FBI looking at airline, hotel lists

Jace Radke

Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2003 | 11:34 a.m.

Since the nation's terror alert was raised to orange on Dec. 21, the FBI has been searching for terrorists by going over lists of names of those who have used truck and car rental agencies, airlines, hotels, and storage units in the Las Vegas Valley as well as Laughlin and St. George, Utah.

"It's just a list of names, and not any other identifiers, that we then run through various terrorist watch lists," said FBI Special Agent Todd Palmer, who would not comment on whether any of the names have matched a watch list.

Alan Lichtenstein, attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada, and the group's executive director, Gary Peck, said they were concerned about the FBI requesting information on citizens.

"We don't really know what they are doing, but it appears they are putting together private watch lists and that's a concern," Lichtenstein said. "We're not talking about targeting specific people in a specific investigation, but gathering information on everyone and creating files and dossiers."

Lichtenstein added that there are no guidelines for what the FBI does with any of the information they are mining, and that the Partiot Act gives them added powers to get financial and other records.

"This is a significant leap in terms of giving each of us less privacy then we as Americans have come to expect," Lichtenstein said.

A spokesman for casino operator Park Place Entertainment Corp. said today that it was his company's policy not to disclose to the media any details relating to the security of guests.

Spokesman Robert Stewart also had no comment as to the appropriateness of resorts disclosing guest lists to authorities.

Yvette Monet, a spokeswoman for casino company MGM MIRAGE, declined to comment on the matter, referring all calls on the issue to the FBI.

Airlines that fly the most tourists to and from Las Vegas say they are complying with a federal subpoena for lists of passengers on flights into McCarran International Airport.

Beth Harbin, a spokeswoman for Dallas-based Southwest Airlines, the busiest commercial passenger carrier serving McCarran, said government officials requested passenger lists for flights operating into Las Vegas between Dec. 22 and Jan. 4.

Harbin said the airline, which flies about 1 million passengers a day in and out of Las Vegas, said all airlines serving the Las Vegas market were ordered by subpoena to provide their lists.

"We trust that they'll keep the information confidential and use it only in the course of their investigation," Harbin said.

A spokeswoman for America West Airlines also confirmed that the No. 2 McCarran operator is complying with the order.

Janice Monahan said it is the Tempe, Ariz.-based carrier's policy to cooperate with security-related investigations. Monahan gave no specific details about information turned over to federal authorities, but said it was being done in response to heightened security measures.