while getting flight training last year were involved in Tuesday's attacks.
Charlie Voss is a former employee at Huffman Aviation in Venice. He says agents who interviewed him at his home have told him that authorities found a car at Boston's Logan Airport registered to the two men. He says one of men who stayed at the house in July 2000 was named Mohamed Atta. He says he knew the other man only by the name of Marwan.
The houseguests took flight training on small planes at Venice Municipal Airport. Voss says the men were asked to leave their home after a week when the couple grew uncomfortable with them.
Logan Airport officials are saying that they cannot give a specific time for when Logan will reopen for commercial air traffic, but going forward they will be enforcing much stricter security requirements, including:
- An increase in the use of canine teams;
- More security personnel at checkpoints, utillizing state police;
- An increase in random security checks;
- A reduction in the number of operational access points;
- A discontinuation in curb-side check-in service;
- All removal of unauthorized vehicles within 300 feet of terminal buildings (there are more than 9,000)
- Terminal B alone must have all 2,000 cars removed. All vehicles are being taken to Suffolk Downs.
- A prohibition in the use or sale of any kind of knives in the terminal;
- No acceptance of any cargo or mail.
This will require passengers to arrive at the airport with plenty of time for airport check-ins.
As the investigation unfolds in Boston, witnesses recalled stories of terror and disbelief from New York. "I was running late for work, so I got off the subway at Fulton Street," witness Jill Thompson told NewsCenter 5's Natalie Jacobson. "The street was absolutely packed with people and they were just standing there screaming. I ran and hid behind the building, I was trying to call my parents on my cell phone. Within minutes, the world shook." Thompson said that she pleaded with two women inside a cab to let her share a ride outside the city. "I somehow got home and I watched the World Trade Center burn from FDR Drive," Thompson said. "All my friends work on Wall Street. I was lucky to get a cab most of my friends walked the entire way from Wall Street to 80th St." But, Thompson said that she was worried about friends and colleagues who work inside the World Trade Center. "One of my best friends from high school was on the 83rd floor and we are just hoping and praying," Thompson said.
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NewsCenter 5's David Boeri reported Wednesday morning that sources say at least four suspects, described as Middle Eastern men, arrived late to the airport, purchased one-way tickets and paid in cash for them, all of those factors being known security risk flags.
He said security personnel are trained to question late-arriving passengers who pay in cash for tickets. Two of the suspects had first-class tickets and another had a seat in coach. There appears to have been two teams consisting of a total of five to six men.
Sources also told NewsCenter 5 that two of the men arrived from Maine, taking the Yarmouth ferry. Wednesday morning the Portland, Maine police chief, Michael Chitwood, confirmed that two individuals did board a plane from Portland to Boston early Tuesday morning.
Chitwood said that Portland police also impounded a car that may have been driven by the men. He described it as a rental car, a Blue Nissan Altima, that has been sent to the state police crime lab in Augusta, Maine.
Sources also said that the white Mitsubishi the investigators impounded at Logan had been traveling between Logan and Springfield, Mass., in recent days.
Boeri reports that investigators say there is a known connection between groups in Springfield and the plotting of the USS Cole bombing last year.
Boston FBI Chief Charles Prouty would not confirm those reports at a Wednesday morning news conference at Logan, saying only that the FBI, together with numerous other federal agencies, is aggressively investigating the case.
Asked about security breaches at the airport, Logan Aviation Director Thomas Kinton said that while MassPort runs the airport, the individual airlines are responsible for hiring security companies and personnel.
"There are a number of airline requirements in accordance with FAA regulations," Kinton said. "Security checkpoints are the responsibility of the air carrier ... we are [now] taking that extra step of going to the security checkpoints and looking at those issues going forward, as to whether [security workers] should be federal employees, or employees of law enforcement, or airline employees."
At the time of the attacks Tuesday, the airport was in the
middle of "re-badging" process in which the 12,000 Logan
employees turn in old badges and receive new ones.
They said the
process was about half complete. This re-badging was not mandatory;
federal regulations allow up to 5 percent of badges, or about 600
in Logan's case, to be missing before a re-badging is required.
