A llegations of years of extreme hazing rituals by veteran agents of the United States Customs and Border Protection agency of fellow agents with a lesser tenure — who were subjected to being sexually abused and included being restrained by duct tape to what is being called a “rape table” in a secure room in Terminal C at Newark International Airport — are being investigated by the Department of Homeland Security of the United States.
Hazing on Rape Table By Customs and Border Agents at Newark Airport
The “rape table” is actually a conference table where the hazing rituals — which involved the grinding of genital areas on victims whose clothing was never removed — were allegedly performed in front of colleagues, according to this article written by Sarah Wallace, Evan Stulberger and Dave Manney of NBC 4 New York.
“Once the lights go out, they grab you up like a gang, and they forcibly throw you on the table and one officer ended up mounting me and pretty much riding me like a horse,” according to what Vito Degironimo — who is an agent of the United States Customs and Border Protection agency — described to the reporters, saying that this is a complete assault rather than a hazing ritual. “I’m grabbed by other officers against my will. I don’t know how much more criminal you can get.”
Diana Cifuentes is an agent who is part of the Passenger Enforcement Roving Team of the United States Customs and Border Protection agency who escaped the “rape table” — only to “suffer other terrors from her fellow armed officers.”
Representatives of the Customs and Border Protection agency confirmed the ongoing investigation by the inspector general of the Department of Homeland Security to the investigative team at WNBC-TV Channel 4 News in New York.
Summary
I am absolutely appalled at the allegations of what has been years of abuse of people who are responsible for enforcing hundreds of laws and regulations at Newark International Airport, as people should be more repugnant to what has been revealed than the spate of incidents recorded aboard airplanes in recent months…
…and if they are proven to be true in a court of law — as well as possible congressional hearings due to the seriousness of the allegations, with the potential of investigating whether similar heinous acts have occurred at other airports and border crossings throughout the United States — those who are responsible for these reprehensible acts should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
One of the core values of the United States Customs and Border Protection agency is: “Integrity is our cornerstone. We are guided by the highest ethical and moral principles. Our actions bring honor to ourselves and our agency.” Greater than 60,000 employees of one of the largest law enforcement organizations in the world are charged with keeping terrorists and their weapons out of the United States while simultaneously facilitating lawful international travel and trade. On a typical day, agents of the United States Customs and Border Protection agency welcome nearly one million visitors; screen greater than 67,000 cargo containers, arrest more than 1,100 individuals; and seize nearly six tons of illicit drugs while facilitating an annual average of greater than $3 trillion in legitimate trade.
“I’m afraid for my life, my safety,” Diana Cifuentes said to the reporters pertaining to the abuse she claims to have suffered at the hands of fellow officers — which eventually allegedly escalated to the point of where a gun was pointed at her. “This is terrorizing. How is it that officers believe they’re free to do whatever they want to do?”
Source: NBC 4 New York.
