Man arrested at LAX had suitcase full of weapons
Yongda Huang Harris was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport and found to be traveling with a suitcase full of weapons, including a smoke grenade, knives and a hatchet. / Los Angeles Police Department
LOS ANGELES A man arrested at Los Angeles International Airport wearing a bulletproof vest and flame-resistant pants is not cooperating with federal officials working to discover why he was headed to Boston with a suitcase full of weapons, authorities say.
Yongda Huang Harris, 28, was taken into custody recently during a stopover on a trip from Japan when U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers reported noticing he was wearing the protective gear under his trench coat, triggering a Homeland Security investigation.
Yongda Huang Harris appeared in court Tuesday.
/ Mona EdwardsHarris has not cooperated with authorities attempting to interview him, according to a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an open investigation Tuesday.
The official said Harris, who was taken into custody Friday, is not believed to be linked to a terrorist organization. His motive, however, has not been determined, the official said.
A search of Harris' checked luggage uncovered numerous suspicious items, including a smoke grenade, knives, body bags, a hatchet, a collapsible baton, a biohazard suit, a gas mask, billy clubs, handcuffs, leg irons and a device to repel dogs, authorities said.
Harris has been charged with one count of transporting hazardous materials, an offense that carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison. He made a brief court appearance Tuesday, but his arraignment was delayed until Friday and he was ordered held until then.
Federal investigators are searching his laptop, according to CBS Los Angeles.
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Harris is a naturalized U.S. citizen of Chinese descent who lives with his family in Boston and graduated from Boston University. He has recently been working in Japan teaching English, CBS Los Angeles reported, citing officials.
Attempts to reach Harris' family in Boston and his associates were unsuccessful.
His attorney, Steven Seiden, was unavailable to comment, said Chris Williams, a spokesman for Seiden, who also represents Mark Basseley Youssef, the man behind the anti-Islam video that recently sparked violence in the Middle East.
Los Angeles Police Department
It's unclear what Harris had on his body and what he had checked in baggage, which will be crucial information to the defense, said Williams, who declined to comment on why Harris was carrying any of the weapons.
The defense attorney's spokesman described Harris as "very intelligent," earning A's in high school and college calculus.
The smoke grenade was X-rayed by police bomb squad officers, who said the device fell into a category that is prohibited on board passenger aircraft.
Such a grenade "could potentially fill the cabin of a commercial airplane with smoke or cause a fire," federal officials said in a news release.
Many of the other items authorities say they found in Harris' luggage -- including the hatchet and knives -- wouldn't violate Transportation Security Administration guidelines for what is permissible in luggage that is checked.
Los Angeles Police Department
However, customs officers Kenny Frick and Brandon Parker believed in their initial investigation that the lead-filled, leather-coated billy clubs and a collapsible baton may be prohibited by California law, according to an affidavit filed in U.S. District Court.
A customs official said Tuesday night that Harris was not enrolled in any of the U.S. government's trusted traveler programs, which could have allowed faster processing through security or customs. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss details of the ongoing investigation.
Harris traveled from Kansai, in western Japan, to Incheon, Korea, before landing in Los Angeles.
An immigration officer at Kansai International Airport, Masahiro Nakamoto, said authorities did not report anything suspicious at the time Harris boarded. Spokesman Keisuke Hamatani said Kansai security officials had not reported any suitcases containing the hazardous materials U.S. authorities say they found in Harris' luggage.
Nakamoto said arriving passengers are checked more closely than those leaving the country.
Yasunori Oshima, an official at Japan's Land and Transport Ministry's aviation safety department, said there had been no official inquiry or request from U.S. authorities to look into the case, which he said would have been more of a concern if the hazardous materials were brought on board rather than checked.
"The case does not seem to pose any immediate concerns about aviation security measures in Japan," he said.
An aviation expert told CBS Los Angeles that all bags must be X-rayed before they are placed on board U.S.-bound flights.
Airport police said they do not believe the case constitutes illegal conduct under the Japanese domestic criminal code, but Japan may cooperate at the request of U.S. investigators.
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In Slim Pickens Southern Drawl "Shucks, a fellow could have a pretty good time in Vegas with all this stuff"
Still dangerous.
I'm a worse offender than this guy. I once carried wild rice in my bags to New Zealand as a present for friends. I noticed rice was prohibited on the Kiwi immigration forms, fessed up in customs, and they merely did the right thing, which was to take it away.
This fellow doesn't seem to have broken any laws or betrayed the written documentation by TSA. Of course, it's TSA's prerogative to take away the smoke grenade if they felt it was dangerous. Asking questions why he wears a flak vest is fair, too. But unless there is actual evidence of criminal behavior or intent, he should have been let go. Unless, of course, they really have a concern he's going to chop down the Washington Monument with a hatchet?
I wouldn't cooperate with the TSA digging around my stuff and asking questions about why I have scissors and duct tape in my bag. Like the cops say, everything you say can be held against you. When I spent a year in Ukraine, I had all sorts of stuff like that in my bag, because I couldn't find all kinds of stuff in the markets there, including even Tylenol or Advil. If America truly wanted to make air travel safe, why don't they stop playing Roy Rodgers and lose their aggressor-state status. Instead of manipulating the Middle East, let the entire region sort things out themselves.