Sources also said that documents were found inside luggage in the Mitsubishi Mirage that had Virginia license plates, including an information manual in Arabic on how to fly a 767, a copy of the Koran and a fuel consumption calculator.
The suspects also reportedly had airport employee ramp badges and crew uniforms, which were left in a suitcase that did not make it onto the plane.
The car was moved to an out-of-town FBI garage for processing last night.
NewsCenter 5's Janet Wu says that the rental car was in and out of the central parking garage several times in the past week. An airline crew identification tag was found in or around the car that may be connected to one of the suspects, WCVB reports. The crew tag ramp pass, which allows employees access to the airport, may be for either United Airlines or American Airlines.
Investigators in Boston are looking for members of a local terrorist group affiliated with Osama bin Laden.
The Boston Herald reported Wednesday that five Arab men, including one who was a trained pilot, are being identified as suspects.
While the FBI has refused to comment on any possible suspects, a number of past reports link Boston-area members to bin Laden's terrorist organization.
In February, the Boston Globe reported on a pair of former taxi
drivers investigated for their alleged involvement with terrorist
plots financed by bin Laden.
Another former cabbie -- Raed Hijazi -- lived in Everett, Mass., for
several years and was sentenced to death just last year in Jordan
for plotting a terrorist attack.
There also are two Boston residents counted as members of a
Montreal-based bin Laden cell. Authorities intercepted that group
before it could set off a millennium bomb in the U.S.
American Flight 11 from Boston was hijacked after takeoff from Logan Airport en route to Los Angeles Tuesday morning and later crashed into the World Trade Center. Ninety-two
people were on board, including the pilot, John Ogonowski, 52, of
Dracut, Mass.
United Airlines officials said that Flight 175, bound from
Boston to Los Angeles, also crashed into the World Trade Center.
FBI agents are telling a Venice, Fla., couple that two men who stayed with him while getting flight training last year were involved in Tuesday's attacks.
Charlie Voss is a former employee at Huffman Aviation in Venice. He says agents who interviewed him at his home have told him that authorities found a car at Boston's Logan Airport registered to the two men. He says one of men who stayed at the house in July 2000 was named Mohamed Atta. He says he knew the other man only by the name of Marwan.
The houseguests took flight training on small planes at Venice Municipal Airport. Voss says the men were asked to leave their home after a week when the couple grew uncomfortable with them.
New Airport Security Precautions
Logan Airport officials are saying that they cannot give a specific time for when Logan will reopen for commercial air traffic, but going forward they will be enforcing much stricter security requirements, including:
- An increase in the use of canine teams;
- More security personnel at checkpoints, utillizing state police;
- An increase in random security checks;
- A reduction in the number of operational access points;
- A discontinuation in curb-side check-in service;
- All removal of unauthorized vehicles within 300 feet of terminal buildings (there are more than 9,000)
- Terminal B alone must have all 2,000 cars removed. All vehicles are being taken to Suffolk Downs.
- A prohibition in the use or sale of any kind of knives in the terminal;
- No acceptance of any cargo or mail.
This will require passengers to arrive at the airport with plenty of time for airport check-ins.
Witness Prays For Friend's Safety
As the investigation unfolds in Boston, witnesses recalled stories of terror and disbelief from New York. "I was running late for work, so I got off the subway at Fulton Street," witness Jill Thompson told NewsCenter 5's Natalie Jacobson. "The street was absolutely packed with people and they were just standing there screaming. I ran and hid behind the building, I was trying to call my parents on my cell phone. Within minutes, the world shook." Thompson said that she pleaded with two women inside a cab to let her share a ride outside the city. "I somehow got home and I watched the World Trade Center burn from FDR Drive," Thompson said. "All my friends work on Wall Street. I was lucky to get a cab most of my friends walked the entire way from Wall Street to 80th St." But, Thompson said that she was worried about friends and colleagues who work inside the World Trade Center. "One of my best friends from high school was on the 83rd floor and we are just hoping and praying," Thompson said.
- September 12, 2001: Answers Sought As Logan Investigation Begins
- September 12, 2001: Dracut Pilot Was Killed In First Crash
Copyright 2001 by TheBostonChannel. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
