"Raid" on TSA checkpoint at Manchester Airport

[Dave Ridley]

OK; as you may know, Cathleen and I did a "silent demonstration marathon" on Friday (Sept. 22nd).  We peacefully ?raided" six bureaucrat offices or checkpoints in Manchester and Concord.   I will report on each separately, and Cathleen is posting separate reports.

I showed up neatly dressed in biz-casual stuff as usual so I don't look like a hippie or militia guy or something.  Our firs stop was the TSA passenger checkpoint at Manchester airport.   There is a set of stairs which leads up to a publicly accessible platform, from which it is easy to be seen by almost everyone at the checkpoint.  So I headed up there and held a sign that said

Dear TSA:
Water possession
is a human right
NHfree.com

Cathleen stayed about 40 yards away and observed the reactions.  I really appreciated her being there.  A lot of TSA people seemed to be on their cell phones and glancing at me.    A police officer standing near me didn't do anything for the first two minutes or so, didn't even seem to be paying attention to me.  But about four minutes after I opened the sign a Londonderry officer approached me from behind and said "good morning!"  I nodded at him respectfully.  His badge said something like C Morl or M Corl I'm not sure which.  He asked me if I had any flights inbound or outbound.  I didn't respond except by handing him my flyer, which reads something like this:

--------
Msg. for TSA:  The natives are restless

I have the right to remain silent.  TSA officials have the right to stop banning water and other harmless items.

Is it right, in the name of disaster prevention, to stop people from possessing the one item most needed in a disaster?  Is it possible you are doing what the terrorists want?   That they have discovered there's no need to blow up anything...that all they have to do is scare the TSA into hurting people for them?

If you are a Manchester Airport official or a local TSA person reading this, please, become part of the solution, not the problem.  Let Washington know about the difficulties  passengers here are having with the current regimen and the new risks it's creating.   Ask permission to loosen up and cut costs.  In the meantime, please do everything you can within their guidelines to stay out of passengers' way and respect their privacy.   Request an end to these latest one-size-fits-all restrictions.  Speak out against new ones.

Over the long haul, I look forward to the day when each of you is employed by an airline or non-governmental airport, rather than an unconstitutional monopoly.   A company which the government does not bail out if it allows a terrorist attack.  A company which does not make it impractical for pilots to arm themselves.   A company which competes with others to find the safest, most convenient way to handle security.  A company which does not accept, and then waste, taxpayer dollars the way TSA does.

Please tell Washington the natives are restless in Live Free or Die country.  Because we are.

Respectfully,


Your neighbors at NHfree.com
--------------------------------------------

He looked at it a bit and said something like "well I don't think you're going to be able to stay here very long.  You don't have flights in or out. You haven't told me whether your intensions are peaceful or not.  I want you to leave."  Then he started telling telling me why the security procedures were great.  He said something like "everything's secured here and we don't have any problems over there on that side," pointing to the area on the other side of the checkpoint.  My understanding is they also didn't have any problems back when they had zero taxpayer funded security, but of course I didn't point that out to him.

He tried to hand the flyer back to me but I refused to take it.  So he held on to it. 

While he was talking I started my "leaving process," and since I was a hundred yards from the nearest exit, this was destined to take a while.   I started going down the stairs backwards with the sign pointed at him.    In the past when I did this I used to get scared enough to start shaking just standing there.  Now I only shake when I am walking backward down stairs for some reason.   So I was shaking for the first minute or so, but Cathleen seems to indicate it wasn't noticeable.   I think it is ok for them to see you are scared in any case as long as they realize you're not a threat and not going to do everything you tell them. 

He said "there are a lot better ways to get your point across, by the way."  He told me I was making myself look like a retard or moron, something like that.  I don't think I reacted to this.  After we got to the bottom of the stairs he said something like "now turn around and get out of here!"  I looked at him but didn't turn around.  I don't try to stare them down or put on any angry expressions, but it's good to make eye contact.   After about two minutes of backing up we were near the entrance to the checkpoint.  In visible frustration he reached out and snatched my sign.   Now he has both my sign and my flyer, nice!  Hopefully this will give a few more bureaucrats the chance to look them both over LOL.   On the downside, this meant that from here on out none of the observers could tell why I was being backed out.  Next time I need the NHfree.com URL all over my shirt I guess.

At some point in here a second officer seemed to become involved, and Morl/Corl told him something like "Please tell the captain I'm going to be escorting this gentleman out of the building."

About the point where we got to the escalator area, he said something like "if you come back into the building I'm going to arrest you."   When I didn't respond he started trying to persuade me to respond.  He said nod your head yes or no...you understand you are not to come back?   I never did respond to this.   He sounded as though he was saying I could never come back, but somehow I don't think they would have a problem with me flying.   If they do that would be kind of fun because then I would be relieved of all responsibility to travel by air, which I hate anyway LOL.  Maybe some of my folks would move to New Hampshire instead of me having to go to them every six months  

Anyway, Cathleen kept up her quiet observation but didn't seem to have any contact with anyone.

