Comic Artist Detained For Script Containing 9/11 Type Scenarios 441
Comics writer Mark Sable was detained by security at Los Angeles International Airport because he was carrying a script for a new issue of his comic miniseries, Unthinkable. Unthinkable follows members of a government think tank that was tasked with coming up with 9/11-type "unthinkable" terrorist scenarios that now are coming true. Sable wrote about his experience saying, "...I was flagged at the gate for 'extra screening.' I was subjected to not one, but two invasive searches of my person and belongings. TSA agents then 'discovered' the script for Unthinkable #3. They sat and read the script while I stood there, without any personal items, identification or ticket, which had all been confiscated. The minute I saw the faces of the agents, I knew I was in trouble. The first page of the Unthinkable script mentioned 9/11, terror plots, and the fact that the (fictional) world had become a police state. The TSA agents then proceeded to interrogate me, having a hard time understanding that a comic book could be about anything other than superheroes, let alone that anyone actually wrote scripts for comics. I cooperated politely and tried to explain to them the irony of the situation. While Unthinkable blurs the line between fiction and reality, the story is based on a real-life government think tank where a writer was tasked to design worst-case terror scenarios. The fictional story of Unthinkable unfolds when the writer's scenarios come true, and he becomes a suspect in the terrorist attacks." It's too bad that the TSA can't protect us from summer blockbuster movies and not just graphic novels.
Bad move (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Bad move (Score:2, Informative)
Who tried to ban those novels? Was it notable, or some overzealous high school librarian?
It's usually not the librarians.. it's the school board and administration.
Re:it is sad.. (Score:4, Informative)
well yeah, because it's perfectly reasonable that a search for drugs, weapons, and explosives would include reading through business papers. seriously, did they think this guys journal pages were laced with ricin? just what would be the justification for needing to read through my notebook before letting me on a plane?
Jessica Fletcher (Score:3, Informative)
Jessica Fletcher was played by Angela Lansbury.
Economist Steven Levitt almost got arrested too (Score:5, Informative)
I almost got sent to Guantanamo
By Steven D. Levitt
http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2005/07/14/i-almost-got-sent-to-guantanamo/
Re:TSA just guaranteed more sales (Score:1, Informative)
I thought that was Dale Brown? Fake Air Force 1 and the Cessna turned into a fuel air bomb?
Re:Proof please. (Score:5, Informative)
Re:TSA just guaranteed more sales (Score:3, Informative)
The book was 'Debt of Honor' by Tom Clancy, in case anyone is interested. The event also factors heavily into the sequel, 'Executive Orders'.
Re:Proof please. (Score:2, Informative)
That's interesting. My experience of TSA agents is that they are generally interesting and friendly people. Last time I flew out of Salt Lake City I managed to book my flight for the wrong month (stupid online booking form resetting itself, stupid brain not double-checking) so the airline flagged me as a suspicious person. The TSA people apologised for pulling me over. My laptop was damaged before the trip, with the screen only held on by one hinge; when I explained that it was fragile they let me open it myself to make sure that they didn't damage it. When they'd cleared me, one of them mentioned that he was taking a trip to London the next month and, since my flight wasn't for an hour and it wasn't busy, asked me if I had any advice for things to see while he was there. We chatted for about five minutes, and he didn't seem like a high-school drop-out at any point...
Next trip, when I was leaving New York, one of the TSA guys stopped me because he'd seen me take my Nokia 770 out of my pocket at the security checkpoint. It turned out he was a Linux geek and wanted to know how well it performed in real-world use. Is he a total idiot? Well, he was a Linux user, but I'll refrain from making the obvious remark of a BSD user...
Almost every time I fly, I get flagged by either customs or security for extra screening, and I've always found them polite and friendly. They just can't seem to decide whether I look more like a terrorist or a smuggler (if my hair's down, customs are more likely to stop me, if it's in a ponytail security are - possibly law-abiding people have short hair).
Re:Proof please. (Score:2, Informative)
Guantanamo bay didn't happen in another country, it happened on a US military base that happened to be in Cuba. US military bases are US soil.
Sorry, but your wrong.
Your confusing Guantanamo Bay Naval Base with the Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp. Two totally different places.
