TSA Takes On Political Event Duties
Jennifer Billock April 21, 2016
The TSA has been working numerous political events at the request of the Secret Service.
At the request of the Secret Service, TSA agents have routinely been present at political events throughout the campaign season. According to information obtained by Gizmodo, the agency has worked searching bags and clothes for 252 campaign events since the start of the cycle through March 30.
“The support comes from the TSA at the local airport and does not impact local TSA operations,” a TSA spokesperson told Gizmodo.
Local police are also present at the events. This isn’t a new initiative, either — reports of the TSA being present at political events go back to 2012, when the organization showed up at the Democratic National Convention and a Paul Ryan event in Florida.
Some activist groups highly oppose this practice, saying it’s evidence of the TSA overstepping their bounds at the behest of the U.S. government and showing that the group will be working more outside of the realm of transportation.
“Clearly, the presence of the TSA at these types of events is nothing more than an attempt to acclimate the American people to seeing the TSA present at virtually all events, not just airports, train terminals, and bus stations (an expansion of the TSA in and of itself) and, eventually, to accept extreme and intrusive searches as a regular fact of life,” writer Brandon Turbeville said in an article on Activist Post this February.
So far this cycle, the TSA has been present mostly for Trump, Sanders, and Clinton events, with a smaller amount for Ben Carson and debates. Ted Cruz and John Kasich have not had TSA agents at their events.
[Photo: Associated Press]
They should have a PreCheck line opened...
I remember TSA at the 2008 McCain/Palin events as well. I was working for a few venues at the time. I had my badges & security clearance pins/stickers on my lanyard and would walk through the WTMD, setting it off with my Gerber multi-tool & 2-way radio, and ignore the TSA screeners. Occasionally a SS agent would stop me to verify credentials. BUT... they were ALL professional compared to the crap we see at the airports. No power trips, no barking, no perverted things. Just a WTMD and that was it. At one of the events I got lucky -- they completely failed to secure an entrance. No one there at all and the door was unlocked, so I went in and out of that all day without any hassle. I'm with Boggie Dog -- how come they can find the agents to staff these events yet can't staff a checkpoint?
TSA Security Checkpoint lines at many airports are well over an hour long yet TSA has the manpower to participate in non-TSA duties. Something is very wrong.
Actually, it goes back a lot further. In 2008, when Obama held his Election Night victory speech in Grant Park, there were at least 50 TSA checkpoints to handle the crowd.