Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Wake Up America !: TSA - The American Gestapo / KGB !
Wake Up America !: TSA - The American Gestapo / KGB !: "The events described below should make any American livid and outraged given how our rights as US Citizens are being taken away. No Ameri..."
TSA - The American Gestapo / KGB !
The events described below should make any American livid and outraged given how our rights as US Citizens are being taken away.
No American should be subjected to what my 7 year old son and I were subjected to by an inept Portland Maine TSA.
In the name of "security of the home land" TSA is allowed to use Gestapo / KGB tactics in harrasing American Citizens at the nations 450 airports.
WE ARE NOT AS FREE IN AMERICA AS THEY WANT US TO BELIEVE THAT WE ARE ! WHAT HAPPENED TO MY SON AND I CAN EASILY HAPPEN TO YOU TOO !
WAKE UP AMERICA !
TSA HQ, TSA2
ATTN: 49 CFR 1503.3 Reports
601 South 12th Street
Arlington, Va. 20598-6002
Dear Sir / Ma’am,
Sunday, July 10, 2011 my 7 year old son and I after getting our boarding passes for USAIR Flight 1663 (Portland, Maine to Charlotte, NC) proceeded to the TSA Security area for screening . Our flight from Portland, Maine to Charlotte, North Carolina had a scheduled 8:00 AM departure. We arrived at security approximately 7:15 AM. Our carry on bags were put onto the belt for inspection by TSA Agents along with our shoes and laptop computer. I had to be personally checked because my titanium knee replacement set off the metal detectors.
While this was being done, one of the TSA Agents told me that they needed to remove items from one of my carry-on bags which had electronic items in it (car radar detector, car GPS unit, charger cables for cigarette and electrical outlets, ipod, digital camera, binoculars). I told the agent that this was fine / okay.
The agent upon removing the items found a Yoshi Blade ceramic kitchen knife in the bag. I told her that I had used the knife just last night for cutting up vegetables for our dinner……I did not realize that I had inadvertently put it in that particular bag after using it. She advised me that the knife had to be either put in my checked luggage or it had to remain with TSA. I told her that I would exit security and take the knife to put it in my checked baggage. When I asked her could I please do that now since it was 7:30 she told me that I had to wait until they finished screening my bags. Another Agent then stepped up and said that the knife had to be confiscated since the blade of the knife was over 3.5 inches long.
Confused by the conflicting TSA Agent comments about the knife, I asked what do you mean ? The Agent said that the knife was not even allowed to be in checked baggage. I commented that I did not understand why this was so since the bag was checked and for this reason there was no access to the bag until it was picked up at baggage claim upon arrival at my final destination. This seemed strange to me since the knife was brought from Dallas to Portland on June 30th on USAIR flights 1840 (DFW to Charlotte) and USAIR 1118 (Charlotte to Portland) in my checked baggage which went through security when I checked it at Dallas DFW.
I asked how do I get my property back then ? The Agent told me that TSA would have to keep the knife. I then asked if I could leave the name of my friend in Maine with TSA and could they give the knife to him when he came by their airport office.....I was told by the agent that this could not be done. I then asked could they mail the knife to me.......I paid 20$ for it and it was brand new..........they said no. I commented so you just take my property and keep it and I have no option of getting my property back.........they said that they had to confiscate and keep the knife per TSA rules because the blade was longer than 3.5 inches.
I then requested to speak to a supervisor. While I was discussing this with the TSA supervisor a USAIR supervisor (Juana) approached me and said that the plane was completely boarded and they were waiting for my son and I. She told me that the doors would be closed in 5 minutes for push back so we immediately needed to go to the gate to get on the plane. I asked the Portland TSA female supervisor for her name and identification information which she efused to give me. She wrote down the number to the Portland TSA office (207 541 2605) only.
I was warned again by the USAIR ticket agent (Juana) that the doors to the flight would close in two minutes. We quickly left headed to board the flight with our TSA CHECKED carry on bags. The USAIR ticket agent (Juana) escorted my son and I onto the flight and to our seats in first class (seats 2A / 2C). She along with one of the flight attendants assisted me in putting the electronics bag and my computer bag in the overhead where they remained until we arrived at our Charlotte, North Carolina destination. Since the overhead storage areas were full, the USAIR ticket agent (Juana) gate checked one bag. My son's Texas Longhorn backpack, his cars suitcase with books, toys in it, a plastic supermarket bag which had three bags of popcorn in it and my small Man bag were all put under the seats in front of us. My son and I settled back for what was a pleasant one hour, 45 minute flight to Charlotte.
