That doesn’t sound like ‘no rhyme or reason’ to me - it sounds, you know, consistent.
The reason may be a stupid one, but it’s consistent from one flight to the next.
1 Like
My suspicion is that once you get 4S, you’ll always get 4S. And if that’s truly the case, then the reason the first time through most likely was “young, thin female.” Not exactly confidence inspiring, is it?
FWIW, TSA agents are security guards, not cops, and as such don’t have special authority to detain you. Like all civilians, if you’ve committed a crime they can hold you until the police show up. Same as a mall security guard can hold a shoplifter. But that’s it. That’s why you’ll notice the TSA agent never confirms that the guy is detained.
The legal power of the TSA mostly derives from the assumption that you want to be in the airport and board a plane. They can ask you to do almost anything, and if you refuse they can make you leave the airport. Refusing to leave will get you arrested (by the police) for trespassing. But if you already want to leave the airport, all that power evaporates.
7 Likes
but they still have the power to flag you up whenever you want to fly again and pretty much stop you.
1 Like
I randomly get them from time to time, but there doesn’t seem to be a pattern at all.
I don’t know. I randomly get a 4S every few years or so, but I travel by plane between 2-4 times a year.
I’m sure once they heard that explanation they said “ok thank you sir, have a great day”
1 Like
Being Boing Boing?
This has all the markings of a procedural screw up. Someone at the boarding airport missed the 4S security check, so now it’s someone’s job and a bunch of extra paperwork if they can’t fix it retroactively.
1 Like
FWIW, I can think of a way to make a plane crash after you get off it. But you’d have to be awfully careless not to leave all the evidence of your crime on the plane itself. If the guys in charge are on the ball, there’s a countermeasure in place already, they just don’t want anyone to know about it. (Which is exactly what they want us to think, isn’t it, thus all the pointless theater)
The internet says thsi guy had to fight his way off the nofly list.
Which tells me his placement on the SSSS list and the TSA’s insistence on regroping him is retaliation.
1 Like
Christ, what an asshole – referring here to whatever genius decided they had to redo the screening. Of course the entire TSA apparatchik is a goatse-sized asshole.
I disagree, with a newly minted account he’s clearly a troll and an apologist for the rice-cooker-industrial-complex.
4 Likes
While I personally think the passenger is in the right, I also don’t think he’ll have an easy time traveling ever again, he likely just made all the lists.
of course it was. typically the worst kind of offender of this sort is people with some yet limited power over others…they have to peacock their feathers and beat their chests the hardest.
1 Like
He’s not out of the woods yet. TSA agents could still show up at his house in the middle of the night to complete their pat down. No one expects the TSA agents!
1 Like
Buoying Bing Bing?
They’re perfectly welcome to come in and discuss what they’d like to do search-wise. As long as every last one of them and their bosses, submit to a strip and cavity search carried out by myself, or a party approved by me. On my front porch, underneath spotlights. Yes, you can wear an open-backed hospital gown, if you feel like you need to be further humiliated.
Kinky! 
I think the strip and cavity search by a posse of party-goers will be humiliation enough. Should I bring a salad or dessert?
I’ve had the same thing happen flying.
My high school Wind Symphony were traveling home from LAX after playing at Disney Land for a week. We’re all flying together, with group boarding passes. There’s 55 of us, 90% are underage (I’m not), 90% of us are white, there’s a few Asian flautists, and one of our percussionists has the misfortune of being born to a Syrian family (this was in 2008, before ISIS). He’s the only brown person in our group with an obviously Arabic name. As we’re standing in the boarding line, before we get to even have our tickets checked, three TSA guys march on up to our percussionist (I’ll call him Ace here), and demand to see his boarding pass. He looks at our band teacher, and hands over the pass. The TSA guys then tell Ace to get out of line. At no point have they spoken to the obvious leader of the group of kids (We’re all wearing the same tshirts).
Ace asks if he’s being detained. Head thug in charge of the the TSA guys loudly states for everyone to hear ACE (LAST NAME) YOU’VE BEEN SELECTED FOR EXTRA SCREENING TO MAKE SURE YOU AREN’T A TERRORIST.
At that point my band teacher realizes what’s going on and steps in and informs the TSA guys that if they’re going to be overtly racist, then they’re going to have to check every last person in the symphony. The TSA guys eventually threaten to call LAPD, our band teacher calls their bluff knowing that the TSA guys are under more pressure to move people through the gate than they are to do actual security. Eventually the TSA guys cave and leave Ace alone.
It sickens me Ace needed a white guy to stand up against a bunch of predatory bigoted racist thugs. It’s nice that everything worked out. But it makes my blood boil that it even happened. We need to dismantle this organization. It’s an abhorrent violation of the principles of democracy and violates constitutional law. It’s wrong.
16 Likes
