Officer Stabbing At Flint Airport By "Allahu Akbar"-Shouting Canadian Investigated As Act Of Terrorism

Wednesday morning"s incident at Bishop airport in Flint, Michigan, in which an airport officer was stabbed in the neck is being investigated as a possible act of terrorism according to Federal investigators.

Lieutenant Jeff Neville, who retired from the Genesee County Sheriff"s Office, was stabbed in the neck and is listed in stable condition. Sources cited by ABC say Neville was at his post at the top of the escalators at Bishop when he was attacked from behind with a larger knife, similar to a Bowie knife.

The knife-yielding suspect is Canadian-born and shouted "Allahu Akbar" before stabbing the officer multiple law enforcement sources say. He was then taken into custody.

NBC News: Federal investigators are looking into the stabbing of a police officer at the Flint, MI airport as a possible act of terrorism.

— Tom Winter (@Tom_Winter) June 21, 2017

NBC News: The Canadian born suspect shouted "Allahu Akbar" before stabbing the officer multiple law enforcement sources say. W/ @anblanx https://t.co/TYSZIgmFQE

— Tom Winter (@Tom_Winter) June 21, 2017

After the attack, Bishop International Airport was evacuated and is closed. The airport released the following statement:

"All passengers are safe and are being evacuated at this time. Please check with your airline for potential cancellations or delays."

The FBI is leading the investigation. The Flint City Hall began operating under heightened security in an abundance of caution after the incident.

"Right now we are still awaiting more information about the situation at Bishop Airport this morning," Flint Mayor Karen Weaver said. "My thoughts and prayers are with all of our law enforcement officers who work to service and protect us each and every day. I want the public to know that several agencies are involved and working to ensure the situation is under control. However, at this time we are taking extra precautions just to be safe."

Man Awarded $36 Million After Video Showed 5 Cops Beat Him, Strap Him Down and Torture Him

Genesee County, MI — (RT) The victim of a brutal police beating has been awarded $36.6 million in mostly punitive damages after a jury found five Genesee County Sheriff’s officers used excessive force.

William Jennings, 42, was arrested in Michigan for driving drunk in September 2010. When he was going through intake at Genesee County Jail, things quickly went from standard procedure to a takedown by police. Thrown to the floor, Jennings was then beaten by the officers.

The entire incident captured by a jailhouse camera was shown to the jury, which decided to award Jennings $36.6 million, more than double the $16 million requested by his attorney.

“I asked them for $16 million. I think they thought the conduct was extremely outrageous and returned a verdict that exceeded what we asked for,” Kevin Ernst, attorney for Jennings, told WJBK.

An award of this sum is unusual in these kinds of cases. The family of Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old shot and killed by a Cleveland police officer in 2014, received $6 million in a settlement with the city of Cleveland. The family of Eric Garner, a Staten Island man killed by an NYPD officer in 2014, received a $5.9 million settlement.

Defense lawyers justified the five officers’ actions by claiming that Jennings was “admittedly drunk” and “non-compliant, resistant and combative during the booking process” after he was arrested for drunk driving and was believed to have been in a fight at a bar in Flint, the Detroit Free Press reported.

“The force and maneuvers utilized were appropriate to control the situation,” the defense claimed.

However, the tape shows him being dogpiled by multiple police officers that began after Jennings removed his hand from the wall during a pat down.

“They attacked him in the jail. Then they handcuffed him and continued to assault him, smashing his face into the wall,” Jennings’ other attorney, Dean Elliott, told the Free Press. “They took him into a safety cell … covered his mouth, Tasered him and put a bag over his head and tied him down.”

“I ended up busting my tooth chewing a hole in the mask so I could breathe,“ Jennings told WJBK, adding, “I thought I was going to die.”

The award is believed to be a symbolic gesture that speaks to the nature of Jennings’ attack, “I think that the jurors were sending a message to the sheriff that these kinds of actions cannot go on,” Elliott said.

The defense has already made plans to appeal the decision and possibly get the award reduced. Defense attorney Christopher Scott told the Free Press that “an appeal will be undertaken, if needed, as the verdict is not supported by the law or facts.”

Whether the award is reduced or given in full doesn’t seem to matter much to Jennings, who told WJBK, “I am not the same person and I never will be. Can you put a number on that? I don’t know.”