TSA saves us from five-year-old “security threat”
They’ve done it again. The Transportation Security Administration, our last line of defense against the terrorists hijackers, has singled out a a five-year-old boy as a possible “security threat.” Matthew Gardner, on his way to Los Angeles from Seattle with his mother last week, was tagged by agents because his name was on the dreaded “no-fly” list.
How much common sense does it take to figure out the feds weren’t after that Matthew Gardner? But as this video from Seattle NBC affiliate KING shows, the clueless agents couldn’t buy a clue.
This isn’t the first time the TSA has given a child a once-over. Last year, it identified a 7-year-old Florida boy as a possible Jihadist. (Turned out he wasn’t.)
How absurd can it get? Consider this recent photo of a TSA guard frisking a nun. The photographer claims the TSA guard is Muslim, and suggests the guard was just sticking it to the nun. I’ll let you decide.
You don’t need me to tell you it’s gone too far. The proof is here. When the TSA is interrogating kindergartners and giving nuns secondary screening — nuns, fer cryin’ out loud! — then it’s obvious we’ve lost our sense of perspective.
(Thanks for the tip, Aaron.)
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23 Responses to “TSA saves us from five-year-old “security threat””
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I *really* don’t mean to defend TSA, but anyone can dress as a nun. Singling out the five year old, however, is just plain stupid.
I’m not one to defend an asinine government agency either - but let’s not forget that little kids over in the middle east have been known to be suicide bombers with explosives strapped to themselves.
Let me just bang my head against the wall. Lord help us all.
Absurd I tell you, while I agree with Elliott that everyone could dress as a nun, I truly believe 5 year olds are not a security threat to Americans. I am not much surprised about the security’s decision, but I am at his supervisor’s.
If I was in that case, I would be trying to sue TSA, although the Patriot Act was very successfully in taking many of our rights away and might be the reason why you can’t sue…
Five year olds….unlikely to be terrorists. Tools of terrorists, maybe.
Nuns? Have extra robes and a costume that can be manipulated. Same necessity of secondary screening as for anyone else - maybe she was a random pick, nothing untoward is happnening, she’s just being patted down. I’ve been patted down in an airport.
I have to agree that anyone can dress as a nun…and as a regular traveler…anything could be hidden up in those robes…. However, children? Be reasonable.
I must say, though, that I have been asked to “surrender” lip gloss by at TSA agent at DFW airport as it wasn’t in a separate plastic ziplock bag…and was a gel gloss.
I may have dry lips, but at least everyone on my flight was saved from my dreaded…and potentially dangerous Victoria’s Secret Lip Glos!
TSA - your grandchildren’s tax dollars at work . . .
I want to know something - how did ‘TSA’ find out about the 5 year old? Last time I walked up to a TSA checkpoint, all they did was check my id vs. my boarding pass. Thats all TSA does. TSA has ZERO ability at the checkpoint to check anything other than ID and Boarding Pass.
What MUST have happened is that the airline flagged him either on the boarding pass or pulled him aside and then the whole debacle happened. What SHOULD have happened is that some TSA supervisor engaged his brain before engaging his hands and made an executive decision. But, you see, in order to prevent terrorists from bribing the under paid, under education and under-intellectual TSA agents, I’m sure the rules require compliance with the strip search no-contact BS that happened here. The rules are designed so that the watchers themselves are not trusted and need to be watched.
So, I’ll PROMISE you that ‘TSA’ had nothing to do with the tag of the kid since it likely did not happen in line - it was DHS/FBI . . .THEY are the ones who deserve the ragging on - this all happened before they EVER got to the screening area,
While I find it hard to stick up for an agency as inept as the TSA, let us not forget that little kids are sometimes used in the middle east for suicide/martyrdom attacks for that very reason - no one is suspecting it.
It stilll is, however, somewhat absurd. I would hardly trust these TSA schmucks to deliver a pizza to my house, let alone to protect our nation’s skies.
STL314 says that little kids are sometimes used for suicide attacks.
After a bit of researching, this is not seem to be true.
Most “child suicide bombers” I can find verifiable accounts for are 15, 16 or 17. I found only one report of a 12 year old. The child in this article was 5 years old, traveling with his parents from Seattle, not Israel/Palestine.
Its easy to get caught up in the emotion of terrorist acts, but its important to stay focused on the reality of the situation, not the horror of what it might-maybe be.
Folks we get the government we deserve. We as a populace need only look in the mirror to see who is at fault for having an agency like TSA and the Patriot Act.
When half the eligible voters don’t vote we get a HALF wit Goverment.
I’d suggest that the next time this sort of stuff happens, ask to be arrested. If the TSA won’t get the Police to arrest you because you haven’t committed an offence, then stands to reason they must let you go.
