

TSA jails innocent traveler when he asks to file a complaint - dredmorbius
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20150204_TSA_jails_innocent_traveler_when_he_asks_to_file_a_complaint.html

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dredmorbius
I'm having a really hard time trying to talk myself out of the case that this
was not only perjury and false imprisonment, but kidnapping.

[http://kidnapping.uslegal.com/kidnapping-v-false-
imprisonmen...](http://kidnapping.uslegal.com/kidnapping-v-false-
imprisonment/)

 _Kidnapping occurs when a person, without lawful authority, physically moves
another person without that other person’s consent, with the intent to use the
abduction in connection with some other nefarious objective...._

 _False imprisonment, on the other hand, gives rise to a civil claim for
damages. False imprisonment means the illegal confinement of one individual
without his or her consent by another individual in such a manner as to
violate the confined individual’s right to be free from restraint of
movement._

dragonwriter below brings up 18 USC 242, "Deprivation of rights under color of
law"

 _Whoever, under color of any law, statute, ordinance, regulation, or custom,
willfully subjects any person in any State, Territory, Commonwealth,
Possession, or District to the deprivation of any rights ... and ... if such
acts include kidnapping or an attempt to kidnap, aggravated sexual abuse, or
an attempt to commit aggravated sexual abuse, or an attempt to kill, shall be
fined under this title, or imprisoned for any term of years or for life, or
both, or may be sentenced to death.﻿_

[http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/242](http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/242)

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9000692](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9000692)

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alejohausner
This is exactly what Osama bin Laden wanted. The goal of terrorism is to push
a country towards a police state. Subjected to increased police powers, people
will blame the government, and will rise up against that government. So
terrorism is an indirect attempt to destabilize a country. I think that was a
big part of why the 9/11 attacks were carried out.

Of course, it didn't work. In the USA, George Bush got re-elected, and
citizens aren't doing much more than grumbling about abuses of power by the
police forces. Of the chain of causation that Qaeda was hoping to trigger,
only the first one took place: enormously increased policing. No major
government change has followed.

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pjc50
So the police lied about his actions and what he said in order to fabricate a
crime, but forgot there was a camera rolling. And of course after having their
dishonesty proven in court they keep their jobs. Business as usual, really.

~~~
colinbartlett
When I first saw these cameras appear at JFK I was alarmed:
[http://i.imgur.com/AA8mzMt.jpg](http://i.imgur.com/AA8mzMt.jpg)

Then I thought about it and felt safer.

Now it seems even with the cameras, the TSA does what they please and aren't
held to account.

~~~
frostmatthew
> Then I thought about it and felt safer.

It's amazing (and sad) we've reached a point where we see cameras and feel
safer - not because it may deter the actions of criminals or terrorists, but
rather those who are ostensibly there to protect us.

------
blakeja
I accidentally left some throwing knives (I am a martial artist and have an
interesting these types of things) in my backpack and ran into a similar
situation. I was appalled when TSA found the knives, as this was just a few
years after 9/11, and pretty earnest in my rapid apology. Well, unfortunately
for me, not only was the TSA having a "bad day", but the police officer they
called over was having a worse one.

I could waste a lot of space with details, ultimately he made threats my way
and I responded poorly as I do not care much for authority of any kind. The
end result was me spending thousands of dollars on a lawyer and travel fees
only to have the judge immediately dismiss the case when it went to court, as
the whole situation was ludicrous when looked at from the outside. It
seriously hurt my finances to defend myself, I was no architect and I was
pretty much outraged over the entire ordeal.

My point is these TSA / LE type positions know they can wreck your world with
essentially the wave of a wand. Stories like this poor guy sicken me. I would
personally like to see private agencies running the show again, the TSA has
too much power and situations like mine and this poor guy are really just
inexcusable.

~~~
DanBC
The difference is that guy did nothing while you ignored many different big
warnings telling you not to take knives on a plane.

~~~
mindslight
OP didn't ignore warnings - he was unaware that he was in possession of
knives. Under civilized legal systems, either intent or harm is required for a
crime to have been committed. Neither is present here.

The proper solution to the larger moral hazard issue is, as always, to
appropriately assign liability. Civil recompense for the victim's time,
emotional distress, and other damages (including all legal fees). And in
extreme cases like the article, put the criminals (TSA goons and "blue shield"
cops) in jail.

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mullingitover
So apparently Keiser was caught committing perjury and walked away scott free?
Forget about keeping his job, how is he not going to prison?

~~~
dragonwriter
> So apparently Keiser was caught committing perjury and walked away scott
> free?

Also,
[http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/242](http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/242)

~~~
dredmorbius
Rather.

As I've already argued, kidnapping applies here.

------
unchocked
Interesting that this is a Philadelphia story; the ACLU recently drove
Philadelphia PD to admit wrongdoing over a similar wrongful arrest involving
TSA.

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8943109](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8943109)

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DanBC
The perjury seems pretty clear cut. What's the process of reporting that crime
in the US, and has anyone made those reports?

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recibe
I had a similar experience - but never said anything about "bombs" and thus
wasn't taken to jail.

I just tried to complain about one of the inspectors making a smartassed
remark to me when I went through was forced to wait for an hour for enhanced
interrogation while I missed my flight.

~~~
caf
The man in this case says he never said anything about "bombs" either. It
appears that the TSA supervisor entirely invented that.

