Parts of the nation's third-largest airport were cleared and
searched late Tuesday. Nothing was found and there were no major disruptions to
flights.
The former screener, Nna Alpha Onuoha, 29, was arrested just
before midnight for investigation of making threats.
Onuoha, originally from Nigeria, had worked for the
Transportation Security Administration since 2006 but was suspended recently,
FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said. He showed up at LAX on Tuesday afternoon,
resigned from his job and left behind a package at TSA's airport headquarters
that was addressed to another agency employee, she said.
A bomb squad found no explosives or harmful contents in the
package but discovered an eight-page letter in which Onuoha expressed disdain
for the U.S. and referenced the event that led to his suspension, Eimiller
said. It was not clear Wednesday why TSA suspended him.
The TSA did not immediately respond to a phone call seeking
information on Onuoha. It could not be immediately determined if Onuoha had a
lawyer.
Later Tuesday, a man believed to be Onuoha made two phone
calls to TSA saying certain airport terminals should be evacuated, Eimiller
said. During one call, the man told an employee he would "be
watching" to see if authorities evacuated the terminals as instructed.
A search of Onuoha's apartment in Inglewood, near LAX, found
no dangerous materials but did turn up a note containing unspecified threats
that cited the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, authorities said.
Additional details from the letter were not immediately provided.
Onuoha was arrested in Riverside about 65 miles away. The
church parking lot where his minivan was parked was cleared and a bomb squad
robot conducted a search in and around the vehicle. Nothing dangerous was
found.
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