
I Was Arrested for Learning a Foreign Language. Today, I Have Some Closure - tellarin
https://www.aclu.org/blog/free-speech-national-security-technology-and-liberty/i-was-arrested-learning-foreign-language-t
======
hownottowrite
Summary of Agreement (not judgement):

1\. Plaintiff received $25K (directed to ACLU legal and subject to tax)

2\. Philadelphia PD must communicate the following for a period of months:

"Investigative detentions may be made only on reasonable suspicion of criminal
conduct and any arrest must be based on probable cause. A referral by TSA
agents is not grounds for arrest unless an officer makes a judgment ofprobable
cause; similarly, referral by TSA agents is not grounds for detention unless
an officer makes a judgment that there is reasonable suspicion ofcriminal
conduct. Any detentions or arrests should be documented on appropriate police
paperwork consistent with PPD Directives."

3\. No admission of wrong doing or error on anyone's behalf

~~~
zaroth
Other notable facts: recent travel to middle east, flash cards included words
like "terrorist", "explosion", "bomb", "to kidnap", etc., didn't follow basic
screening process guaranteeing an elevated inspection (left large electronics
in bag), had the cards in his pocket and handed directly to the TSA agent.

As soon as someone arrived who had the necessary pay-grade to release this
guy, he was released. Sorry for missing your flight but I do expect TSA to
flag me if I literally hand the agent a stack of cards with "bomb" and
"terrorist" written on them.

It never occurred to Nick to put the cards away before going through security
screening? Oblivious beyond belief.

~~~
kghose
Finally, some one with additional details I was waiting to hear. If they
hauled everyone learning Arabic off the false positive rate should be sky
high. I wonder, just wonder, if this person was an "activist". You know,
someone who tries to go positive on sufficient features of the detector to
pass the threshold.

~~~
saraid216
...why were you waiting to hear these details? Court documents are open to the
public.

~~~
DanBC
The details were not part of the reporting and it seems like many HN readers
were not aware of the details until the links to the court document were
posted.

What happened to him is clearly not acceptable, but the story is not "Learning
Arabic got me arrested" but "handing a list of words including 'bomb' and
'terrorist' to a security screener got me arrested".

I'm not sure the Arabic is relevant - I suspect the NSA screener could not
read the Arabic and could only read the English portion of the flashcards, and
that he would have had similar results if the cards were in English and
French.

~~~
mikeash
If you think the presence of Arabic on the cards didn't help twig the TSA
screener, then I have a bridge I would like to sell you.

~~~
DanBC
They screen Arabs every day. They screen people who speak Arabic every day.
Why haven't we heard about the illegal arrest of any of those people? Because
those people don't use the English words "bomb" or "terrorist" or "murder" in
front of security screeners.

~~~
mikeash
Here's an example of a guy who wasn't allowed to board a plane because his
shirt had Arabic on it: [https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-
tariff-p...](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-tariff-
payment-system-2014-to-2015)

I'm sure you'll find many other examples. They mostly don't get arrested, but
they certainly suffer unjustifiable abuse. And keep in mind that the TSA can't
arrest people, only hand them over to the local police.

~~~
mod
That link is not about a person with an Arabic t-shirt, nor is it about the
U.S.

It's my presumption they don't have a "TSA," at least by that name, in the UK.

~~~
DanBC
It's a pretty well known case and easy enough to find.

[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/5297822.stm](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/5297822.stm)

~~~
mikeash
Wow, I clearly need to pay more attention to what comes out of my pasteboard.
Thanks for posting a proper link.

------
thomasfl
"Five years ago, the Philadelphia police thought that carrying Arabic-language
flashcards was enough to warrant the arrest of an innocent traveler." From a
norwegian standpoint, where police are not allowed to wear guns, it's
fascinating to see how the answer to security problems is more police, harder
prison sentences and more violence. What about increasing happiness? In
northern Ireland they eventually got rid of terrorism after they started
realising that happy people are much less likely to become terrorists.

~~~
anomalous
I don't know that it's worthwhile to compare small countries with ethnically
homogenous populations, homogenous communities, different social values, and
citizens with reduced access to weaponry to a large, ethnically diverse
nation, with diverse and segregated communities, with different social values
and history, and citizens with greater access to firearms.

