link Was the man shot by HPD really a CIA agent? 08:27 PM CDT on Wednesday, April 30, 2008 By Shern-Min Chow / 11 News HOUSTON—In the day that’s passed since a man who claimed to be a CIA agent was shot by police in Houston, few questions have been answered. Roland Carnaby was shot and killed after leading cops on a high-speed chase that ended near the Galleria. Carnaby claimed to be with the CIA and was reaching for something shiny when he was shot. Police thought it was a gun, but it wasn’t. It may have been a cell phone. Friends and family of Carnaby were at a loss to explain why he would’ve run from police, but they are certain he was with the CIA. In fact, they say they have the mementos to prove it. 11 News looked at Carnaby’s mementos Wednesday. They are clearly those of a life well-lived, often in far-flung places. But upon closer examination, a former CIA employee said things may not be what they seem. David Adler was a case worker with the intelligence agency for five years and has met Carnaby. He said there are many misconceptions about the CIA, and that an officer’s goal is to be low-key. “If you walk into a casino, and everyone knows your name is James Bond, you’re not doing your job,” he said. When Adler looked at Carnaby’s things, he noticed details that might have slipped by a layperson. “This word ‘completion’ is spelled wrong,” Adler said, pointing to one of the mementos. ”There is no ‘Iraq Division’ of the CIA.” “There just doesn’t seem to be any legitimate basis for behaving the way he did in the last hour of his life, unfortunately,” he said. Police found two pistols and a shotgun in Carnaby’s vehicle. He had a concealed weapons license. But Adler said that fact alone could be a flag. “No legitimate reason for having all those weapons in his car,” he said. “CIA officers are not law enforcement officers.” Agents will examine the federal credentials Carnaby flashed during the traffic stop. They said the credentials looked authentic, but noted that a lot can be done with a computer. Still, Carnaby’s family is convinced he was what he claimed to be. “He was a contract employee who worked for decades with the CIA and different federal government agencies,” the family said. The CIA denied that Carnaby was an employee, but the family said that’s to be expected. “If you are covert, you know from the beginning that the CIA won’t admit to these things,” the family said. Adler said he’s met a lot of people who claim to be spies. “I think it is a problem,” he said. “There are people out there who are sort of enamored with that lifestyle and wish to be part of it and portray themselves as part of it. And they are not.” Adler also said he’s met plenty of people who believe the stories of spy imposters. Despite all that, he said one plaque of Carnaby’s from 25 years ago did seem authentic, and that it’s possible he worked with the CIA back then. Carnaby’s family said his parents were flying in from Beirut Wednesday and are asking for their son to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery. They just showed him on FOX 26 news with pictures and some claim he was in the CIA or was he a fake?
I saw this article in the chronicle this morning. What a crappy headline. It looks like to me this guy is a couple of rounds short of a full load. I have a hard time believing that a CIA agent would tell his friends what he does for a living. I went the the Texans draft day luncheon over at the Westin Galleria yesterday at lunchtime. I got there early, but others complained about being stuck in traffic getting there. It looks like this was the problem.
That's my favorite part of the article as it makes it seem like no layperson would know how to spell "completion".
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