Man detained and harassed at airport for carrying CASH!

reply to post by whoshotJR


I am glad he made an issue of this.
I am glad he recorded the event.
I hope the average traveler listens closely to the way he was treated, and the way he reacted.

reply to post by spacedoubt


Star for you! We must fight, peacefully as this man did!
He did the only right thing...!

Originally posted by The Nighthawk


Not saying they aren't wrong. I'm just saying that the way this whole thing is set up right now, one can't really expect anything resembling serious efficiency and consistently appropriate response.

Then I would say that is even more reason to hold their feet to the fire.

If we are going to be giving power and authority to people who are not well trained, have no firm leadership and accountability, and are "not the best and the brightest" we are morally obligated to call them onto the carpet for every single violation they commit.

Only under public pressure will the agency make the effort to hire better people, train them well and provide sufficient leadership.

I agree, you get what you pay for, but you also get what they give you unless you complain. We need to let our leaders know that we dont want people who are otherwise only qualified to work in fast food who are on a badge and authority high running amok and violating our rights.

Thats how you get them to take the hiring and pay, and training of their workers seriously. You make it very expensive for them to hire people who are unqualified and high on power.

[edit on 2-4-2009 by Illusionsaregrander]

The last time I flew, I saw someone I recognized in a TSA Uniform.
It took me a few minutes to realize who he was.
He was an ex-coworker of mine, from about 9 years ago, who was fired for incompetence.
They didn't say explicitly that he was incompetent. But after nearly one ENTIRE YEAR of him not catching on to anything, we just assumed that he was.

Originally posted by king9072
reply to post by imd12c4funn

 

They make a great point in the film saying Cash is Freedom. The day we lose cash is truly the day we lose everything. With every single transaction you make being logged, without ever meeting you, an employee of the state could literally know every single thing about you.

What you buy, and where you spend your money is who you are. Bottom line.

Additonally, to lose cash implies that we have gone to digital currency. Implying that every transaction we make is done through some sort of media, rather than something physical. This makes it impossible to earn any money that is not known about by the powers that be. Fixing your buddies brakes for 20$, out the window. Clearing your neighbors driveway of snow for 20$, out the window. You get the drift, it can be applied for thousands of things.

If that's the world that people want to live in, then support the movement against cash. If you want to be able to trade privately with fellow citizens, fight for the right to retain cash.

I got the impression the TSA people just don't know what they are doing or what their boundaries are. Especially if an FBI agent walks up and tells them to let him go. Not sure if it's anything more than that.

delius

Last time I checked the legal tender for all debts in this country was dollars, not plastic. You are not legally required to carry a credit card/debt slavery ID in place of it.

When I bought my car the guy was stunned I paid in cash. Why is that so unusual? No one can do anything anymore without a bank, it's pathetic. No wonder they have us by the balls.

Originally posted by whoshotJR
If you listen the guy was clearly trying to make an issue out of this. They say in the background he was causing issues when they were trying to get him through the normal check lines before they even brought him in there.

A guy that was acting out of sorts has 5,000 dollars in a box and is trying to not answer questions. If he would have just said hey I made it this weekend selling books and bumper stickers ( yeah right), they would have let him go.

This guy will probably be getting a checkup from the IRS also. Somebody making that much money over a weekend in cash alone probably isn't claiming it all.

He sounds like that guy who purposely drove through a border checkpoint and refused to answer questions asked of him, till they made him pull over to the side, all the while being a twat by ignorantly asking the same thing over and over, KNOWING that a simple yes I am a US citizen would have had him on his way without any hassle.

It's one thing to have an average person who gets caught up in this crap being shown to be a victim of an abusive system's failures, but it's another to go out of your way to ensure that a problem is created in order to play the victim.

Do all of you that carry cash also carry it in a box like this guy said he was? He carried it in a box to try and cause issues. He carried a tape recorder... I mean a brand new phone that just happen to be in his upper pocket that he can slap his chest and it records whats going on....

These are not normal things and I would think acting out of the norm is what the TSA people should be looking for.

When I travel with my Wife we both carry a couple of thousand in cash just in case. I put it on the tray in my wallet and nobody says anything to me. I've never had a problem with anyone ever. They are always polite when they have to do a pat down and look embarrassed. One exception is in Orlando where a couple of TSA guys were jerks. Still they did not do anything to me.

I think in a case where you don't know what took place before or after the recording, you can assume the guy caused it. The problems at airports are way overblown and TSA employees are just normal employees. They are not in on any conspiracy. That is paranoid nonsense and I wonder often if those who throw fits have something to hide. Probably have a bag of weed in their pockets.

I have seen passengers do some pretty scary stuff on a plane. Unfortunately there is no law against crazy people flying. I wish there was a law against loud mouth jerks who won't shut the hell up and abuse the crew.

Originally posted by Blaine91555
When I travel with my Wife we both carry a couple of thousand in cash just in case. I put it on the tray in my wallet and nobody says anything to me. I've never had a problem with anyone ever. They are always polite when they have to do a pat down and look embarrassed. One exception is in Orlando where a couple of TSA guys were jerks. Still they did not do anything to me.

I think in a case where you don't know what took place before or after the recording, you can assume the guy caused it. The problems at airports are way overblown and TSA employees are just normal employees. They are not in on any conspiracy. That is paranoid nonsense and I wonder often if those who throw fits have something to hide. Probably have a bag of weed in their pockets.

