Jules Paul Bouloute Arrested: JFK Evacuated After Haitian Man Causes Security Breach

NEW YORK — Police say a man of Haitian descent who left the island nation after the devastating earthquake caused a security breach at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport by opening a restricted door.

Port Authority of New York and New Jersey spokesman Steve Coleman says 57-year-old Jules Paul Bouloute was arrested Saturday on a charge of criminal trespass.

He says Bouloute lives in Brooklyn but was in Haiti during Tuesday's earthquake. The man took a flight from the Dominican Republic to Orlando, Fla., before connecting on a flight to New York.

Coleman says it's unclear how or when Bouloute got from Haiti to the Dominican Republic.

Bouloute's phone number is unlisted.

The security breach delayed dozens of flights and caused headaches for hundreds of travelers who had to exit the terminal and get re-screened.

Comments

[SadButWiser]

07:35 PM on 01/17/2010

Seven years jail for opening the wrong door and the red carpet for invading and occupying a country. Interesting.

[ScreenName05]

12:45 PM on 01/18/2010

Even better, billions of dollars in bonuses for perpetrating the greatest fraud in the history of the world. Interesting, you betcha!

[Altruth]

04:09 PM on 01/17/2010

He survived the apocalypse in Haiti only to be arrested at the airport in New York – this guy is really questioning life just about now!

[Bushdepression]

11:13 AM on 01/17/2010

Let's let a few million like this into our country. That should do wonders for our nation. Maybe we can allow them to collect SSI and food stamps and qualify for public housing like the refugees from Russia and Somalia?

[zenwhenicanbe2]

11:26 AM on 01/17/2010

I have to tell you that I was seriously seriously depressed when Bush won the second time. It is no fun, so I hear you on being bummed out when "your guy" doesn't win. I know you and me don't agree on politics but if it's any conciliation we are one country.

And just for the record, Moscow is currently the 3rd most expensive city in the world. New York City is 8th. We have a lot to be frustrated about but we shouldn't waste our time on each other. We need to dust ourselves off and get this country moving.

[SiberianRat]

11:30 AM on 01/17/2010

Glad I'm not you.

[jackbutler5555]

12:05 PM on 01/17/2010

I'm glad you're not him as well.

[Exfl]

10:57 AM on 01/17/2010

Is it possible that the "shoe bomb" and "underpants bomb" were never intended to succeed? Had these planes actually exploded, we might never have known why. Those carrying these duds may have intended to be martyrs. But those who designed the bombs either (1) were completely incompetent in designing weapons or (2) intended to cripple us through our own paranoia and overreaction. Just because you are evil does not mean you do not have a sense of humor.

[zenwhenicanbe2]

11:17 AM on 01/17/2010

"Is it possible that the "shoe bomb" and "underpants bomb" were never intended to succeed?"

Very solid point.

[Palemoon]

07:28 PM on 01/17/2010

I agree with zen. That is a very solid point. A great thought provoking question you pose. Especially when the information about PETN doesn't match up with the way the government is trying to portray it. Especially when you consider the fact that the claim of his having 8 grams would have been quite a lot of the stuff. After seeing the CNN test in which they used something like 5 ounces, which even that was A LOT of PETN, lol, I'm not sure there was any way possible for him to have 8 grams of the stuff in his pants without it looking like he had a cannonball between his legs.

And what of the 2 people in the seats next to him? And the other 3 people across the aisle from him? They all just sit silently as he pulls his pants down and starts playing around in his underwear?? I find that incredible that nobody said anything, nobody even noticed anything, until they claim they heard a firecracker going off.

[jefke]

10:24 AM on 01/18/2010

The bigger question is, that since he had just been in the bathroom to prepare the stuff, why didn't he just explode the stuff in the bathroom if he intended to blow up the plane? Why go back to his seat and ignite the stuff while he is wearing the underwear? Never made sense to me.

[autumncolors]

10:26 AM on 01/17/2010

TSA is being hysterical on purpose. If they can't tell real from false threat what is their job?

[SiberianRat]

10:30 AM on 01/17/2010

EXACTLY!! These sorts of freakouts should actually be seen as poor work performance, IMO.

[autumncolors]

10:44 AM on 01/17/2010

Since Bush there has been no poor work performance. Such a thing does not exist in the upper echelons (sarcasm)!