The officer was still determined to make his point about me not coming back, he shouted to one of the other Londonderry officers something like "you hear what I am telling this gentleman?  He is not to come back or he will be arrested."

I didn't take the escalator itself but instead went down the regular stairs. He kept telling me to turn around and walk out and I think he said "come on, let's go!"  But eventually he gave that up.  At the foot of the stairs I turned to go out the furthest exit, but he didn't like that and directed me toward the main exit.  I decided this was reasonable since there was some heavier incoming foot traffic in the other direction, which I might interfere with.  I nodded assent.

Lady came up and told him she had "a security concern."  Another officer was standing nearby and Morl/Corl delegated this (presumably more legitimate) problem to that officer. 

He asked me if I had a vehicle.  He asked if I was going to get in it and drive away.  He said that I should do so.  He tried to get me to nod or shake my head, but no luck on that one.

He never asked my identity, and neither did any of people who we had contact with during our six "raids" on Friday.

After we got outside he said look out there's something behind you.  I looked behind me, and there was nothing.  I turned back and grinned at him, and he grinned back, the whole tension came to an end.  I reached out my hand, which he shook, as his demeanor completely changed.  He said something like "take care."   And he seemed to mean it.

[Kat Kanning]

Wow Dave, that's great!

It's funny they let Russell stay there with a sign but made you leave.  Did they ask Russell to leave and he just didn't...I don't remember.

[Russell Kanning]

They asked me if I had permission .... but never made me get it.

That is really great. This guy took your sign and everything? Man ... they are tightly wound.

[polyanarch]

Great story.  Keep up the good work. 

[mvpel]

Next time, get yourselves a CVS single-use video camera, and arrange something to hang it around your neck.  We'd love to see videos of all this.

[Insurgent]

Awesome.

I don't think they can take your sign, though. A cop once tried to take a sign from me, but later ended up having to give it back. This happened a couple years ago when I shut down a speed trap in my native Minnesota.

The cops had at least six squads all parked on a traffic island at the bottom of a hill where the posted speed limit is 30mph. One officer would stand in a lane of traffic and shoot the laser at vehicles as they came over the crest of the hill then would stand there and make the vehicle stop and pull off to the right turn lane. Then the next cop would take his place and repeat. They even had a tow truck on premises so that they could tow vehicles after going on a "fishing trip."

After getting stopped and ticketed there, I went home and made a large sign that said "Speed Trap Ahead $" got on my bike and rode back to the scene of the crime. I stood on the sidewalk at the top of the hill and held the sign while motioning for motorists to slow down. For 45 minutes I essentially shut the trap down, then a Minneapolis cop came rolling up.

The big orangutang demanded to see my license, but I responded that I wasn't driving. At that he point he barked "let me see it anyways!" Since the Supreeme Court had just ruled that one can be arrested for refusing to identify oneself on the street, I complied. He also demanded my sign, as evidence.

He sat in his squad for ten minutes running my license and talking to dispatch to see what they could cite me on. Eventually he came back and returned my license and sign. He said that I might be getting a ticket in the mail for "distracting traffic" but I replied that I wouldn't be receiving any such ticket as I was well within my rights to be doing this.

He remarked that I seemed disgruntled and that there were other ways to protest. I reminded him that what this speed trap was about is raising revenue for the City of Minneapolis, not about safety. He didn't like that so much; yelling that "we do this to change driving behavior!"

By that point it was getting dark and it looked like the cops were wrapping it up, so I left. In that span of 45 minutes I figure that I "cost" the City at least $5,000 in lost revenue.

Point being, the sign is your property!

[Dave Ridley]

I go in expecting to lose whatever I am carrying.  Since I only spend 90 seconds and 50 cents on each sign, and since I want them to lose their temper and so something silly, I see no problem with one of them finally losing it and grabbing the sign in frustration.

[Russell Kanning]

Awesome.

I don't think they can take your sign, though.

They did.

[Michael Fisher]

Great work, Dave. 

You even complied with his demand to leave -- eventually. 

[aries]

Man one day I want to spot you in public in an encounter with a cop... I've got some great words saved up.

[KBCraig]

Awesome.

I don't think they can take your sign, though.

They did.

Good point. "Can" != "may".

[Russell Kanning]

Man one day I want to spot you in public in an encounter with a cop... I've got some great words saved up.

You can do it any time you like.

[Recumbent ReCycler]

[polyanarch]

Two by two, hands of blue...

[error]

Two by two, hands of blue...

Oh, you're still around! Welcome back. I thought you'd gotten dragged off to Gitmo or something!