"Nightmare at Reagan National Airport: A Security Story to End all Security Stories" (Full Version)

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Vendaval -> "Nightmare at Reagan National Airport: A Security Story to End all Security Stories" (6/18/2007 11:26:26 AM)

"Nightmare at Reagan National Airport: A Security Story to End all Security Stories"
 
  By Bill Adler, June 14, 2007 at 06:10 a.m.

" If you travel enough, you've seen it all -- and possibly some of the awful things that can happen while traveling will have actually happened to you. But nothing I've read about or experienced comes close to what Monica Emmerson experienced while at Reagan National Airport on June 11th while traveling with her 19-month-old toddler. This isn't one of those Catch-22 bureaucratic snafus; this isn't about rules being applied to the letter. This story is mostly about what can happen simply because the authorities in charge decide that they're going to exercise their authority because they can, regardless of whether it's legal or right or makes any sense at all.

And if this can happen to a former law enforcement officer with the United States Secret Service, it can happen to anyone.
The incident started when Monica, who left the Secret Service to raise a family, was stopped while going through airport security because there was water in her son's sippy cup. The sippy cup was seized by TSA. Monica wanted the cup back because the sippy cup was the only way her son would drink -- and it was a long flight between Washington, DC and Reno, Nevada where she was going for a family reunion. If you've ever had a toddler you understand about sippy cups.
So she was willing to spill the water out. Drink the water. Anything -- all that she wanted was to be able to have a cup that her 19-month-old toddler could drink from.

Here's what happened in Monica's words:

"I demanded to speak to a TSA [Transportation Security Administration] supervisor who asked me if the water in the sippy cup was 'nursery water or other bottled water.' I explained that the sippy cup water was filtered tap water. The sippy cup was seized as my son was pointing and crying for his cup. I asked if I could drink the water to get the cup back, and was advised that I would have to leave security and come back through with an empty cup in order to retain the cup. As I was escorted out of security by TSA and a police officer, I unscrewed the cup to drink the water, which accidentally spilled because I was so upset with the situation.

"At this point, I was detained against my will by the police officer and threatened to be arrested for endangering other passengers with the spilled 3 to 4 ounces of water. I was ordered to clean the water, so I got on my hands and knees while my son sat in his stroller with no shoes on since they were also screened and I had no time to put them back on his feet. I asked to call back my fiancé, who I could still see from afar, waiting for us to clear security, to watch my son while I was being detained, and the officer threatened to arrest me if I moved. So I yelled past security to get the attention of my fiancé.

"I was ordered to apologize for the spilled water, and again threatened with arrest. I was threatened several times with arrest while detained, and while three other police officers were called to the scene of the mother with the 19 month old. A total of four police officers and three TSA officers reported to the scene where I was being held against my will. I was also told that I should not disrespect the officer and could be arrested for this too. I apologized to the officer and she continued to detain me despite me telling her that I would miss my flight. The officer advised me that I should have thought about this before I 'intentionally spilled the water!'"

Monica said that the incident ended this way: "I missed my flight, needless to say after being detained for over 40 minutes. After the officer was done humiliating me, I was advised that I could go through the security check point in an attempt to catch my flight. The officer insisted that my son and I be rescreened despite us both being detained and under her control the entire time."

During the weeks and months after 9/11 some passengers who were caught with unidentified fluids while going through airport security were told to drink the liquid (including breast milk) to prove that it wasn't an explosive. In one incident, a fourteen year old boy was ordered to drink water that he was carrying, and it turned out that this was unclean pond water he was carrying for a science project. Monica was more than happy to drink her child's tap water --all three or four ounces of it-- and tried, in fact. But it was the trying and spilling that seems to have escalated this into a situation that required the presence of four TSA officers and three police officers.

TSA found no other security problems with Monica Emmerson. Not even a nail clipper. Just the water and the sippy cup.

TSA's rules allow passengers to take up to three ounces of liquid on board; they also allow parents to take milk or baby formula on board in larger quantities than that, if declared to TSA. But the question that she was asked by TSA --was this "nursery water" in the sippy cup?-- was an unanswerable one, since there's no such thing as nursery water in the TSA regulations, and it's not a generic term.

Monica Emmerson was detained for 45 minutes. She wasn't questioned about possible ties to terrorists. Her carry-on items weren't rigorously searched -- or even searched again. Neither the police nor TSA took any action that indicated that they throught she might be a security risk. She was just detained, harassed and threatened with arrest. All because of a sippy cup with water in it. "

http://www.nowpublic.com/nightmare_at_reagan_national_airport_a_security_story_to_end_all_security_stories




farglebargle -> RE: "Nightmare at Reagan National Airport: A Security Story to End all Security Stories" (6/18/2007 11:31:08 AM)

The people the KGB headquarters... I meant DHS/TSA, freaked out about this.

