The TSA in Denver has an important job to do but arresting folks for videotaping should not be one them.
Not much info has been yet released on this incident, but what I have learned has already got me very concerned about the legitimacy of the arrest.
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TSA has told the tale this way:
“Denver Airport personnel noticed someone videotaping the security lines. Police then confronted the person with the camera and the three people in line who were being taped. Two of those people did not have IDs or boarding passes. Police arrested the man with the camera and the three people in line. Police say they don’t know what the group was doing. They were arrested on suspicion of interfering with a transportation facility. Security was stopped for a few minutes and police conducted a security sweep but didn’t find any problems.”
Okay, so the police found “no problems”, so it’s safe to assume that most likely some dude was goofing around with his friends- maybe making a video for Youtube, and he decided to goof on TSA by filming the controversial checkpoint.
TSA guards noticed the guy filming, then they confronted him, along with his three friends, and next thing you know- TSA carts away the group of guys for further examination on trumped and obscure charges, which were penned in as: “Suspicion of interfering with a transportation facility.”
As someone who loves to film life “as it happens” I know the random greatness you can catch with a video camera, a cat playing a piano, a kid fresh from dental anesthesia or TSA touching someone’s junk… heck you just never know what gold you might catch on camera! Now thanks to TSA, you can go to jail for having fun! Are you kidding me?
This incident will change these innocent peoples’ lives forever! Not just because they went to jail and spent some time, but also because they have been committed for a crime that doesn’t exist. How do you explain this particular “felony” on your record for your job interview? “Oh, I was just filming on my camera phone at the airport, and then I got arrested.” It sounds like a joke, then you become the joke, then you don’t get the job.
These frivolous arrests must stop now!
Years ago, before 9/11 and during Bush Jr., I remember hearing on talkradio the little known fact the U.S. had just ordered 40,000 prison beds. That was an alarming and unprecedented purchase for the government, so it made me think, what in the world were they gearing up for? Now we know. Every arrest places some poor bastard in the system which in turn greases the sick, demented wheels of government which in turn feeds the bank accounts of the politicians, hey don’t complain, you might get arrested! Yeah, that’s right, a little peep outta ya might randomly land your arse in the slammer. It’s insane.
I guess someone powerful decided arresting people was a fantastic way to make money for the government. No big deal, some soul will simply get whisked away into the cornfield. The Feds have a 87% conviction rate but they don’t seem to get much else right… In the words of the kid awaking from sleep dentistry, “Is this real life?”