'Idiot' barb gets passenger detained

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

discussed here before

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A Wisconsin man who wrote "Kip Hawley is an Idiot" on a plastic bag containing toiletries said he was detained at an airport security checkpoint for about 25 minutes before authorities concluded the statement was not a threat.

Ryan Bird, 31, said he wrote the comment about Hawley -- head of the Transportation Security Administration -- as a political statement. He said he feels the TSA is imposing unreasonable rules on passengers while ignoring bigger threats.

A TSA spokeswoman acknowledged a man was stopped, but likened the incident to cases in which people inappropriately joke about bombs. She said the man was "a little combative" and that he was detained only a few minutes.

The incident has ignited some chatter on Internet travel Web sites. More than 83,000 people have clicked on a FlyerTalk.com forum devoted to the episode, and the forum has grown to include 30 pages of comments.

Bird, the vice president of a company that manufactures industrial equipment, said the encounter occurred at Milwaukee Airport on Tuesday, the day the TSA eased restrictions on carry-on liquids, gels and aerosols.

Bird entered the airport checkpoint with a see-through resealable bag containing small containers of toothpaste, deodorant, mouthwash and hair gel -- in keeping with new TSA requirements.

"My level of frustration with the TSA and their idiotic policies has grown over 2 ½ years," he said. "I'm frustrated that poorly trained TSA people can pull random passengers out of line and pat them down like common criminals. The average traveler has no recourse."

Bird put the marked bag in a plastic tray along with his shoes and cell phone. A TSA screener saw the bag and went to get a supervisor, who grabbed it and asked Bird if it was his.

"It was obvious that he was already angry," Bird said, adding that the screener told him, "You can't write things like that."

The supervisor told Bird he had the right to express his opinions "out there" -- pointing outside the screening area -- but did not have the right "in here," Bird said.

The supervisor called a sheriff's deputy, who checked to see if Bird had any warrants for his arrest, Bird said. Bird asked the officer if he was under arrest, and was told that he was being detained, he said.

A supervisor said he was going to confiscate the bag, but after Bird refused, he just photographed it, Bird said.

Bird said he filed a complaint about the incident with the TSA.

A TSA spokeswoman said she could not confirm whether Bird had filed a complaint, but described the incident as insignificant.

Screeners looked at the bag to "make sure it wasn't anything like a bomb threat," she said. She said the man was "a little combative" and that a law enforcement officer came over, briefly interviewed him and determined that he hadn't broken any laws.

"Everyone's entitled to their own opinion," she said.

A spokeswoman for the Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office said the TSA did call the sheriff's office to report an upset customer at the checkpoint. A deputy went to the scene, interviewed all of the participants, ran a wanted check on the man, and referred it back to the TSA after determining no crime had been committed, Deputy Darice Landon said.

Landon said the original call came at 2:21 p.m., and it was unclear how long the man was detained. There is no indication that he was combative, she said.

http://edition.cnn.com/2006/US/09/28/idiot.baggie/index.html

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Bloody jobsworths

[michellek1976 0]

I can't believe people are so mad about the inconvenience of extra safety precautions when flying. Have they forgotten September 11 already? The threat is as strong as ever. Personally I am thankful when security do a thorough check before I board a plane.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

I can't believe people are so mad about the inconvenience of extra safety precautions when flying. Have they forgotten September 11 already? The threat is as strong as ever. Personally I am thankful when security do a thorough check before I board a plane.

A thorough check resulting from genuine suspicion, not because some "little Napoleon" wants to use his peanut of power for personal reasons.

[michellek1976 0]

I can't believe people are so mad about the inconvenience of extra safety precautions when flying. Have they forgotten September 11 already? The threat is as strong as ever. Personally I am thankful when security do a thorough check before I board a plane.

A thorough check resulting from genuine suspicion, not because some "little Napoleon" wants to use his peanut of power for personal reasons.

True, but he got the attention he was seeking.

I'm not American, I've never heard of the acronym TSA or Kip Hawley - is it really that newsworthy?

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

I can't believe people are so mad about the inconvenience of extra safety precautions when flying. Have they forgotten September 11 already? The threat is as strong as ever. Personally I am thankful when security do a thorough check before I board a plane.

A thorough check resulting from genuine suspicion, not because some "little Napoleon" wants to use his peanut of power for personal reasons.

True, but he got the attention he was seeking.

I'm not American, I've never heard of the acronym TSA or Kip Hawley - is it really that newsworthy?

Probably not, but seems like a waste of the TSA's time to indulge some sort of personal grudge as opposed to being concenred with genuine security issues.

There's already been issues with the TSA bag screenings, last year the TSA conducted an internal investigation of its people at the Ontario airport in CA (for one) where certain of its staff were found to be "removing" items from peoples bags - digital cameras, ipods etc. Now at least if you do "lose" anything you can be compensated for it - as opposed to "we have the right to rifle through your stuff, but are not responsible for what happens to it as a result".

[Saddle Bronc 124]

...I'm not American, I've never heard of the acronym TSA or Kip Hawley - is it really that newsworthy?

For US (or Canuck) "mainstream" media, such bakvas is newsworthy; anywhere else, it might be printed if they have a place in "briefs" to fill up.

[michellek1976 0]

Bakvas??

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

I can't believe people are so mad about the inconvenience of extra safety precautions when flying. Have they forgotten September 11 already? The threat is as strong as ever. Personally I am thankful when security do a thorough check before I board a plane.

That's your opinion. Ryan Bird had his opinion on the outside of a plastic bag. See... the first ammendment works.

One of his gripes was that you couldn't take bottled water (or any liquid) bought in the secure area of the airport onto the plane. This was a stupid rule and now has been changed.