Man bailed but suspended by his employer after ordeal by interrogation
When heavy snowfall threatened to scupper Paul Chambers's travel plans, he decided to vent his frustrations on Twitter by tapping out a comment to amuse his friends. "Robin Hood airport is closed," he wrote. "You've got a week and a bit to get your shit together, otherwise I'm blowing the airport sky high!!"
If there are any anti-terrorist police reading this...I'm going to blow up inflatable dolls because I sympathise with this guy! What Twits!
"In a fantastic article in the Atlanticist last year, the American journalist Jeffrey Goldberg took a comprehensive look at post-9/11 airport security. Granted, anybody called Jeffrey Goldberg is going to have a different experience than somebody called, say Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, but his findings, nonetheless, were astonishing. Goldberg passed security with fake boarding passes, so as to illustrate the fallibility of no-fly lists. He boarded planes in a fake plastic beer belly full of liquid. He carried penknives. When his hand luggage was searched, it was stuffed full of matchbooks from hotels in Beirut and a Hezbollah flag featuring a slogan in Arabic and a logo of a man clutching an AK-47. Eventually, he was allowed to board a flight to Washington with no photo ID at all, while wearing a T-shirt sporting the legend ‘OSAMA BIN LADEN, HERO OF ISLAM’."
ReplyDeleteHugo Rifkind in the Spectator http://www.spectator.co.uk/columnists/all/5686563/airport-security-is-a-giant-exercise-in-arsecovering-and-it-doesnt-work-obviously.thtml
Not for one minute did the police or anyone think this guy a terrorist. This is all about power.
ReplyDeleteNo. Abuse of power.
ReplyDeleteYes you are correct John, I neglected the abuse bit.
ReplyDeleteWhat a bloody awful country we have become when even a joke becomes a criminal offence. I repeat, not one person thought the guy a terrorist, if they had he would not be free now.
Abuse of power it is.
The police explanation this is the world we now live in post 9/11 is false. It does not take a rocket scientist to work out it was meant as a joke. They are creating this world with their conduct. They must take the blame.
ReplyDeleteEqually, there is no such thing as a war against terror. It is a concept. War is against states. Other countries should have stood up to the bullying George Bush.
It is getting oppressive.
ReplyDeleteMan takes photos in public places then man is terrorist or paedophile.
Person makes joke involving word bomb then person is terrorist.
Person grabs weapon in fear of being attacked then person is guilty of aggression.
Then we have police firearm squads who seem to be beyond the law of accountability.
I have thought about going to Sweden...
ReplyDelete