Photo: Kevin Dietsch / Getty Images
WASHINGTON – Attorney General Merrick Garland this Wednesday ordered prosecutors to federal authorities of the country that prioritize the persecution and prosecution in the cases of passengers of commercial airlines that have committed robberies and other crimes on board aircraft , after the government has detected a sharp increase in incidents of this type so far this year.
In a statement , Garland assured that the Department of Justice agrees to use its resources to prevent and prosecute federal crimes on commercial aircraft such as violence, intimidation, threats of violence and others criminal behavior that “endangers the safety of passengers, flight crews and flight attendants on commercial aircraft.”
This new order ll It comes a month after President Joe Biden said he had instructed the Department of Justice to
According to the Department of Justice, US airlines have reported a record number of violent incidents aboard their aircraft, mainly related to regulations of the coronavirus pandemic.
So far year, 5, 338 incidents of misbehavior or passenger violence have been reported, including,. 856 which had to do with orders to cover the mouth with a mask, according to data of the American Aviation Federation (FAA).
With these cases, the FAA has started more than 1, 000 investigations, of which more than 200 are already in the courts and 37 have been referred to the FBI .
That is a strong increase compared to waves 146 that carried out in 2019.
“Federal law prohibits assaults, intimidation, and threats of violence that interfere with flight crews and flight attendants, as well as other criminal acts that may occur during the flight ”, highlighted Garland in this regard.
Earlier this month, a Colorado state attorney indicted Brian Hsu, from 20 years, of interference with a flight crew and assault within the special aeronautical jurisdiction due to what American Airlines CEO Doug Parker called “one of the worst manifestations of rebellious behavior we have ever witnessed,” which resulted that a flight from New York to Orange County, California, was diverted to Denver.
With information from EFE
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