My son got up from his seat once to use the bathroom. I never got out of my seat until we arrived in Charlotte. The TSA cleared carry-on bags remained in the overhead storage bins untouched by me and / or my son the entire duration of the flight.
When the plane landed and pulled up to the gate, my son and I along with everyone else remained seated until the seatbelt sign was turned off. At that point, we stood up as did everyone else on the aircraft to get our bags out of the overhead storage in preparation to deplane in Charlotte. We were all standing ready and waiting for the doors of the aircraft to open so that we could exit the aircraft.
When the doors did open, someone outside of the aircraft told the flight attendant to tell everyone to sit back down. That person then announced this over the PA system. He asked if the two passengers in seats 2A / 2C would please stand and exit the aircraft while everyone else remained seated.
I wondered what in the world was going on ? When my son and I got to the aircraft door I saw 2 policemen and several TSA Agents, and a tall gentlemen in a suit standing by the door. I immediately asked the police………..“is there some kind of problem” ? The tall gentleman in the suit proceeded to tell me that TSA Charlotte had been notified by telephone by TSA Portland that I had boarded the aircraft with two knives in my carry-on bags. I immediately commented that I was checked thoroughly in Portland by TSA and that they cleared my son and I to get on the flight. I also mentioned that a knife had been confiscated by TSA in Portland during the security screening before we boarded. I was very confused wondering why TSA Portland had called TSA Charlotte to have the police and Charlotte TSA Agents standing at the door of the plane waiting for my son and I while making all of the other passengers remain seated. Shocked at what was happening, I asked the gentleman in the suit....WHY did TSA Portland knowingly let me board the aircraft with prohibited items that they obviously knew were in my bags given their telephone call to Charlotte. ????????
The gentleman commented......…“he and the others were just doing their job in response to the telephone call that they had received from Portland“. He then asked me where were the knives to which I commented, “I am not aware of any knives in my bags particularly since TSA Portland had taken in my judgment and INORDINATE amount of time (from 7:15 until 7:58) going through our carry on bags“. He then asked me if they could search my bags......I told him yes and commented again that “they had already been thoroughly checked by TSA Portland“.
In less than one minute, one of the agents found a SMALL leatherman's tool (a SMALL fold up tool that is a SMALL pair of pliers with a phillips head screwdriver, flat head screwdriver, and a VERY SMALL knife blade) and a SMALL matching pocket knife.
These items were found in the same electronics bag which a very tall Portland female TSA Agent had removed all of the items from and resent back through the x-ray machine when we were screened in Portland. I know that she removed everything from the bag because she asked me if I wanted to put everything back in the bag that she had taken out and sent back through the x-ray machine. I politely said to her………”no, YOU removed the items from the bag, YOU can put them back in the bag.
These items had come from Dallas DFW to Portland on June 30, 2011 in a TSA inspected carry-on bag on USAIR Flights 1840 and 1118 in the very same electronics bag in the very same place in the bag that they were so EASILY found in Charlotte on July 10, 2011.
HOW did TSA Portland miss finding these items since Charlotte TSA found them so easily and so quickly ?
WHY did Portland TSA allow my son and I to get on the airplane if they knew that these two items were in my carry-on ?
Are these items even prohibited items given their size ?
Everyone that were standing there watching (Charlotte Police, TSA personnel, airline personnel) can attest to how quickly and easily these items were found, to the point that it really brings into question WHY and HOW TSA Portland missed seeing and finding them ???????????? They obviously saw SOMETHING given that they telephoned Charlotte to have my son and I singled out for carrying prohibited items onto the flight vs. taking the items before we boarded the aircraft in Portland. The question clearly, is why did they do this ??????
There was nothing else found in any of my carry on bags. There were not TWO KNIVES in any of my bags as reported in the telephone call from Portland TSA to Charlotte TSA.........for the record, what was found was one SMALL leatherman's tool and a SMALL matching pocket knife !
