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| Shoe-Bomb Hero Finally A Citizen |
| 2010-04-10 |
| Citizens we want and need Kwame James had to wait nearly 10 years to be sworn in as a U.S. citizen, a long time compared with the time he spent helping subdue would-be shoe bomber Richard Reid on a trans-Atlantic flight. James, now 32, wore a gray pinstriped suit and blue tie at Thursday's ceremony in Atlanta, which ended years of immigration limbo that began after he helped thwart the terror attack aboard a Paris-to-Miami flight in December 2001. The 6-foot-8 basketball player -- who had played two years in high school in the U.S. and four years at Division I Evansville -- was napping when a flight attendant roused him. Ten rows back, Reid was scuffling with passengers and the crew after he tried to ignite explosives hidden in his shoes. James helped tie up Reid with belts and headset wires, and took turns holding Reid by his ponytail with another passenger until the plane could land in Boston. Nearly 10 years later, James would rather talk about how happy he is to be a new citizen and his passion for music. "I became a citizen of one of the best countries in the world and I am very happy," he said. "All the things that people come here for, that's what I'm here for, the opportunity. You can come from nothing and become something here, just through hard work." James, who was born in Canada and raised in Trinidad, was playing professional basketball in France at the time of the incident. He had been traveling to the U.S. to meet his then-girlfriend and take her to his family's home in Trinidad for the holidays. He returned to France after the trip but asked his basketball coach for some time off when the reality of the flight's close call set in. "I didn't understand the magnitude of what happened at first," he said. |
| Posted by:Frank G |