Originally Posted by
studentff
Technicality, but I think "interference with the screening process" is a civil (or maybe administrative) offense that can only be judged in a Coast-Guard kangaroo court, not a criminal court, and can carry no penalty worse than a fine. I don't think it is a crime that can result in arrest.
That explains why passengers who are arrested by LEOs at the direction of TSA (e.g., Phil Mocek, Andrea Abbott) are charged with disorderly conduct and/or other contempt-of-cop charges. In most of these cases, it seems the TSA and/or LEOs work together to egg on the passenger and elicit a response that can be used to justify an arrest. That's certainly what both the Mocek recordings and Abbott video indicate to me.
I hope this stupid questioning ends up in the courts very quickly with cases of people being denied access to the aircraft for refusal to answer or play along. If it gets struck down, great. If not, I need to start looking for a new country.
Start looking. Let us know which you choose, there don't seem to be many candidates left
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Not much doubt in my mind about your second paragraph. When the TSA workers realized there was a small but increasing number of passengers who decided not to take their 'administrative' crap, they turned to the oh-so-willing airport PDs to do their dirty work.