I was then told to remove my shoes and belt and to raise my arms to be pat searched on the gangway. I asked WHY..........the plane has landed, I am outside the airplane at my destination hoping to head to baggage claim to get my checked bags ! Furthermore, I was already checked by TSA Portland before I boarded the airplane.............why are you humiliating me this way in front of my son and a whole airplane full of people ! I have done nothing but sit in my seat and had a pleasant flight up until this point. My son started crying which greatly angered me and made me feel even that much more outraged and humiliated by this grand production that had been staged as if I was Osama Bin Laden !
The Policeman and the gentleman in the suit both said to me as I stood there with tears in my eyes that they were sorry about this and that they were only doing their job because of the call from Portland. After they did a body search and found absolutely NOTHING they told my son and I that we could exit the gangway.
I then asked could I have my property back since we had already landed in Charlotte and it was taken outside of the airplane. The tall gentleman told me that it could not be given directly back to me……….it could however, be mailed to my home address in Allen, Texas. I immediately wondered why these items could be mailed to me but my brand new YOSHI Blade ceramic knife that was confiscated in Portland could not be mailed to me per Portland TSA ???????
I followed the tall gentleman from the gate to provide my home address so the items could be mailed. While we were walking, I expressed to him how outraged I was by what had happened and how unnecessary and over the top this whole thing was. He commented, that this was the reason that he was retiring from TSA………….he had gotten tired and weary of situations like this.
He gave the items to a female TSA agent telling her to get my address so that the items could be shipped to my home address. She instructed me to fill out the form and then she said that there was a charge for shipping the items to Texas. I asked her how much ? She replied $12 for each item for a total of $24 for both. Not pleased with this, I commented to her that both items could easily fit in a package the size of an empty cigarette pack and that I could go to any post office in the USA and ship both of these items back to my home in Texas for $5 to $10 tops.......…“why such an exorbitant shipping fee” ? She quickly explained that TSA did not do the shipping, that a private company was contracted to do this and that this was their price.
I was not happy about nor in agreement to paying such an exorbitant price to have MY property shipped to my home. I told her to just keep them because I had only paid $15 for the set at Home Depot.
My son was still crying and visibly shaken up by the grand production that had been staged by TSA. A female TSA agent came over to him and hugged him and said.........you nor your Daddy did anything wrong........I thanked her for her acknowledgement and what appeared to be a disgusted look on her face regarding what had been done to us on that exit ramp from the airplane. I then went to baggage claim to get my bags and to leave the airport.
I am not pleased at all with how I was treated as described above. My 7 year old son is still asking me why they just took our property and why did they do this to us as he struggles to understand what we did to deserve this type of treatment ?
Given Portland TSA’s failure to PROPERLY do their job which resulted in me being cleared to board the aircraft with SUPPOSEDLY prohibited items, (?) I am entitled to at a minimum, a formal written apology from TSA………………PARTICULARLY TSA PORTLAND, Maine.
While I understand why the Yoshi blade ceramic knife had to be surrendered in Portland, I do not accept not being given any options to get my property back. The conflicting comments regarding the disposition of the knife by TSA Agents in Portland clearly indicated to me that the Agents had different understandings of WHATEVER the rules ACTUALLY were / are.
Again on June 30, 2011, that same Yoshi Blade knife had traveled from Dallas DFW to Portland in checked bags which were inspected by TSA Dallas DFW before being loaded onto the flights to our final destination Portland, Maine. This directly contradicts what I was told by Portland TSA that the knife was not even allowed to be in checked baggage ???? ?
I am still trying to understand the logic of this given the fact that the bag is totally inaccessible to me and anyone on the airplane since checked baggage is stored in the cargo hole of the aircraft ?????????????
Everyone who saw what took place including the TSA agents who were involved in this in Charlotte, the two Charlotte Policemen, along with USAIR personnel shared their disgust while apologizing to me for this entire RIDICULOUS incident which was created simply because Portland TSA failed to properly do their job !
A formal written apology to my son and I is clearly in order as well as replacement of my property.
Portland and Charlotte TSA should also formally apologize to passengers on USAIR Flight 1663 for unnecessarily holding people on the aircraft for approximately 30 minutes while the events described herein took place right outside the aircraft’s door on the exit ramp. I request that TSA admit that they had made a mistake in singling my son and I out as they did !
