REAL WORLD EVENT DISCUSSIONS

Arabic flashcards land student in U.S. detention

POSTED BY: GINOBIFFARONI
UPDATED: Friday, February 12, 2010 10:16
SHORT URL:
VIEWED: 362
PAGE 1 of 1

Friday, February 12, 2010 10:16 AM

GINOBIFFARONI


http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6195M720100210


Arabic flashcards land student in U.S. detention
Jon Hurdle
PHILADELPHIA
Wed Feb 10, 2010 5:02pm EST

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - Federal agents detained and interrogated a U.S. college student at the Philadelphia airport simply because we was carrying a set of English-Arabic flashcards, a lawsuit alleged on Wednesday.

U.S.

The American Civil Liberties Union said it filed the suit on behalf Nicholas George, 22, a language student at Pomona College in California who was held at Philadelphia International Airport for nearly five hours in August 2009.

George, a U.S. citizen from the Philadelphia suburb of Wyncote, was on his way back to college when airport security officers found him carrying the flashcards, each of which had an English word on one side and its Arabic equivalent on the other, the ACLU said.

The U.S. Transportation Security Administration questioned him, and a TSA supervisor asked him how he felt about the September 11 attacks, whether he knew "who did 9/11," and whether he knew what language Osama bin Laden spoke, the ACLU said.

He was handcuffed and left in a locked cell for two hours before being "abusively" interrogated by two FBI agents, but was never told why he was being detained, the ACLU said.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. district court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, charges that officers from the TSA, FBI and Philadelphia police violated George's constitutional rights of free speech and to be free from unreasonable seizure.

"As someone who travels by plane, I want TSA agents to do their job to keep flights safe," George said in a statement. "But I don't understand how locking me up and harassing me just because I was carrying the flashcards made anybody safer."

Neither the federal agencies nor the Philadelphia police could be reached for comment.

(Editing by Daniel Trotta)




Wow... morons would be a step up




Either you Are with the terrorists, or ... you Are with the terrorists

Life is like a jar of Jalapeño peppers.
What you do today, might Burn Your Ass Tomorrow"

NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

YOUR OPTIONS

NEW POSTS TODAY

USERPOST DATE

OTHER TOPICS

DISCUSSIONS
Russia Invades Ukraine. Again
Fri, March 29, 2024 06:20 - 6156 posts
Russia says 60 dead, 145 injured in concert hall raid; Islamic State group claims responsibility
Fri, March 29, 2024 06:18 - 57 posts
In the garden, and RAIN!!! (2)
Fri, March 29, 2024 02:54 - 3414 posts
BUILD BACK BETTER!
Fri, March 29, 2024 02:49 - 11 posts
Elections; 2024
Fri, March 29, 2024 00:33 - 2075 posts
Long List of Celebrities that are Still Here
Fri, March 29, 2024 00:00 - 1 posts
China
Thu, March 28, 2024 22:10 - 447 posts
Biden
Thu, March 28, 2024 22:03 - 853 posts
Well... He was no longer useful to the DNC or the Ukraine Money Laundering Scheme... So justice was served
Thu, March 28, 2024 12:44 - 1 posts
Salon: NBC's Ronna blunder: A failed attempt to appeal to MAGA voters — except they hate her too
Thu, March 28, 2024 07:04 - 1 posts
Russian losses in Ukraine
Wed, March 27, 2024 23:21 - 987 posts
human actions, global climate change, global human solutions
Wed, March 27, 2024 15:03 - 824 posts

FFF.NET SOCIAL