~~~
pjc50
thomasfl's comment did point out Northern Ireland, whose communities were so
segregated there's a mini Berlin wall in part of the city ("Peace Line"), and
where there's plenty of firearms and also high explosives.

Disarmament was a critical and controversial part of the peace process.

~~~
tankenmate
Actually there are several peace walls in Belfast; and also there are more now
than there were during the '70s / '80s.

Also, there are parties on both sides of the divide who are still armed; it's
just the largest and most politically engaged groups who are no longer armed.

------
mathetic
> "Do you know who did 9/11?" Taken totally aback, I answered: "Osama Bin
> Laden." Then she asked me if I knew what language Osama Bin Laden spoke.
> "Arabic," I replied. "So do you see why these cards are suspicious?" she
> finished.

As horrific as the situation, I think we can all enjoy the humorous nature of
the conversation above. Lack of shame and intelligence is surreal.

~~~
yabatopia
"Do you know who did 9/11? Osama Bin Laden! And did you know that Osama Bin
Laden had shoes? So you see why your shoes are suspicious and we have to
arrest you?"

~~~
ecdavis
"It is cheap, basic and widely available around the world. Yet the Casio F-91W
digital watch was declared to be "the sign of al-Qaida" and a contributing
factor to continued detention of prisoners by the analysts stationed at
Guantánamo Bay.

Briefing documents used to train staff in assessing the threat level of new
detainees advise that possession of the F-91W – available online for as little
as £4 – suggests the wearer has been trained in bomb making by al-Qaida in
Afghanistan."

[http://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/apr/25/guantanamo-
file...](http://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/apr/25/guantanamo-files-casio-
wristwatch-alqaida)

~~~
MichaelGG
Available on Amazon for ten bucks:

[http://www.amazon.com/Casio-F91W-Digital-Sports-
Watch/dp/B00...](http://www.amazon.com/Casio-F91W-Digital-Sports-
Watch/dp/B00KZA5O4W)

Looks nice enough for what it is and the price.

~~~
shanemhansen
Read the 3rd review. "USAF approved". Apartment it's common for US military to
wear.

~~~
tim333
The 4th review is amusing.

------
keerthiko
I grew up in Oman, and my Indian passport is issued from there. It's mentioned
as a place of issue, but most TSA offices have never heard of "Oman." However,
I have a few entry/exit stamps from Oman (where my parents live), which
obviously involves some Arabic. When traveling in the US, if these pages get
seen, I'm pulled for special screening and emptying out my baggage.

Back in college I sometimes rushed to the airport straight after finals week
and packing my dorm room, so I may not have shaved a couple days, and I was
almost guaranteed to have to deal with an extra hour of special checking
(which I would probably have to have dealt with anyway, so it was more
important to reach the airport early than to shave). They'd make me go get my
checked luggage and empty every suitcase and identify every item there and I'd
have to pack it all back again. At least the random stuff they'd confiscate
like pickled lemons from my mom would create extra space in my bag making it a
bit easier to pack in a hurry.

I've never actually been detained or questioned or made to miss a flight
because of this, but I think that's just dumb luck and not because the process
is just or reasonable. It's one thing I do not miss at all since leaving the
states, airport security in America.

------
morganvachon
Between this glaring infringement of First Amendment, and Fifth and Fourteenth
Amendment rights, and the push to lock up the borders preventing easy egress
from the US[1], it's really starting to feel like the United States is the
world's largest prison. Sure, we (mostly) have freedom of movement and rights
within the borders, but try to leave or come in and you end up harassed and
detained for no reason.

[1]
[http://www.wnypapers.com/news/article/current/2015/01/23/119...](http://www.wnypapers.com/news/article/current/2015/01/23/119302/higgins-
sounds-alarm-on-bill-he-said-would-cripple-northern-border-and-kill-jobs)

------
droithomme
I see some are saying that holding someone handcuffed in a cell for 5 hours is
not an arrest but is only a brief detention, aka Terry Stop. This is
unequivocally false. The situation described was an arrest.

