02/22/2006
Congressional candidate put on no-fly list
McHugh challenger and war opponent Johnson claims bias

By JOE LoTEMPLIO, Staff Writer

PLATTSBURGH -- A candidate for Congress has been put on a federal watch list as a possible terror suspect, and he wants to know why.

Dr. Robert Johnson, a Democrat from Sackets Harbor, near Watertown, who is challenging incumbent Republican John McHugh in the 23rd District, said he was denied access aboard a Continental Airlines flight to Florida on Jan. 17 from Syracuse after officials informed him that he was on a "no-fly" list.

"I flew to England in December and there was no problem, then in January all of a sudden I'm on the list," said Johnson, a heart surgeon and former officer in the U.S. Army.

According to the federal Transportation Security Administration, watch lists are compiled based on "recommendations and information received from federal agencies, including intelligence and law-enforcement agencies."

Johnson said officials at the Syracuse airport would not tell him why he was placed on the list.

"Why would a former lieutenant colonel who swore an oath to defend and protect our country pose a threat of terrorism?" Johnson said.

Johnson, who ran against Republican McHugh and lost in 2004, has been outspoken against the war in Iraq. He wonders if that is why he wound up on the list.

"This could just be a government screw-up, but I don't know, and they won't tell me."

Johnson said that if he is being targeted because of his views on the war, it is an outrage.

"This is like McCarthyism in the 1950s."