KGB HQ released some video saying "SHE'S LYING!!!".

Well, there's no audio, so we don't know what was said.






Vendaval -> RE: "Nightmare at Reagan National Airport: A Security Story to End all Security Stories" (6/18/2007 11:37:46 AM)

Right FB, I watched the clips and without the audio we do not know what was said.
But what is obvious is that the mom has to chase after the toddler when he
wanders off a ways and that she is pretty upset by the situation.
Who the hell calls in 3 security officers to deal with a woman with a toddler and a sippy cup? 




philosophy -> RE: "Nightmare at Reagan National Airport: A Security Story to End all Security Stories" (6/18/2007 11:40:24 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Vendaval

Who the hell calls in 3 security officers to deal with a woman with a toddler and a sippy cup? 


..paranoid people trained by even more paranoid people......




farglebargle -> RE: "Nightmare at Reagan National Airport: A Security Story to End all Security Stories" (6/18/2007 11:49:53 AM)

We're not at the point where kowtowing is required, but I suspect it won't be too many more decades before overt indications of abject submission before the Damned Feds will be required...





LadyEllen -> RE: "Nightmare at Reagan National Airport: A Security Story to End all Security Stories" (6/18/2007 12:03:54 PM)

What a shame she doesnt still work in the Secret Service.

If it were me, by crikey I'd make their lives hell, their families' lives hell, their friends' lives hell, their families' friends' lives hell, their friends' families' lives hell..... you get the idea.

But then, I'm a vindictive bitch.

E




Nosathro -> RE: "Nightmare at Reagan National Airport: A Security Story to End all Security Stories" (6/18/2007 12:08:07 PM)

My understanding is that these TSA people are only part-time employees, with only High School diaplomas and are poorly trained.




mnottertail -> RE: "Nightmare at Reagan National Airport: A Security Story to End all Security Stories" (6/18/2007 12:08:09 PM)

We can all sleep the sleep of angels tonight, safe from terroism within our borders, in large part due to the crack troops surrounding our perimeters....

By God, if it was me, I would pistol whip that little toddler, get the real story!!!!

How did we as a collective nation become so fuckin' stupid? 

  




DarkinMindCpl -> RE: "Nightmare at Reagan National Airport: A Security Story to End all Security Stories" (6/18/2007 12:14:38 PM)

Most tsa folks are part time with very little training....The woman that confronted the mother was a metro Wash airport authority police officer, as was the man in the suit.  Ms. Mommy clearly shows her Secret Service credentials (which you don't keep unless you are an active agent)...That being said, although many SS agents have huge egos, she should have known better.....EVERY federal agent goes through a training course on the procedures for flying as a SS agent.




mnottertail -> RE: "Nightmare at Reagan National Airport: A Security Story to End all Security Stories" (6/18/2007 12:15:00 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Nosathro

My understanding is that these TSA people are only part-time employees, with only High School diaplomas and are poorly trained.


First of all let's not disparage a High School Diploma, I don't think an Advanced Degree in sippy cups is required here Nosathro, a fuckin' one year old can figure out how to run them with a little patience.

Ron 




dawntreader -> RE: "Nightmare at Reagan National Airport: A Security Story to End all Security Stories" (6/18/2007 12:23:23 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: mnottertail


First of all let's not disparage a High School Diploma, I don't think an Advanced Degree in sippy cups is required here Nosathro, a fuckin' one year old can figure out how to run them with a little patience.

Ron 


LMAO!!!!!!!!!!![:D]




BeingChewsie -> RE: "Nightmare at Reagan National Airport: A Security Story to End all Security Stories" (6/18/2007 12:32:25 PM)

I sympathize with her plight but my owner and I travel for business several times a month for him and at least every 5 weeks for me. I have been detained with a cat in one arm and my 8 year old in the other...over stupid stuff. I'd rather the inconvenience and overzealousness of the TSA than the alternative. Listen, the rules are simple, 3 ounces of fluid in containers that hold no more than 3 ounces, in a plastic quart size bag, or check it. It is really very simple. I want them to treat everyone as a potential terrorist.

What she should have done was place 3 ounces of her filtered tap water in 3 ounce containers, in a quart ziplock bag, she could of put it in the sippy cup when she got through security. The rules are posted everywhere. So there was nothing in -her- sippy cup but water, they can't take the chance that she is lying and are being paid to not take that chance. She was wrong from the get go.




Vendaval -> RE: "Nightmare at Reagan National Airport: A Security Story to End all Security Stories" (6/18/2007 12:35:04 PM)

ROFLMAO!!!     [sm=biggrin.gif]


quote:

ORIGINAL: mnottertail

quote:

ORIGINAL: Nosathro

My understanding is that these TSA people are only part-time employees, with only High School diaplomas and are poorly trained.


