Student Sueing Over TSA Detainment

[Dont Taz Me Bro]

Awesome. I was furious at the way this kid was treated when this story was originally reported several months back. I was hoping he would sue and it looks like that is what is going to happen. The threat of terrorism is not a reason to recklessly run ramshod over peoples' rights.

WASHINGTON (AFP) – Federal agents handcuffed, detained and "abusively" interrogated a US student at Philadelphia International Airport because he was carrying Arabic flashcards, a lawsuit claimed Wednesday.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a lawsuit against FBI agents, police and others on behalf of Nicholas George, saying the 22-year-old was held for nearly five hours at the airport in August and missed his flight back to school in California as a result.

The complaint also linked his arrest at an airport screening checkpoint to a book critical of US foreign policy that he was carrying -- "Rogue Nation: American Unilateralism and the Failure of Good Intentions," by Clyde Prestowitz.

US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) screeners detained George and he was "abusively interrogated" by a TSA supervisor, who asked him about his views on the September 11, 2001 attacks, according to the complaint filed in the US District Court in Philadelphia.

George was asked whether he knew "who did 9/11," what language Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden spoke and why the English-Arabic flashcards were "suspicious."

He was then handcuffed and left in a locked cell for two hours before two FBI agents interrogated him for half an hour, the ACLU said, adding that their client was never informed of his rights or told why he was being held.

Student detained over Arabic flashcards, lawsuit says - Yahoo! News

 

[Baruch Menachem]

young male
One way ticket
Student, so I think he was light on luggage


He fits the profile.

I have no problem with profiling.

I think they could have done a better job, but I kind of prefer this kind of thing to the stupid full body scanners.

Since they made him miss his flight, and they were wrong, they should have comped him though.

 

[Zona]

If he was white, why was he stopped?

 

[RetiredGySgt]

young male
One way ticket
Student, so I think he was light on luggage


He fits the profile.

I have no problem with profiling.

I think they could have done a better job, but I kind of prefer this kind of thing to the stupid full body scanners.

Since they made him miss his flight, and they were wrong, they should have comped him though.

You don't get it. The ACLU is opposed to ALL screening of any kind. As are several retards on this board. Better our planes should blow up in flight or be driven into buildings then Bif gets delayed on his way to college.

 

[CrimsonWhite]

What bothers me here is do we really think that a hijacker would be carrying Arabic flash cards and a book? Any correlation of those items to a possible hijacking is circumstantial at best.

 

[Dont Taz Me Bro]

young male
One way ticket
Student, so I think he was light on luggage


He fits the profile.

I have no problem with profiling.

I think they could have done a better job, but I kind of prefer this kind of thing to the stupid full body scanners.

Since they made him miss his flight, and they were wrong, they should have comped him though.

I have no problem with them pulling him out of line for a few minutes and asking him a few questions and he even said himself that wouldn't have bothered him. They went a lot further than that, though, and that is the problem.

 

[chanel]

Sounds like a set up to me. This kid was probably itching to be detained. Sounds like a page out of the "flying imam" handbook.

 

[Baruch Menachem]

young male
One way ticket
Student, so I think he was light on luggage


He fits the profile.

I have no problem with profiling.

I think they could have done a better job, but I kind of prefer this kind of thing to the stupid full body scanners.

Since they made him miss his flight, and they were wrong, they should have comped him though.

I have no problem with them pulling him out of line for a few minutes and asking him a few questions and he even said himself that wouldn't have bothered him. They went a lot further than that, though, and that is the problem.

I think you are right about that. Sounds like some small minded people got a whole lot of authority, and were just itching to abuse it.