The whole argument with the detention camp was that it was NOT U.S. Soil, therefore, they could get away with things like torture, no legal counsel, indefinite incarceration, etc.
Re:So what's the story here? (Score:3, Informative)
It's called the Constitution. Maybe you should read it some time.
Start with the 4th Amendment [wikipedia.org]
"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."
Re:Maybe, Maybe not... (Score:5, Informative)
Actually (IANAL) - http://www.lawinfo.com/fuseaction/Client.lawarea/categoryid/144 [lawinfo.com]
What do I do if I am arrested?
If you are arrested, submit to the law enforcement officer. Do not resist, even if you are innocent. Your innocence does not make the arrest illegal as long as the officer has conformed to the requirements of a legal arrest. If you resist, even if you are innocent of the charges for which you are arrested, you could be charged with resisting arrest. If the officer does not conform to the requirements of a legal arrest, you should still allow yourself to be taken into custody without resistance. If this happens, you may be entitled to bring an action against the law enforcement officer for false arrest.
Re:Bad move (Score:2, Informative)
Re:ignorance of your own rights (Score:3, Informative)
Those are good questions, and I really don't have the answers. From TSA's website (http://www.tsa.gov/who_we_are/what_is_tsa.shtm):
"We are the Transportation Security Administration, formed immediately following the tragedies of Sept. 11. Our agency is a component of the Department of Homeland Security and is responsible for security of the nation's transportation systems.
"With our state, local and regional partners, we oversee security for the highways, railroads, buses, mass transit systems, ports and the 450 U.S. airports. We employ approximately 50,000 people from Alaska to Puerto Rico to ensure your travels - by plane, train, automobile or ferry â" are safe and secure."
They are definitely acting on behalf of the federal government (as part of the DHS). I am not sure what recourse you'd have if they'd denied you access to air travel.
Whether they are trained or not in constitutional issues, that is irrelevant. It's up to you to be, as a free citizen, as you put it.
Walking out of any security related situation without permission is generally a bad idea (IMHO). Always ask permission ("Am I free to go?"). You can always sue later to attempt to redress an illegal detention.
Finally, you may want to look at some of these videos, and start your search from there:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8167533318153586646&hl=en [google.com]
http://www.youtube.com/user/CheckpointUSA [youtube.com]
Re:Proof please. (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Paging Ron Paul... (Score:3, Informative)
That guy's name is Steve Bierfeldt, and he is suing TSA with the help of the ACLU. A synopsis from CNN (posted by Steve himself) can be found here [campaignforliberty.com].
Steve is in a much better position because he has the recording of the incident. This guy probably won't be able to get very far, if indeed this is more than a publicity stunt.
Re:Proof please. (Score:5, Informative)
Wrong. Most of the folks who were against the civil rights abuses by the Bush administration are just as much against the continuation of these abuses by the current one. Now, let's face it... You won't hear a lot of us in the MSM, who like to focus on the blue-dogs and other gutless Republican fellow travelers who rolled over for these abuses, but out here in the Interwebs and in certain parts of MSNBC (I'm looking at you Maddow!) the left is still screaming about it. You can check out this guy's columns [salon.com], for one. There are many more.
Re:Reichstag Fire Vs 9/11 (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Proof please. (Score:5, Informative)
You are wrong, mind-numbingly, disturbingly, incomprehensibly wrong. It's as though you just commented in all seriousness that the sun and the moon are the same thing. Not only are you wrong now, but you are wrong in the past and almost certainly the future. You are wrong on so throughly, so completely, that whenever I try to write a cohesive rebuttal my mind falls dizzyingly lurches into a dark chasm where the word "What?" echoes endlessly into the void.
The fact that you have been modded +5 insightful is a thought too painful to bear. I think I need to go lie down.
This boils down to "You are wrong" (without the slightest attempt at justification or explanation). Since when did telling someone "you are wrong" very forcefully and repetitiously merit being modded up to "5 Insightful"? More specifically, where is the insight?
Ironically, the only explanation I can think of is "mob mentality" on the part of the moderators. They agreed with the poster, so modded his reply Insightful for no other reason.