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<h1><font size=4><b>Former NYPD cop Miguel Rodriguez flagged as terrorist
after arrest during undercover role in
1977</b></font></h1><font size=3>BY
</font><a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/authors/John%20Marzulli">
<font size=3 color="#015FB6">John Marzulli</a></font><font size=3> <br>
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER <br><br>
Sunday, March 21st 2010, 4:00 AM<br>
<img src="http://assets.nydailynews.com/img/2010/03/21/alg_mugshot_rodriguez.jpg" width=485 height=365 alt="Former NYPD cop Migel Rodriguez was arrested in 1977 after goin">
<br>
DelMundo for News<br>
Former NYPD cop Migel Rodriguez was arrested in 1977 after going
undercover as part of a crime sting. His conviction was supposed to be
purged, but it never was. <br><br>
</font><h3><b>The black-and-white mug shot shows a young man with tousled
hair and a wispy beard, staring into the camera with steely
eyes.</b></h3><font size=3>It was 1977 and
</font><a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Miguel+Rodriguez">
<font size=3 color="#015FB6">Miguel Rodriguez</a></font><font size=3> had
just busted a pane of glass in the
</font><a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Statue+of+Liberty">
<font size=3 color="#015FB6">Statue of Liberty</a></font><font size=3>'s
crown and hung out a
</font><a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Puerto+Rico">
<font size=3 color="#015FB6">Puerto Rican</a></font><font size=3> flag
during a nine-hour siege staged by associates of the
</font>
<a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Fuerzas+Armadas+de+Liberacion+Nacional">
<font size=3 color="#015FB6">FALN</a></font><font size=3> terrorist
group.<br><br>
Like the others, he was arrested. At that moment, only a handful of
</font>
<a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/New+York+City+Police+Department">
<font size=3 color="#015FB6">NYPD</a></font><font size=3> officials knew
Rodriguez was really an undercover cop who had penetrated the
group.<br><br>
Fast-forward more than three decades since his heroic and dangerous
assignment and Rodriguez is facing a new threat:
</font>
<a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/U.S.+Department+of+Homeland+Security">
<font size=3 color="#015FB6">U.S. Homeland
Security</a></font><font size=3> thinks he's a terrorist.<br><br>
Rodriguez, who retired from the NYPD as a sergeant in 1994, has been
detained twice in the past month at area airports because of his old
arrest and conviction.<br><br>
His name brings up a red flag to airport screeners: "Warning,
approach with caution. ... Individual identified as possibly being tied
with terrorists."<br><br>
He was held for hours and missed several flights while cops checked out
his background - a process that Rodriguez said left him
"disheartened, shocked."<br><br>
"I was devastated that I was treated like a criminal," the
63-year-old told the Daily News.<br><br>
"A bomber could get on a plane with bombs in his underwear and not
me," he said.<br><br>
"I don't consider myself a hero, but I'm not a terrorist. I just
want to be able to go someplace and not be treated like a
terrorist."<br><br>
A native of Puerto Rico, Rodriguez served in combat in
</font><a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Vietnam">
<font size=3 color="#015FB6">Vietnam</a></font><font size=3> from 1966 to
1967.<br><br>
He joined the NYPD in 1973, and was immediately sent to the
cloak-and-dagger
</font>
<a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Bureau+of+Special+Services+and+Investigations">
<font size=3 color="#015FB6">Bureau of Special Services and
Investigations</a></font><font size=3> as an undercover targeting Puerto
Rican terror groups.<br><br>
He said he used his real name on the street, but the NYPD payroll carried
him as
"</font><a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/John+Chase">
<font size=3 color="#015FB6">Officer John
Chase</a></font><font size=3>" and paid his salary in cash.<br><br>
Rodriguez gained the trust of radicals hanging out in an
</font><a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/East+New+York">
<font size=3 color="#015FB6">East New York</a></font><font size=3>
bookstore and traveled to
</font><a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Chicago">
<font size=3 color="#015FB6">Chicago</a></font><font size=3> and Puerto
Rico with his comrades.<br><br>
He participated in planning sessions for bombings and the spectacular
takeover of the Statue of Liberty, passing top secret intelligence to his
handlers.<br><br>
He was still undercover when he was convicted of trespassing. The NYPD
told him it would be purged, but it apparently never was.<br><br>
Rodriguez used to be able to fly without a problem, but Homeland Security
software has apparently been updated since his last uneventful trip in
2004.<br><br>
Because he still works in law enforcement - he asked that his employer
not be identified for security reasons - Rodriguez was able to make some
phone calls to get him out of his recent airport jams.<br><br>
Last week, he went to police headquarters for help. He got the brush-off
from a sergeant in
</font><a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Ray+Kelly">
<font size=3 color="#015FB6">Commissioner Raymond
Kelly</a></font><font size=3>'s office who, he says, told him to write a
letter - and a book about his career.<br><br>
Rodriguez said he has faith that Kelly - "from one Marine to
another" - will find a solution.<br><br>
Told of the ex-cop's plight by the Daily News, the top cop pledged to
help.<br><br>
"Commissioner Kelly will make it his business to straighten this
out," said police spokesman
</font><a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Paul+Browne">
<font size=3 color="#015FB6">Paul
Browne</a></font><font size=3>.<br><br>
</font><font size=3 color="#015FB6">
<a href="mailto:jmarzulli@nydailynews.com">jmarzulli@nydailynews.com</a>
<br><br>
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