Homebound reservist detained at airport after showing up on terror watch list

Star Tribune

Last update: April 12, 2006 - 4:35 PM

A Marine Corps reservist from Coon Rapids who had just finished a tour in Iraq was prevented from boarding a plane home after his name popped up on a government watch list, he said today.

Staff Sgt. Daniel Brown and other members of his military police unit had gotten as far as Los Angeles when Brown was stopped Tuesday before he could board the plane.

He said it should have been clear to anyone that he was a serving Marine.

"They still made me dump my stuff," he said. "We all had military uniforms. We were on orders and had ID cards," he said.

He missed the flight and remained at the airport while Northwest Airlines workers tried to help him get home. He finally was allowed to take a flight and arrived about an hour after his unit, which was waiting for him on the bus.

"We don't leave anyone behind," he said.

Brown said he hasn't yet had an official explanation for how his name got on the list. But, he said, he thinks he has a pretty good idea.

Brown had just finished his second tour in Iraq. The first began in June 2004 when he left the Twin Cities for three months of training before deploying to Iraq for seven months. He said he returned in May 2005 and was home for 30 days before being called up for another tour in Iraq.

That's when his troubles began - while passing through the Minneapolis airport.

"When we went through security they swabbed my bags and found gunpowder residue," he said. "Once that happened they made me dump all my gear. They swabbed all my gear and found gunpowder residue on my boots. I had a lot of gear in Fallujah the first time."

The security searches made him miss his flight out.

Brown said he believes the reason he was the only Marine detained was because he'd had such a short turnaround between tours and had no time to really scrub his gear.

"I'm assuming it all started because I just got back," he said. "Some of the other guys weren't there, others had new boots. I happened to be the one fresh home."

In Los Angeles on Tuesday when his name was entered into the computer "a bunch of red flags came up."

"They informed me that I was on some kind of government watch list and I wasn't allowed to get on the plane and fly back with my guys," he said.

He said he's still trying to figure out who he needs to contact to straighten it out.

Nico Melendez, spokesman for the Transportation Security Administration in Los Angeles, said this afternoon that the agency regrets the incident.

"It's unfortunate that an American hero like this had to go through it on his way home," he said. "It's a situation that should have been resolved rather easily. He should have gotten home with his squad."

Melendez said he didn't know the details of Brown's troubles last summer and couldn't comment on them.

But, he said, such incidents happen occasionally. "It's unfortunate that this soldier returning from the war had to go through it," he said.

Brown was an active-duty Marine until he joined the reserves in 1996.

He said he'll be on active duty for another 30 days and then will likely go to work in construction with his brothers.

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