Here is some information about what an arrest is.

[http://www.hendonpub.com/resources/article_archive/results/d...](http://www.hendonpub.com/resources/article_archive/results/details?id=2167)

> What, then, is a correct definition of arrest, for purposes of federal
> Constitutional law? An arrest is a seizure of a person in which the subject
> is 1) required to go elsewhere with police, or 2) deprived of his freedom of
> movement for more than a brief period of time, or 3) subjected to more force
> than is reasonably part of an investigative detention.

> So, if an officer has said or done things that would cause a reasonable
> person to believe that he was not free to leave or to decline the contact
> with the police and either the subject is required to leave and go elsewhere
> with police or a detention persists for more than a short while, or more
> force is used than is reasonable to simply restrain someone, then that
> person has been arrested.

------
616c
Different anecdote.

I majored in Arabic. I have a chip on my shoulder. I live in the Arab world,
and have stickers from many countries in the Arab world, and Iran, AND China
(lived there teaching with a family for a year).

Beyond being asked what I do for work in my country residence. I have never
been harassed. I expected the opposite and joke about it often. I carry novels
in Arabic, and used to carry learning materials for Persian/Farsi.

I have not been stopped once. Whether or not you helped, thanks to this guy
for making this effort.

~~~
tomsthumb
What is your ethnicity?

------
revelation
Great of the ACLU to post the actual court orders and opinions that would
otherwise locked behind a rent-seeking government contractors "portal".

Here is why we can't have nice things:

 _We caution, however, that the detention at the hands of these TSA Officials
is at the outer boundary of the Fourth Amendment. Once TSA Officials were
satisfied that George was not armed or carrying explosives, much of the
concern that justified his detention dissipated. However, it did not totally
vanish or suggest that further inquiry was not warranted. Suspicion remained,
and that suspicion was objectively reasonable given the realities and perils
of air passenger safety. The TSA Officials still were confronted with an
individual who was carrying Arabic-English flashcards bearing such words as:
“bomb,” “terrorist,” “to kill,” etc. In a world where air passenger safety
must contend with such nuanced threats as attempts to convert underwear into
bombs and shoes into incendiary devices, we think that the brief detention
that followed the initial administrative search of George was reasonable._

([https://www.aclu.org/sites/default/files/assets/george-v-
reh...](https://www.aclu.org/sites/default/files/assets/george-v-
rehiel_3rd_cir_qi_ruling.pdf))

It's basically pages upon pages of personal opinions and value judgements. At
the end of the day, the law does nothing to protect you when the judge dealing
with the government appeal is a right-wing nutjob that attaches no
significance to constitutional freedoms.

------
navytank
Haha, this was a friend of mine! According to his retellings, the day also
included:

* Being asked if he was a communist

* Asking one police officer why he was being detained, and being answered "I don't know, what'd you do?"

~~~
darkstar999
That second one is in the article.

------
Beltiras
I'm a bit worried about my trip to the US in the spring. I'm going to make a
point of having a hair cut, not carrying any suspicious books, cultivate a
super submissive nature against authority figures (of which I carry a well-
deserved suspicion) and practive my TSA-smile.

Shouldn't have to be that way, but I really don't want to give any indication
I am anything but White Bread.

~~~
mcguire
Exactly how often do you go out of your way to aggravate police, customs and
immigration officials in other countries?

~~~
arjie
You don't need to do anything of the sort for customs and immigration
officials in America to panic. They're a fidgety bunch, and your greatest
mistake may be to have a 'Muslim' name.

This happened to my parents, surgeons in their late 50s who travelled together
visiting family in the UK and Canada having no trouble. My dad (having a name
that is pretty Christian) passed immigration at the Canada/US border just
fine. My mum (having a name that is pretty Muslim) had her immigration
official's computer stop working and she was detained for hours. They did let
my dad join her, so I guess we should be thankful for that. They had exactly
the same itinerary and were eventually released with no explanation.

So excuse me if I don't buy the idea that you have to antagonize people.

------
Red_Tarsius
For a moment I thought the title was a Clojure joke.