First of all let's not disparage a High School Diploma, I don't think an Advanced Degree in sippy cups is required here Nosathro, a fuckin' one year old can figure out how to run them with a little patience.

Ron 




selfbnd411 -> RE: "Nightmare at Reagan National Airport: A Security Story to End all Security Stories" (6/18/2007 12:36:31 PM)

quote:

RE: "Nightmare at Reagan National Airport: A Secur... - 6/18/2007 12:14:3
quote:

ORIGINAL: DarkinMindCpl

That being said, although many SS agents have huge egos, she should have known better.....EVERY federal agent goes through a training course on the procedures for flying as a SS agent.


Yah, something about this story doesn't sound right to me.  She's a former secret service agent.  They're chosen for their ability to deal with pressure and confrontation, yet we're supposed to believe that she went from being a quiet, competent former agent to the stereotype of a hysterical woman?

Who knows what really went on, but I find it hard to believe that a person hard-nosed enough to get into the secret service wasn't strong enough to deal with being denied a sippy cup.

Something doesn't add up.




Aileen68 -> RE: "Nightmare at Reagan National Airport: A Security Story to End all Security Stories" (6/18/2007 12:38:47 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: selfbnd411


Yah, something about this story doesn't sound right to me.  She's a former secret service agent.  They're chosen for their ability to deal with pressure and confrontation, yet we're supposed to believe that she went from being a quiet, competent former agent to the stereotype of a hysterical woman?



She has a nineteen month old.  Need I say more.




selfbnd411 -> RE: "Nightmare at Reagan National Airport: A Security Story to End all Security Stories" (6/18/2007 12:43:53 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Aileen68

She has a nineteen month old.  Need I say more.


Well at any rate, cooperating was probably a better strategy.

This reads like any one-sided story.  Somehow, every time I tell people about my misfortunes, it always turns out that it was entirely the other guy's fault!




farglebargle -> RE: "Nightmare at Reagan National Airport: A Security Story to End all Security Stories" (6/18/2007 12:45:08 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: BeingChewsie

I sympathize with her plight but my owner and I travel for business several times a month for him and at least every 5 weeks for me. I have been detained with a cat in one arm and my 8 year old in the other...over stupid stuff. I'd rather the inconvenience and overzealousness of the TSA than the alternative.


The alternative to being treated like a Slave?

Me, I'll take Freedom and Liberty.

Do you BELIEVE in the KGB/DHS/TSA Security Theater?

Well, people believe in Tinker Bell, too.

quote:


Listen, the rules are simple,


In a FREE COUNTRY, that's MY FLUID, and I have a RIGHT to do with it whatever I want.

In Communist Paradise, you do what your betters in the Commission for State Security tell you.

Obedience is for Slaves and Dogs.





BeingChewsie -> RE: "Nightmare at Reagan National Airport: A Security Story to End all Security Stories" (6/18/2007 12:46:07 PM)

She was not denied the sippy cup, she was denied taking a sippy with 6-8 ounces of water in it through security into the sterile area. She should of known the rules, and prepared better, former secet service or not, it doesn't mean you get to ignore the rules. You'd have to have been living under a rock to not know the rules for flying these days.

quote:

ORIGINAL: selfbnd411

quote:

RE: "Nightmare at Reagan National Airport: A Secur... - 6/18/2007 12:14:3
quote:

ORIGINAL: DarkinMindCpl

That being said, although many SS agents have huge egos, she should have known better.....EVERY federal agent goes through a training course on the procedures for flying as a SS agent.


Yah, something about this story doesn't sound right to me.  She's a former secret service agent.  They're chosen for their ability to deal with pressure and confrontation, yet we're supposed to believe that she went from being a quiet, competent former agent to the stereotype of a hysterical woman?

Who knows what really went on, but I find it hard to believe that a person hard-nosed enough to get into the secret service wasn't strong enough to deal with being denied a sippy cup.

Something doesn't add up.




selfbnd411 -> RE: "Nightmare at Reagan National Airport: A Security Story to End all Security Stories" (6/18/2007 12:46:35 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: farglebargle
In a FREE COUNTRY, that's MY FLUID, and I have a RIGHT to do with it whatever I want.


You don't have to fly.  You have the right to walk from LA to NYC if you so choose!




Vendaval -> RE: "Nightmare at Reagan National Airport: A Security Story to End all Security Stories" (6/18/2007 12:47:31 PM)

You got that right, Aileen!  And no where is she reported as being hysterical,
upset yes, but most of us would be in that situation.
 
I have some friends who were traveling and witnessed an incident
where a small child was the random person chosen by computer
for extra searching.
 
He was standing to the side with his mother and the security guard
waving a wand over him and checking him for explosives or whatnot
and started screaming out, "BAD TOUCH, MOMMY!!! BAD TOUCH!!!"


quote:

ORIGINAL: Aileen68
She has a nineteen month old.  Need I say more.



(punctuation edit)




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