I anxiously await TSA’s formal written response to this complaint !
___________________________________
Robert F. McCarthy
:rfm
No American should be subjected to what my 7 year old son and I were subjected to by an inept Portland Maine TSA.
In the name of "security of the home land" TSA is allowed to use Gestapo / KGB tactics in harrasing American Citizens at the nations 450 airports.
WE ARE NOT AS FREE IN AMERICA AS THEY WANT US TO BELIEVE THAT WE ARE ! WHAT HAPPENED TO MY SON AND I CAN EASILY HAPPEN TO YOU TOO !
WAKE UP AMERICA !
TSA HQ, TSA2
ATTN: 49 CFR 1503.3 Reports
601 South 12th Street
Arlington, Va. 20598-6002
Dear Sir / Ma’am,
Sunday, July 10, 2011 my 7 year old son and I after getting our boarding passes for USAIR Flight 1663 (Portland, Maine to Charlotte, NC) proceeded to the TSA Security area for screening . Our flight from Portland, Maine to Charlotte, North Carolina had a scheduled 8:00 AM departure. We arrived at security approximately 7:15 AM. Our carry on bags were put onto the belt for inspection by TSA Agents along with our shoes and laptop computer. I had to be personally checked because my titanium knee replacement set off the metal detectors.
While this was being done, one of the TSA Agents told me that they needed to remove items from one of my carry-on bags which had electronic items in it (car radar detector, car GPS unit, charger cables for cigarette and electrical outlets, ipod, digital camera, binoculars). I told the agent that this was fine / okay.
The agent upon removing the items found a Yoshi Blade ceramic kitchen knife in the bag. I told her that I had used the knife just last night for cutting up vegetables for our dinner……I did not realize that I had inadvertently put it in that particular bag after using it. She advised me that the knife had to be either put in my checked luggage or it had to remain with TSA. I told her that I would exit security and take the knife to put it in my checked baggage. When I asked her could I please do that now since it was 7:30 she told me that I had to wait until they finished screening my bags. Another Agent then stepped up and said that the knife had to be confiscated since the blade of the knife was over 3.5 inches long.
Confused by the conflicting TSA Agent comments about the knife, I asked what do you mean ? The Agent said that the knife was not even allowed to be in checked baggage. I commented that I did not understand why this was so since the bag was checked and for this reason there was no access to the bag until it was picked up at baggage claim upon arrival at my final destination. This seemed strange to me since the knife was brought from Dallas to Portland on June 30th on USAIR flights 1840 (DFW to Charlotte) and USAIR 1118 (Charlotte to Portland) in my checked baggage which went through security when I checked it at Dallas DFW.
I asked how do I get my property back then ? The Agent told me that TSA would have to keep the knife. I then asked if I could leave the name of my friend in Maine with TSA and could they give the knife to him when he came by their airport office.....I was told by the agent that this could not be done. I then asked could they mail the knife to me.......I paid 20$ for it and it was brand new..........they said no. I commented so you just take my property and keep it and I have no option of getting my property back.........they said that they had to confiscate and keep the knife per TSA rules because the blade was longer than 3.5 inches.
I then requested to speak to a supervisor. While I was discussing this with the TSA supervisor a USAIR supervisor (Juana) approached me and said that the plane was completely boarded and they were waiting for my son and I. She told me that the doors would be closed in 5 minutes for push back so we immediately needed to go to the gate to get on the plane. I asked the Portland TSA female supervisor for her name and identification information which she efused to give me. She wrote down the number to the Portland TSA office (207 541 2605) only.
I was warned again by the USAIR ticket agent (Juana) that the doors to the flight would close in two minutes. We quickly left headed to board the flight with our TSA CHECKED carry on bags. The USAIR ticket agent (Juana) escorted my son and I onto the flight and to our seats in first class (seats 2A / 2C). She along with one of the flight attendants assisted me in putting the electronics bag and my computer bag in the overhead where they remained until we arrived at our Charlotte, North Carolina destination. Since the overhead storage areas were full, the USAIR ticket agent (Juana) gate checked one bag. My son's Texas Longhorn backpack, his cars suitcase with books, toys in it, a plastic supermarket bag which had three bags of popcorn in it and my small Man bag were all put under the seats in front of us. My son and I settled back for what was a pleasant one hour, 45 minute flight to Charlotte.
