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LEOMINSTER, Mass. (AP) The music was blaring one February afternoon when Francisco Torres stopped right into a Massachusetts barbershop, saying he was half angel, half satan.

He needed a dozen individuals to come back exterior the shop and shoot him with an computerized weapon saved within the trunk of his automotive. Earlier than anybody might perceive the request, Torres left the shop and left. They by no means noticed a gun and it by no means got here again.

I did not perceive what he was saying, however then I spotted he was speaking a few gun. I advised him there are children in right here, why are you saying that, mentioned Saul Perez, who was visiting buddies on the retailer and famous that an worker referred to as 911, introduced the children to the again and closed the shop. I used to be scared.

The incident befell a few week earlier than Torres was arrested for assaulting a flight attendant and making an attempt to open the airplane’s emergency door on a United flight from Los Angeles to Boston earlier this month.

Controversies on flights have exploded because the pandemic started, with some controversies being recorded and replayed endlessly on social media.

In a video shot by a fellow passenger, Torres loudly threatens to kill individuals and guarantees a massacre earlier than charging to the entrance of the airplane, the place a bunch of passengers lowered him to the bottom to restrain him.

He stays behind bars pending a psychological well being analysis, with a court docket ruling that he could at the moment endure from a psychological sickness or defect that renders him mentally incompetent.

Torres objected to the evaluation by means of his federal public defender, Joshua Hanie, who didn’t return a name Thursday in search of further remark. A relative of Torres wouldn’t touch upon the case.

The flight assault was a part of a decades-long sample of Torres exhibiting indicators of psychological sickness. He frolicked in psychological well being amenities, in response to since-closed lawsuits he filed in 2021 and 2022 in opposition to two hospitals in Massachusetts. Torres says in one of many lawsuits he claimed he was misdiagnosed with a psychological sickness and, within the different, that he was discriminated in opposition to as a result of he was vegan.

In December 2022, police confronted him at his Worcester County house, the place he was exterior in his underwear saying he was protesting local weather change, in response to a police report. On one other event in 2021, police responded to a name from his mom who reported him yelling loss of life threats out the window. He advised police he was in World Battle 3 and had a particular machine that gave him supersonic listening to, which he used to listen to his neighbors speaking about him.

His case historical past illustrates the challenges airways and federal regulators face when dealing with passengers like Torres. Particularly since specialists say proof exhibits that these with psychological sickness are extra typically victims of crime than these chargeable for committing violent acts.

Regardless of repeated run-ins with police, authorities mentioned he not often acted violently. He was as soon as accused of grabbing his mom’s hand, however these prices have been dismissed. He didn’t legally personal a gun, regardless that he typically talked about weapons. And there have been no indicators of bother when he boarded that cross-county flight final month, a passenger mentioned, or through the first 5 hours within the air.

He is actually a non-violent offender, mentioned Leominster Police Chief Aaron Kennedy, who’s conversant in Torres from earlier assaults. This man was fairly delicate.

And even when previous incidents have raised pink flags, specialists mentioned there’s not a lot airways can or ought to do. Airways say they do not share banned passenger lists with one another, though there have been some infamous instances that the identify of the passengers grew to become broadly identified.

The FBI maintains a no-fly listing of individuals suspected of terrorism, to which particular brokers and different approved authorities officers can submit names for consideration.

Individuals with psychological sickness aren’t barred from boarding a airplane, in response to Jeffrey Worth, an aviation security professional at Metropolitan State College in Denver. Federal regulation offers US residents a public proper of passage by means of navigable airspace, he mentioned.

Laws backed by airways and their unions was launched in Congress final 12 months to create a brand new no-fly listing together with individuals charged or fined for interfering with airline crews. The payments died and not using a listening to within the Senate or Home, however supporters plan to convey them again later this month.

A number of Republican senators opposed the proposal, saying it might be used to punish critics of the federal rule requiring passengers to put on masks even to equate them with terrorists. From January 2021 to April 2022, whereas the federal masks mandate was nonetheless in impact, the overwhelming majority of instances of unruly passengers reported by airways concerned disputes over masks, in response to information from the Federal Aviation Administration.

Some liberal teams additionally opposed the laws, arguing that the present no-fly listing of individuals suspected of terrorism is opaque and unfair.

The American Civil Liberties Union has sued the federal government a number of instances over the previous decade on behalf of people that did not know why they have been on the listing or the way to get off it. The ACLU additionally accused the FBI of placing some individuals on the listing to stress them into turning into informants in counterterrorism investigations in opposition to Muslim communities within the US.

An airline captain can resolve to not fly a selected passenger, although flight attendants say that often occurs when a passenger seems to be intoxicated.

The federal government runs what it calls trusted traveler packages, equivalent to TSA PreCheck, which lets people who find themselves fingerprinted and velocity by means of background checks by means of safety with out eradicating footwear, belts, jackets and laptops from their baggage. Individuals will be denied PreCheck for sure crimes, which extends to these discovered not responsible by purpose of madness. However in fact individuals who refuse PreCheck can nonetheless fly.

Including vacationers like Torres to any no-fly listing or barring them from a flight raises a lot of logistical and constitutional points. And figuring out who will get on an inventory could be controversial in a rustic that prides itself on defending particular person rights and preserving well being data personal by following strict HIPAA guidelines.

Moreover, having a psychological well being problem is just not a predictor, essentially, that somebody could have outbursts, have unpredictable conduct, mentioned Lynn Bufka, a psychologist and chief transformation officer on the American Psychological Affiliation. This is not going to be indicator to find out whether or not somebody ought to board safely or not.

Earlier than Torres grew to become agitated and threatened these round him, fellow passenger Jason Loomis mentioned he didn’t exhibit any unusual conduct throughout boarding and was quiet for the beginning of the flight. Hours later, nevertheless, Loomis noticed his breakout. At first, he spoke to Torres to attempt to calm him down, however when Torres’ anger escalated, Loomis joined different passengers to restrain him.

Nevertheless, Loomis mentioned he could not envision preserving Torres off the flight from the beginning. As an alternative, he mentioned it was a reminder that society must take higher care of the mentally in poor health.

I do know there’s been a variety of discuss airplane security and safety today, however this was a really uncommon prevalence, Loomis mentioned. It wasn’t like he was yelling on the airport. He was not threatening something. It was good after which one thing broke.