TSA Says ‘You Might Be A Terrorist If… You Complain About The TSA’

Ah, the TSA. Apparently among the “behavioral factors” that the TSA uses in determining who might be a criminal or a terrorist is… if you complain about the TSA. I guess that means I’m in line for some extra scrutiny. Honestly, though, this sounds a lot more like punitive action against people who complain, rather than a legitimate characteristic of someone who deserves extra scrutiny. Specifically, one of the factors is if someone is:

“Very arrogant and expresses contempt against airport passenger procedures.”

An ACLU person quoted in the article wonders if this violates the First Amendment, in that it’s going after someone for expressing their opinion:

“Expressing your contempt about airport procedures — that’s a First Amendment-protected right,” said Michael German, a former FBI agent who now works as legal counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union. “We all have the right to express our views, and particularly in a situation where the government is demanding the ability to search you.”

“It’s circular reasoning where, you know, I’m going to ask someone to surrender their rights; if they refuse, that’s evidence that I need to take their rights away from them. And it’s simply inappropriate,” he said.

Honestly, you’d have to think that a real terrorist or criminal, hoping to avoid calling attention to themselves, wouldn’t be openly hostile to the search procedure, but would try to be quiet and blend in. Perhaps the TSA will defend this latest ridiculousness by saying it’s all okay because it’s standard operating procedure.

Permalink | Comments | Email This Story