My son got up from his seat once to use the bathroom. I never got out of my seat until we arrived in Charlotte. The TSA cleared carry-on bags remained in the overhead storage bins untouched by me and / or my son the entire duration of the flight.
When the plane landed and pulled up to the gate, my son and I along with everyone else remained seated until the seatbelt sign was turned off. At that point, we stood up as did everyone else on the aircraft to get our bags out of the overhead storage in preparation to deplane in Charlotte. We were all standing ready and waiting for the doors of the aircraft to open so that we could exit the aircraft.
When the doors did open, someone outside of the aircraft told the flight attendant to tell everyone to sit back down. That person then announced this over the PA system. He asked if the two passengers in seats 2A / 2C would please stand and exit the aircraft while everyone else remained seated.
I wondered what in the world was going on ? When my son and I got to the aircraft door I saw 2 policemen and several TSA Agents, and a tall gentlemen in a suit standing by the door. I immediately asked the police………..“is there some kind of problem” ? The tall gentleman in the suit proceeded to tell me that TSA Charlotte had been notified by telephone by TSA Portland that I had boarded the aircraft with two knives in my carry-on bags. I immediately commented that I was checked thoroughly in Portland by TSA and that they cleared my son and I to get on the flight. I also mentioned that a knife had been confiscated by TSA in Portland during the security screening before we boarded. I was very confused wondering why TSA Portland had called TSA Charlotte to have the police and Charlotte TSA Agents standing at the door of the plane waiting for my son and I while making all of the other passengers remain seated. Shocked at what was happening, I asked the gentleman in the suit....WHY did TSA Portland knowingly let me board the aircraft with prohibited items that they obviously knew were in my bags given their telephone call to Charlotte. ????????
The gentleman commented......…“he and the others were just doing their job in response to the telephone call that they had received from Portland“. He then asked me where were the knives to which I commented, “I am not aware of any knives in my bags particularly since TSA Portland had taken in my judgment and INORDINATE amount of time (from 7:15 until 7:58) going through our carry on bags“. He then asked me if they could search my bags......I told him yes and commented again that “they had already been thoroughly checked by TSA Portland“.
In less than one minute, one of the agents found a SMALL leatherman's tool (a SMALL fold up tool that is a SMALL pair of pliers with a phillips head screwdriver, flat head screwdriver, and a VERY SMALL knife blade) and a SMALL matching pocket knife.
These items were found in the same electronics bag which a very tall Portland female TSA Agent had removed all of the items from and resent back through the x-ray machine when we were screened in Portland. I know that she removed everything from the bag because she asked me if I wanted to put everything back in the bag that she had taken out and sent back through the x-ray machine. I politely said to her………”no, YOU removed the items from the bag, YOU can put them back in the bag.
These items had come from Dallas DFW to Portland on June 30, 2011 in a TSA inspected carry-on bag on USAIR Flights 1840 and 1118 in the very same electronics bag in the very same place in the bag that they were so EASILY found in Charlotte on July 10, 2011.
HOW did TSA Portland miss finding these items since Charlotte TSA found them so easily and so quickly ?
WHY did Portland TSA allow my son and I to get on the airplane if they knew that these two items were in my carry-on ?
Are these items even prohibited items given their size ?
Everyone that were standing there watching (Charlotte Police, TSA personnel, airline personnel) can attest to how quickly and easily these items were found, to the point that it really brings into question WHY and HOW TSA Portland missed seeing and finding them ???????????? They obviously saw SOMETHING given that they telephoned Charlotte to have my son and I singled out for carrying prohibited items onto the flight vs. taking the items before we boarded the aircraft in Portland. The question clearly, is why did they do this ??????
There was nothing else found in any of my carry on bags. There were not TWO KNIVES in any of my bags as reported in the telephone call from Portland TSA to Charlotte TSA.........for the record, what was found was one SMALL leatherman's tool and a SMALL matching pocket knife !
