David Bernstein
ChicagoMag.com
March 17, 2011
Sitting at a table in a hotel conference room in Portland, Maine, the Chicago personal injury attorney Robert Clifford studied the man who had once famously—or infamously—stared into the eyes of the devil.
On this day in November 2006, Clifford was deposing Michael Touhey, a former US Airways ticket taker who had checked in Mohamed Atta and a second al-Qaeda terrorist in the early morning of September 11, 2001. Hours later, Atta piloted a connecting flight into the World Trade Center. Questioned by Clifford, Touhey recounted how the two terrorists approached his counter in a rush to catch the 6 a.m. flight to Boston. The ticket agent recalled having a bad feeling. Atta had the eyes of a killer—the devil—Touhey said. And there were other red flags: The two men arrived just minutes before departure, and they had $2,500 one-way first-class tickets, though business travelers typically fly roundtrip.
A 37-year airline veteran, Touhey insisted that he wanted to stop the two from boarding, but he did nothing. He told Clifford that he convinced himself that these were just harried businessmen, not terrorists, and singling them out would have been inappropriate.
The Emergency Election Sale is now live! Get 30% to 60% off our most popular products today!