[AllShookUp]

12:06 PM on 01/17/2010

By the same token, if they had sloughed it off and been wrong, there would be he// to pay. Seems to me like they're in a lose-lose situation as it stands now. There's got to be a better way than their current system, because that's not working for us.

[egutopia44]

10:17 AM on 01/17/2010

better safe than sorry. remember people if there is one successful terrorist attack on american soil, all bets are off!

[SiberianRat]

10:30 AM on 01/17/2010

All bets are off? In what respect?

[Perry Clease]

10:38 AM on 01/17/2010

Yes better safe than sorry and to that end it is better to have manager with more than half a brain take care of their security holes before we are all sorry.

[Haitiana4Obama]

10:15 AM on 01/17/2010

I mean really...arrest the man? Can't they just detain and question him? He's been through a traumatic experience, I'm pretty sure the only thing on his mind was leaving the airport and getting home to his family...not to cause this drama.

[zenwhenicanbe2]

10:39 AM on 01/17/2010

lets hope there are people like us on his jury

[billyfitz]

12:18 PM on 01/17/2010

I'm just a little curious why he didn't stay in Haiti and help dig out his fellow countrymen and women. You have to assume he has family there as well; family that need him now more than ever. I'm not ready to give this guy a pass just yet.

[nippyfan]

12:51 PM on 01/17/2010

Have you seen the footage? Which in no way can really show us how really horrible it is over there right now. I'm certain many American would flee if some horrible devastation happened here. As opposed to helping "dig out his fellow countrymen and women". It's so easy to speculate from the safety of ones home, sitting in front of the computer.

[Haitiana4Obama]

02:31 PM on 01/17/2010

ARE YOU SERIOUS?

[zenwhenicanbe2]

09:57 AM on 01/17/2010

My personal "The Onion" headline.

"Al Qaeda Recruit Relieved That Martyrdom No longer Necessary To Cripple U.S. Airline Industry"

by zenwhenicanbe2

Yemen

Muhammed Al Sahem was relieved to find that after the second "exit door" breach of an US Airport caused complete pandemonium he would likely be able to call of the terr*0rist plot he'd been getting prepped for. "It's been quite a relief" he said. "Don't get me wrong, I want to bring the infidels to their knees, but I wouldn't mind growing old and maybe having a fig farm" He has suggested that rather than blowing themselves up they would be better served having a well choreographed "door opening" attack.
"It'll be great", "said Al Sahem, "I can cripple the US Airline industry and still get to live to see twenty eight." When asked about the possible missed opportunity to have his way with a hundred virgins he said, "Ah, yeah about that, I'm a little broken up over that one, but it always seemed a little far fetched to me". Bin Laden couldn't be reached for comment.

[wadenelson1]

10:55 AM on 01/17/2010

that's classic. thanks for reposting.

[zenwhenicanbe2]

10:58 AM on 01/17/2010

dude, thanks for the money compliment!!! And even better you did it by accident :-) I wrote that!

I'm fanning you now

[zenwhenicanbe2]

09:18 AM on 01/17/2010

It is a real problem that thousands of people can be delayed for hours because such a innocuous error. Why do we give to these doors to anyone? For a fire code? Certainly we've rewritten enough common sense laws that we could make the fire doors "activate" when the fire alarm went off, and not until then. This shows that all it takes is 1 person to make a mistake and the whole thing comes to a grinding halt. Additionally, the man in question
1. survived a catastrophic natural disaster less a week ago and is probably in a daze
2. might not even speak English, more likely French or Patois so he might not read English signs
3. in his wildest dreams couldn't grasp the short fused powder keg of psychosis that occupies modern American airport security.

Simply put, most people who don't live here don't get it and I don't blame them.

I was in Europe traveling for about 6 weeks and when I came home it was jarring to come through customs. The folks working in US Customs were trying to be nice but the stress level was off the charts. The foreign travelers were befuddled that they were getting their entire hands laser fingerprinted and some Americans yelled at a woman who wanted to leave her suitcase for a second to use the restroom. "Don't you know"?! "You can't do that"!

No, they don't.

[AllShookUp]

09:28 AM on 01/17/2010

If you read the article you'd know that the man lives in Brooklyn. As in New York.

[zenwhenicanbe2]

09:40 AM on 01/17/2010

Well gosh if I wanna make a real good point and do it rudely maybe I outta get one of your fancy ribbons. Nothing says "Don't argue with me about Patriotism" like a ribbon.

I read the article.