Unlawful detention suit anyone?
David Hook- arrest you? They simply will not let you through security. At that point, without a valid boarding pass, you are have legal reason to be at the airport and are trespassing.
TSA cannot have you arrested - all they can do is refuse to let you into the line without going into the strip search and anal probe line - if YOU refuse that offer, well, thats it then. You do not fly.
STL314 - you’re conflating the potential security risk posed by a random 5 year old with what happened here. The child’s name (or a similar name) was listed on the no-fly list. The question is not “could this kid have a bomb/gun/cup of jello?” but “is this really the ‘Matthew Gardner’ who poses a threat to flight security?” I would submit that most pre-schoolers would be hard-pressed to develop a reputation as an international terrorist. Cat Stevens on the other hand….
Yusef Islam you mean . . .
The problem with security theater IS the rules. Rules can be broken, avoided and scammed. People exercising a brain and trained hunch cannot. People looking at a 24year old muslim male or one who appears to be muslim traveling with, oh, save three bottles of water, a lighter and a beaker might be a threat, even if his name is John Sam Smith. Now, if a 4 year old shows up with the name Osama bin Ladin, you know what, its probably not him . . .
Without commenting on what use the TSA is, here is my .5 cents’ worth:
Folks, especially Aaron and dtr, don’t kid yourself about the bad guys using children, even babies, as suicide bombers (this is only one of many web sites with the same news):
http://www.dailymuslims.com/ISSUES/Pakistan/525.html
However it does seem that sometimes we aren’t using common sense when “screening” passengers. Take that however you wish. If you think al Qaeda wouldn’t use an operative dressed as an elderly nun to wreak havoc, you’re either naive or stupid. How soon we forget 9-11.
What we should use are the same profiling techniques that the IDF (Israelis) use. But no, that’s not politically correct here, and then there’s the ACLU to dog us, file lawsuits and protect the terrorists.
Don’t kid yourself folks. Did anyone ever conceive of the idea of terrorists flying commercial airliners into U.S. skyscrapers before 9-11? Nope, because we’re a civilized nation. Don’t think for a minute that al Qaeda wouldn’t employ an operative in religious garb to wreak havoc.
And using children as suicide bombers? Yep. This is only one of many news sites that reported such, a baby girl strapped with explosives, in the first attempt on Bhutto’s life:
http://www.dailymuslims.com/ISSUES/Pakistan/525.html
We need to implement what the Israeli IDF does — serious profiling to find terrorists amongst us. It works for them.
In 2002, I was selected for secondary screening, (I think at BHM,) while serving as an officer in the US Air Force. And traveling in uniform. The screener waved their wand over my uniform, and of course it beeped on thinks like badges and shoulder board stiffeners. Finally, while running the wand over my trousers,the screener asked me “what’s that”? and I answered, “they’re shirt garters.” I had to remember we were both employees of the US government and I was representing my service, because I was sorely tempted to continue my answer with “they’re for keeping your uniform looking good and would do wonders for you, along with a few laps around the block, and a diet.” Profiliing gets a bad rap, but discretion needs to be an element of the process for determining whom to screen. The Customs Service has long had the discretion to determine who is worthy of additional examination. Fortunately, the crew of the aircraft had a much different attitude, they were very respectful and obviously pleased to have a serviceman aboard.
All this garbage makes me sad for the future of our country, especially looking at those who are still somehow sold on the idea (lie) that government should provide your healthcare, because they will save money, be cost effective, and give you better care than what you’re receiving today.
Yet, those same people who beg and plead for government intervention can’t find one good experience (without recalling at least 10 bad ones) while trying to renew their drivers license, filing paperwork at the courthouse, and apparently now, flying. Let’s face it, any time the government steps in, it’s bad news. They’re the worst monopoly of all, because they have no true motivation to do their job right, exercise good judgment, and give you a better experience overall.
And why they’re targeting kids anyway, and not people who look and talk like Bin Laden and the other similar folks (yes, I’m implying middle easterners and muslims in general. If you don’t like it, be damned). Funny thing is, people are so wrapped up in not offending anyone, that if this little kid was holding a Koran (and his name was on the list), he probably wouldn’t have even been stopped in line.
Call me insensitive, call me racist, call me anti-muslim, I don’t care. At least I have the balls to call a spade a spade. Sure, we’ve had wackos (e.g., McVeigh) here, but you’ll always have a couple here and there in a country of 300 million people. It happens, but it’s not a trend or way of life for millions, like extremist muslim practices are.
Military servicemen and women in uniform are supposed to be exempt from additional screening unless they alarm the metal detector. Unless you beeped when you walked in, you shouldn’t have had to deal with that. However, that may be protocol that was put into effect after you flew.