I have seen passengers do some pretty scary stuff on a plane. Unfortunately there is no law against crazy people flying. I wish there was a law against loud mouth jerks who won't shut the hell up and abuse the crew.

It's been highlighted and documented in the past that Airline employees are paid for giving tips on passengers that appear to have a large amount of cash. It all goes back to forfeiture laws.

Whether you question the 'victims' motives or not it doesn't matter because what does matter is how he was treated and what was said.

They use high pressure tactics to instill fear in whoever is their subject. Trying to get the person to incriminate themselves. Once this has happened, they simply confiscate the money - if they feel like it. That's why they were threatening to bring in the DEA, cause they wanted to make it about drugs where its even easier to confiscate under proceeds of crime laws.

You'll notice though, whats interesting is that he continually kept asking if he was legally obliged to answer. This is when the agents seem to back down slowly changing the way they spoke, never admitting that he truly WASN'T obligated to answer the questions. Instead of informing him of his rights and asking for cooperation, they refused to acknowledge his rights and instead tried to instill fear that his life could be ruined. Queue the FBI, DEA threats.


It's funny on subjects such as this, the people that defend the agents are people who have never had to deal with such an encounter where they are unfairly singled out, detained and questioned in a threatening manner, no LAW-abiding citizen should have to have that fear. And if you believe they were right, I truly hope you never end up in that situation, cause while your singing like a bird you'll likely be losing your money.

The problem I have with this sort of thing, is that it smacks of something sinister. I have thought for a long time that the financial bigwigs have been trying to eliminate cash as a genuine means of payment, in order to force everyone into getting cards, and debt under thier belts. This is also evidenced by the fact that if you have never been in debt, never taken a loan , never taken out a mortgage, your credit rating will be bad. Not as bad as say someone who has defaulted or payed late consistently, but bad none the less.
If they take from us the legal right to carry cash , doesnt matter where you are from, then that stinks. It reeks of background powermongering and enslavement.

Originally posted by whoshotJR
Do all of you that carry cash also carry it in a box like this guy said he was? He carried it in a box to try and cause issues. He carried a tape recorder... I mean a brand new phone that just happen to be in his upper pocket that he can slap his chest and it records whats going on....

These are not normal things and I would think acting out of the norm is what the TSA people should be looking for.

$5k in cash is a little uncomfortable to sit on, if you know what I mean. If I'm carrying $5,000.00, it's not in my wallet if that's what you're asking.

Originally posted by whoshotJR
Do all of you that carry cash also carry it in a box like this guy said he was? He carried a tape recorder... I mean a brand new phone that just happen to be in his upper pocket that he can slap his chest and it records whats going on....

When I carry more than 20-30 bills (2-3k in hundreds) I usually put them in a bank envelope and place the envelope in my jacket pocket or my carry on bag. I see nothing strange about a box if you’re using it as a pseudo cash register.

I’ve had the same phone for more than 2 years (Motorola V3xx) and it just happens to have a digital recorder function that I use all the time to take notes. I happen to carry it in my upper pocket – though I’d have to have it at the ready for a one button function as it takes two to get it from the menu.


[edit on 4-4-2009 by verylowfrequency]

I listened to the tape and just can't muster the outrage that many on this board claim to profess.

If the TSA asks you simple questions and the only answer that you give is "Am I required by law to answer this question?"

then my opinion is that you are being less than cooperative. Although he states something to the effect that he is cooperating his actions are not in accordance with what he was saying.

If I were a law enforcement official, I would wonder if this was some sort of test that was being done by Internal Affairs.

I would have escalated the situation to a person with more experience and/or authority to make a determination as to what should be done with that individual.

My opinion is that he went into this, prepared to record the situation and so he basically set up the TSA. I think that the TSA handled this pretty well. (At least he didn't get tased or shot)

Originally posted by Wildbob77

My opinion is that he went into this, prepared to record the situation and so he basically set up the TSA.

So what - they didn't have to take the bait and break the law.

I think that the TSA handled this pretty well. (At least he didn't get tased or shot)

Obviously they as you have no respect for the U.S. Constitution or the law as they overstepped their authority. TSA workers are just a step above the janitors cleaning the toilets in the airport - this is what happens when you hire toilet scrubbers as security guards.

[edit on 4-4-2009 by verylowfrequency]

reply to post by Wildbob77


If you tell someone you are willing to co operate with thier requests as long as they make clear your legal obligations in that regard before hand, then you are still being co operative. If the filthy pig scum dont know enough law to answer ONE question "am I legaly required to answer that question?" then theres something going wrong there. And that my friend is why the TSA can eat my gonads.

I was going through Miami airport for my connecting flight and was carrying one of my luggage since it only contained clothes and it was light enough to carry it instead of rolling it. So here I am carrying one(one of those large rolling luggages) and rolling the other with my other hand. I was stopped by the TSA and was asked why I was carrying one of my bags. I couldn't come up with a answer to such a stupid question so I just answered "Because I feel like it".

I was immediately escorted to the side and was literally stared at by a TSA officer for about 2 minutes. I guess he was using his elite interrogation techniques on me, I just stared back snickering at him. I placed both my luggage on the table top without being prompted to do so. The officers first question was "Why did you put your luggage on the table?" , I answered "because your gonna check it". He stared at me for another minute and started asking me the stupidest questions, I did my best not to laugh too hard and answered his questions honestly without sarcasm. I did make my flight after he went through my stuff, so things worked out ok.

My problem is, if I'm a suspect for carrying one of my luggage instead of rolling it, what the hell else can you be antagonized for?