I was then told to remove my shoes and belt and to raise my arms to be pat searched on the gangway. I asked WHY..........the plane has landed, I am outside the airplane at my destination hoping to head to baggage claim to get my checked bags ! Furthermore, I was already checked by TSA Portland before I boarded the airplane.............why are you humiliating me this way in front of my son and a whole airplane full of people ! I have done nothing but sit in my seat and had a pleasant flight up until this point. My son started crying which greatly angered me and made me feel even that much more outraged and humiliated by this grand production that had been staged as if I was Osama Bin Laden !
The Policeman and the gentleman in the suit both said to me as I stood there with tears in my eyes that they were sorry about this and that they were only doing their job because of the call from Portland. After they did a body search and found absolutely NOTHING they told my son and I that we could exit the gangway.
I then asked could I have my property back since we had already landed in Charlotte and it was taken outside of the airplane. The tall gentleman told me that it could not be given directly back to me……….it could however, be mailed to my home address in Allen, Texas. I immediately wondered why these items could be mailed to me but my brand new YOSHI Blade ceramic knife that was confiscated in Portland could not be mailed to me per Portland TSA ???????
I followed the tall gentleman from the gate to provide my home address so the items could be mailed. While we were walking, I expressed to him how outraged I was by what had happened and how unnecessary and over the top this whole thing was. He commented, that this was the reason that he was retiring from TSA………….he had gotten tired and weary of situations like this.
He gave the items to a female TSA agent telling her to get my address so that the items could be shipped to my home address. She instructed me to fill out the form and then she said that there was a charge for shipping the items to Texas. I asked her how much ? She replied $12 for each item for a total of $24 for both. Not pleased with this, I commented to her that both items could easily fit in a package the size of an empty cigarette pack and that I could go to any post office in the USA and ship both of these items back to my home in Texas for $5 to $10 tops.......…“why such an exorbitant shipping fee” ? She quickly explained that TSA did not do the shipping, that a private company was contracted to do this and that this was their price.
I was not happy about nor in agreement to paying such an exorbitant price to have MY property shipped to my home. I told her to just keep them because I had only paid $15 for the set at Home Depot.
My son was still crying and visibly shaken up by the grand production that had been staged by TSA. A female TSA agent came over to him and hugged him and said.........you nor your Daddy did anything wrong........I thanked her for her acknowledgement and what appeared to be a disgusted look on her face regarding what had been done to us on that exit ramp from the airplane. I then went to baggage claim to get my bags and to leave the airport.
I am not pleased at all with how I was treated as described above. My 7 year old son is still asking me why they just took our property and why did they do this to us as he struggles to understand what we did to deserve this type of treatment ?
Given Portland TSA’s failure to PROPERLY do their job which resulted in me being cleared to board the aircraft with SUPPOSEDLY prohibited items, (?) I am entitled to at a minimum, a formal written apology from TSA………………PARTICULARLY TSA PORTLAND, Maine.
While I understand why the Yoshi blade ceramic knife had to be surrendered in Portland, I do not accept not being given any options to get my property back. The conflicting comments regarding the disposition of the knife by TSA Agents in Portland clearly indicated to me that the Agents had different understandings of WHATEVER the rules ACTUALLY were / are.
Again on June 30, 2011, that same Yoshi Blade knife had traveled from Dallas DFW to Portland in checked bags which were inspected by TSA Dallas DFW before being loaded onto the flights to our final destination Portland, Maine. This directly contradicts what I was told by Portland TSA that the knife was not even allowed to be in checked baggage ???? ?
I am still trying to understand the logic of this given the fact that the bag is totally inaccessible to me and anyone on the airplane since checked baggage is stored in the cargo hole of the aircraft ?????????????
Everyone who saw what took place including the TSA agents who were involved in this in Charlotte, the two Charlotte Policemen, along with USAIR personnel shared their disgust while apologizing to me for this entire RIDICULOUS incident which was created simply because Portland TSA failed to properly do their job !
A formal written apology to my son and I is clearly in order as well as replacement of my property.
Portland and Charlotte TSA should also formally apologize to passengers on USAIR Flight 1663 for unnecessarily holding people on the aircraft for approximately 30 minutes while the events described herein took place right outside the aircraft’s door on the exit ramp. I request that TSA admit that they had made a mistake in singling my son and I out as they did !
I anxiously await TSA’s formal written response to this complaint !
___________________________________
Robert F. McCarthy
:rfm
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