And… children as selectees… makes sense. Kids don’t usually pack their own bags or pick out their own clothes. They’re parents could be crazy, so you can’t just trust them because they are children. It also helps to show that some of the SSSS designations are random. And, as many said above, anyone can dress as a nun. You can’t take anyone’s word for anything, you need to screen everyone as if they were a threat. A little old lady with a hip replacement could be a person disguised as a little old lady with a gun! You can’t just assume it is a hip replacement and be done with it!
Also, the airline made the 5-year-old a selectee, not the TSA. So, if you are going to question the people who flagged them for the name… it was the airline. The airline doesn’t tell the TSA why they flag people, they just do it and the TSA is responsible for patting them down. If you cooperate it only takes a couple minutes to pat you down (like 30 seconds there) and check your bags. Its minimally invasive and worth it for the extra layer of security.
Chris, I’m going to have to go with those who say frisking an *apparent* nun is okay. Now, I grew up in the Episcopal Church, was an acolyte (and nearly went to seminary), and our priests over the years all became close family friends, so I was conditioned to extend automatic respect to religious figures (and not just those from my own church).
The sad part isn’t that a nun got frisked; it’s that this is the point we’re at.
At first blush, it might seem that to check out a small child is simply beyond the pale, but that, too, withstands calm, logical scrutiny. As someone else observed, there have been instances of small children being used as “delivery systems” of explosives.
Neither a habit nor youth is a 100% assurance of innocence . . . sad to say.
Do you trust anyone in the TSA to have sound judgement when it comes to dermining the difference between a 5 year old and a dwarf?
Yes to some its obvious, but these are the same people every whines about being as smart as a box of rocks.
cmon.
procedures are made so that the least intelligent person in a group can understand it, thats a proven fact.
personally I think homeland security is the biggest long con i’ve ever encountered. Lets point at the obvious effectiveness of the agency by the fact that nothing has happend.
Lets ignore the fact that there have only been 3 documented acts of terrorism in the united states where a large group or potentially large group of peopel have been harmed.
2x against world trade towers
1x Murrow building in Oklahoma City.
Lets ignore the fact that its easier to enter the country from canada than it is to fly from one state to another inside the united states
Lets ignore the fact that a fraction of the cargo from sea is inspected for anything whatsoever.
You cannot prove a negative and I’m getting tired of selling our country out to china so we can make the people who are trying to keep us afraid and in the dark rich.
When flying 7 months pregnant I knew I was going to have to take my shoes off and was prepared with easy slip-ons. What I wasn’t prepared for was having to raise my shirt and show the security personnel that I was indeed pregnant and not just smuggling something in a pregnancy suit.
Crazy.
I’ve been flagged before. And I knew I was going to be flagged. Here’s why:
In a fit of “Oh-my-God-If-I-don’t-run-from-this-job-right-now-I-am-going-to-start-screaming-and-may-never-stop” I booked a flight to Guadalajara for a weekend of binge drinking with a friend (great way to stave off burnout…I’m serious…). I made the decision on a Monday. I had a new, notarized copy of my birth certificate issued from my hometown (3,000 miles away - I didn’t have a passport and needed to be able to get back into the US) and Fed Ex’d to me. I reserved my ticket on a Wednesday, called in sick to work Friday and went to GDL with nothing but a duffel bag. Due to the haste, I had to purchase my ticket in cash at the counter on Friday.
I was stopped on the way through security, where the guard showed me how my ticket had been flagged. I laughed, said he could search whatever he wanted and gave him my bag, telling him I was simply on the verge of burnout and absolutely needed to do something that might seem completely insane to a rational person to keep myself rational. He searched the whole bag, and even re-packed it for me.
An agent stopped me as I handed in my boarding pass also. I had to walk the tarmac to get to my plane. An agent stopped me there.
Throughout the trip, I was stopped and searched a total of 6 times. Each time, I tried to be as understanding as possible. I didn’t take offense to the repeated stops. I didn’t take it as insinuations that I had sinister reasons. I just flat out tried not to take the searches the wrong way. As a result, each one was almost a pleasant experience. The agents empathetically listened to my tale of my job making me not-so-sane, laughing at the jokes I cracked about it. It was a little bit scary, being singled out like that (you try guiltily stepping forward as someone official looking people come out onto the tarmac yelling, “Is there a [insert name] in this line? Please come this way.” I wasn’t strip searched. I wasn’t abused. It was just humiliating, that’s all. One thing I’ve learned is that it’s perfectly OK for the government to completely humiliate you and desecrate your name. It’s one of those things about living in the United States, the greatest country on earth.