If you disagree with my point that's cool, but try to trip me up on semantics. He's almost 60 years old and is Haitian, now living in Brooklyn, and was in an earthquake a few days ago. I wouldn't put him at the top of the list of people I'd be confident "giving the power to shut down the airport by opening a door". Also, not all people in America speak English, we can argue about that but we'd probably agree that it is pretty weak. But nonetheless it has always been that way.

Let's stop giving people the power to shut down the airports by opening doors, or by walking in the wrong direction.

[cabinetmaniac]

09:30 AM on 01/17/2010

Well said.

They create more hysteria than they prevent with overzealous security.

They also create more terrorists than they kill with overzealous military operations.

:-]

[DannyEV]

09:56 AM on 01/17/2010

I dont think i've seen you here before, but I'm FANNING YOU right now..

[James Leo]

09:01 AM on 01/17/2010

They have true professionals that do the screenings, and not only the TSA equivalents but also airline ground personnel and the plainclothesmen and women who pose as travelers. They also use overt methods, like soldiers carrying submachine guns walking around.

You can thank Senator Jim DeMint. who was more concerned with keeping out the unions that Airport Security has become a dumping ground for people looking for jobs. The ones I have had contact with appear to have little training or experience but you get what you pay for.
Cheaper is not always better. just ask the various municipalities who stopped using Chinese steel as it breaks under pressure. Don't see a similarity- look again.

[cabinetmaniac]

09:26 AM on 01/17/2010

"You say they have professionals doing the screenings...appear to have little training or experience but you get what you pay for."

You also praise DeMint for opposing unions who would fight for higher wages.

I'm not following your train of thought.

Seems to me getting better paid and better trained people would be a benefit to us all.

:-]

[DannyEV]

09:40 AM on 01/17/2010

that's precisely James Leo's point. He was speaking ironically.

[James Leo]

10:34 AM on 01/17/2010

Praising DeMint? DeMint is a rabid racist union busting thug. If we had a trained competent unionized force at Homeland Security, we would get better results. Have I made myself clear?

[thepathforward]

09:00 AM on 01/17/2010

In the past few weeks there’s been several incidents (after the Christmas terrorist attempt on the NW flight to Detroit) involving disruptions of US flights (and airline terminals) by errant passengers, including necessitating the need for military jets to intercept and escort. These issues are creating stressful and fearful situations for other (innocent) airline passengers, and this cannot be allowed to continue.

IMO, there is insufficient legal precedence being set in the legal/criminal punishment of the individuals causing these (unacceptable) events, particularly those so serious as to require military interception. Obviously, their very much needs to be a strong legal message in terms of precedence setting legal punishment for any individual who would (purposely or recklessly) cause such fear and stress to other (innocent) airline passengers. It’s time that those creating such situations are brought to justice, thereby sending the necessary message to others.

In addition, it is high time that the press/media follow through on what ultimately happens to these offending individuals in terms of criminal sentences subsequent to the event, so as to objectively report the ultimate legal penalties, and make the offenders the proper public examples of their purposeful or reckless behavior. There’s too much discussion about what happened, and not enough follow up discussion about the penalty paid by those offending individuals.

And if current laws are insufficient to properly punish individuals who create such fearful and stressful events for innocent people, then IMO revise the laws/penalties appropriately.

[Committee of One]

09:34 AM on 01/17/2010

The guy in NJ went from one arbitrary area to another arbitrary area to kiss his girlfriend. How many years of prison time do you think that deserves?

[DannyEV]

09:40 AM on 01/17/2010

i like your analysis.

[Gasparilla]

10:07 AM on 01/17/2010

What do you mean by "arbitrary area". He was clearly told to stay out of that area and waited until the guard was distracted. I think a couple months for deliberately causing millions in economic damages isn't unreasonable.

[DannyEV]

09:37 AM on 01/17/2010

the issue isn't grounded in laws or punishment or even in the particular incidents you've mentioned. The issue is that no real risk assessment/risk management techniques have been used in the design of security measures surrounding civilian air travel in this country. It's all reactive: none of it--none of it--is based on any real analysis. So every time an entirely predictable human error of this type occurs---this guy or the Chinese dude the other week--no appropriate contingencies have been planned and put in place to deal with them. Every one of them is dealt with as if a bomb-carrying maniac has been identified and located within the airport. That's not how you design and construct security measures. The predictable--even expected--types of errors we've seen in the last number of days are accepted as part of what can be expected to happen and appropriate ways of dealing with them are put in place. Not this /d/otic hysteria that breaks out every time.

part of the problem, of course, is that we let Cheney & Co stampede us into this hysterical posture with their lies about 911 and any number of issues in its perphery.