Anyway, this must be the 10th article I read about the paranoid surveilance
system at USA airports. So many bad experiences, it actually makes me fearful
of coming to USA, but I'm sure that's the point they want to make.

------
kmonsen
What happens to your flight tickets in this situation? Do the airline give you
a ticket to the next flight or do they just think you are too late for the
current one and bad luck?

~~~
khuey
The airlines are generally accommodating.

------
arca_vorago
Regardless of what you think here, TSA is theater and is not effective, and
not only does it not protect us, it actually threatens our dignity and rights.
The problem is that the lower level employees don't realize their part in the
theatre play ongoing.

------
userbinator
It reminds me of this:

[https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/right-to-
read.html](https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/right-to-read.html)

"I was arrested for possessing a debugger"

------
ender89
The most baffling thing about this whole situation is that one would think
that learning a language would be a very futile pursuit for a suicide bomber.

------
DanBC
Don't talk about bombs in an airport. While the reaction from security staff
is stupid you have to be a fucking idiot to think that hand-written flashcards
with words like...

> “bomb,” “terrorist,” “explosion,” “attack,” “battle,” “kill,” “to target,”
> “to kidnap,” and “to wound.”

...are not going to arouse suspicion, especially among low-paid staff with
little training.

[https://www.aclu.org/sites/default/files/assets/george-v-
reh...](https://www.aclu.org/sites/default/files/assets/george-v-
rehiel_3rd_cir_qi_ruling.pdf)

~~~
sebular
Wow, what a disappointing response. Talking about bombs at the airport is not
the same as having literature in your carry-on with the word "bomb" on it. The
last novel I brought on a flight talked extensively about bombs, should I have
tossed it in the garbage before going through security?

When people like you rationalize every individual curtailment on civil
liberties without considering the bigger implications and precedents being
set, that's how you wake up to discover you've completely lost freedoms that
your parents took for granted.

And you go even further, talking about how citizens should have to consider
how their actions are going to be perceived by low-paid, under-educated TSA
agents, rather than giving a moment's pause to wonder why low-paid, under-
educated TSA agents are handling security for our nation's airports.

Question nothing, blame the victim. Superb critical thinking.

~~~
DanBC
Can you honestly not see the difference between having a book that has the
word bomb in it and having a set of 80 hand-written cards with the words
"bomb", “terrorist,” “explosion,” “attack,” “battle,” “kill,” “to target,” “to
kidnap,” and “to wound" (among others) on them, and handing those cards to
security agents?

Any reasonable person knows that those words will cause alarm in security
agents. Why chose to handwrite those cards and then hand them over to those
agents?

The ACLU articles all make it sound like Arabic language is the problem. But
if he had French language flashcards with those words on he'd have got a
similar result.

The ACLU does not mention the content of the flashcards in their articles. The
ACLU has an illustration with words like "sun" and "dog". This is borderline
deceptive. Arabic flashcards without words like "bomb" would have been fine.
Any language flashcards with words like "bomb" would not have been fine.

> Question nothing, blame the victim. Superb critical thinking.

Interesting that you accept the ACLU story without question -it obviously
appeals to your biases- and are affronted when someone presents the court
case. Critical thinking indeed.

~~~
neilcrj
He didn't "choose" to hand them to security agents, he was asked to empty his
pockets, which contained the flash cards.

~~~
DanBC
Whenever I've been through TSA screening I empty my pockets to a tray.

This report says "I took the set of flashcards from my pocket and handed them
to the officers."

~~~
msandford
> This report says "I took the set of flashcards from my pocket and handed
> them to the officers."

That was done in response to "empty your pockets", a command from a TSA agent.

Paper doesn't trigger metal detectors so there's no real need to put it all
into the tray the first time.

~~~
mod
The detectors detect more than metal.

Perhaps you missed the great scandal of the 'body scanners.'

------
baby
This happens when you put idiots in a position of power. I've seen that
everywhere in the world, not just in the US.

------
tomjen3
Some closure? You have closure when the TSA is abolished and the people
involved are hanged for treason, not before.

------
coin
He was never arrested but rather detailed.