The shame of it is that there really are security issues that need to be looked at such as port safety, but those go blissfully unaddressed as we hysterically take down a dude who wanted to kiss his girlfriend again.

[Committee of One]

09:58 AM on 01/17/2010

The mindset that EVERYBODY is a danger does seem to be what's wrong here. Common sense is lacking in these security measures, but our PC culture prevents really effective screening to take place. If we adopted anything like the Israeli model, there would be lawsuits neverending, at least as things stand now. It's just so sad that ordinary travelers have to put up with what they do just to serve the needs of political correctness.

[MMJones]

10:25 AM on 01/17/2010

Yes, agreed, it is all reactive. With a hefty pinch of theater.

[CamBrown99]

08:57 AM on 01/17/2010

I've never understood why they don't just do security checks as you board the plane--you're in line there anyway.

[Atoilune]

10:57 AM on 01/17/2010

TSA do that randomly. The last time I saw them doing was in Baltimore and they also came onboard the aircraft. However, it will never replace the current system because the airlines won't have it. If everyone is at the gate ontime, and there's a delay during the security screening at the gate, that may cause a delay of the flight. The airlines are not in the business of being late, no matter what the public may think. They lose money when there's a delay. Anyways, if someone is late to the gate because of a security check delay at the TSA line, it's easier to leave them behind. It doesn't sound nice, but the truth.

[KarateKid]

07:27 AM on 01/17/2010

There needs to be a major overhaul on how we monitor safety at airports. The Euros have it down better, as do most of the Asian nations. In fairness they don't have as much territory to cover as we do, but their techniques are superior.

They have true professionals that do the screenings, and not only the TSA equivalents but also airline ground personnel and the plainclothesmen and women who pose as travelers. They also use overt methods, like soldiers carrying submachine guns walking around.

Some airports should have scanning equipment at the gate rather than a mass security area, and rotate the flights that use those gates so no pattern emerges.

Whatever the solutions, we have to stop the knee jerk reactions that make everyone feel less safe.

[cardineau]

08:30 AM on 01/17/2010

We need to stop being a warmongering, terrorist nation and then we would not need all of this security "balony". Nations like Brazil, Chile, Cuba. China, Japan, Belize, etc don't have problems because they mind their own business and don't have aspirations of world domination.

[gorgol]

09:05 AM on 01/17/2010

110% Agree. We overthrew the elected leader of Iran to put in our puppet SHAH among MANY Other things around the world...and then our government pretends its not related. At least Obama apologized to Iran for that and justifiably so. WE make our own hornets nest.
And now because of Wall Streets corruption...it has devastated the whole world..not just the USA...yes...we're a nasty lot indeed.

[Gasparilla]

09:33 AM on 01/17/2010

The theory is if we just mind our own business, then there will be no problems. How about when those cartoons were published in Denmark and governments of muslim nations demanded that the authors and publishers be punished by the Danish government. It was really none of their business to demand that. Or how about the demands in Britain that sharia law be declared in parts of that country.

[cgoodie]

09:05 AM on 01/17/2010

So how do you explain Christmas Day in Amsterdam?

[cabinetmaniac]

09:28 AM on 01/17/2010

We bombed civilians in Yemen the week before.

The Christmas bomber was apparently in retaliation for that and of course the rest of the terrorist activities the US engages in.

:-]

[Amalek]

07:16 AM on 01/17/2010

We let the terrorists win. Look at the cages we have built for ourselves.

[UnknownSolider]

08:16 AM on 01/17/2010

they won when we elected Bush for the second time

[MNmommy]

08:20 AM on 01/17/2010

Well said.

[gurukalehuru]

07:04 AM on 01/17/2010

I once walked through an emergency exit door by mistake. The alarm went off and I had a serious uh-oh moment.
Fortunately, it was at the gym and not the airport, and it was in the 90s and not now. I just kept walking, but never went back to that gym again.

[Amalek]

07:11 AM on 01/17/2010

September 28, 1996? We have been looking for you for 13 years. Finally a lead.

[alumtrix]

07:30 AM on 01/17/2010

Yes, I never saw my Sony walkman again after that day.

Book 'em Danno!