~~~
goodcanadian
A common misconception. Police try to make that distinction to avoid
complaints, but the fact is that if they stop you for even a moment on the
street to talk to you, from a legal point or view, you have been arrested. If
you ask if you are free to go, and the answer is not an immediate, "yes," you
have been arrested. There are clear rules about when they can do that and how
long they can hold you without charge. He was definitely arrested. I'm a bit
surprised that he did not win an unlawful confinement suit, but then I don't
know all of the details.

------
bdg
Of all the countries in the world, this is the one I am the most terrified of
ever setting foot in. At least if I went to a place like Mogadishu, I may be
at risk, but I know they don't have the resources to waste on finding out
unknown knowns.

~~~
ceejayoz
> At least if I went to a place like Mogadishu, I may be at risk, but I know
> they don't have the resources to waste on finding out unknown knowns.

Many of the places without those resources default to "you're fucked", not "we
can't prove anything, let him go!"

------
jqm
This is horrible, and the abuses of police and security personal in the US are
egregious. In addition, US foreign policy as of late (late being the the last
150 years or so) is also pretty lame.

That said, I often suspect there is more to stories like this than is being
told. More than the book and flashcards. A suspicious look. Furtive eye
movement in the TSA line. A "look" that might be interpreted as capable of
violence. And lastly, pissing someone with a gun and a badge off with an
insolent attitude.

None of which makes what happened right of course. But maybe there is more to
the story.

~~~
jpindar
"He did not know how long she had been looking at him, but perhaps for as much
as five minutes, and it was possible that his features had not been perfectly
under control. It was terribly dangerous to let your thoughts wander when you
were in any public place or within range of a telescreen. The smallest thing
could give you away. A nervous tic, an unconscious look of anxiety, a habit of
muttering to yourself--anything that carried with it the suggestion of
abnormality, of having something to hide. In any case, to wear an improper
expression on your face (to look incredulous when a victory was announced, for
example) was itself a punishable offence. There was even a word for it in
Newspeak: FACECRIME, it was called."

~~~
jqm
Yep. I think that's exactly the kind of thing they look for.

What I didn't realize was better stated above. 80 cards handed to TSA agent 10
of which contained "alarming" words in Arabic. I thought there was more to the
story. Not justifying this arrest but really.... what does a reasonable person
expect from cops and security agencies? Almost seems like deliberate
antagonism rather than being innocently caught up.... but who knows.

------
jkot
Yet another story from american airport. It kind of reminds me soviet
countries, where people would get prosecuted for speaking English.

On other side author was detained for 5 hours. That is practically rounding
error in __ANY__ country. I would argue there are other causes, more worthy
money and effort.

~~~
intopieces
> I would argue there are other causes, more worthy money and effort.

Serious question: How many hours does a person have to be detained illegally
in the United States for it to warrant money and effort from the ACLU? You
appear to have a specific metric for when injustice warrants response and I'm
afraid I'm going to have to take you to task about it.

~~~
jkot
Serious cases starts somewhere around 2 months. Around that time permanent
damage starts to pile up.

I am not sure what exact laws are in US. But in most countries police has
right to detain people up to 24 hours without a warrant. I think in that case
it was 'illegal' because police officer forgot some paperwork or said
something explicit on record. Easy shot for ACLU.

~~~
intopieces
The issue is that when you give the police an inch, they beat you to within
that inch of your life. The system in place in most countries sounds
horrifying when put into the context of the American policing system.

~~~
jkot
I understand where are you getting. But this is wrong battleground. Even most
peace-full country, will have airport security with some sort of right to
detain people. For example they could claim his passport is fake, and detain
him until he proves his identity otherwise.

This case does not really solve anything. With more similar cases, parliament
just passes new law: Airport has special security rule, is not US soil until
you pass some checkpoint whatever.

Real solution is to go after causes where it really hurts. This guy got
$5.000/hour. Now imagine someone who spend 7 months in jail at this rate.

~~~
vacri
_This guy got $5.000 /hour_

Per hour in jail. Not including the time in the airport detention, the missed
flight, the missed journey, and all the hours spent preparing and dealing with
the legal case.

