there is one inescapeable truth..... you have a choice..... do i force my rights or do i let them do whatever the hell they want so i get where i wanna go in the time frame i want to, with the least amount of hassel.
every person that is stopped by anyone in a badge has that option.
its up to them individually to determine how the rest of their day is gonna go.
are you gonna take the path of least resistance and give them harmless answers (not always the truth) that they will belive or are you gonna insist upon your rights.
you gotta realize that probable cause is mostly bullcrap to use against people who dont kiss their asses and jump to do whatever they say. on the other thread about DHS you KNOW that dog didnt smell anything yet that resulted in a pastor having a really bad night.
do you have rights......... hell yes you do, but are you gonna INSIST upon them? Do you have a lawyer and is he gonna be able to get there asap? is there gonna be video to prove what really happened.... in a TSA checkpoint that is gonna be a NO unless its their video. Are you going to be able to sue whoever is involved? that could make it worth while....... if you act according to your rights and dont resist then sure maybe they will do something that will let you sue them but there is a high probablility that you wont get to your destination on time. who knows how many years a lawsuit against the govt is gonna take to be resolved and how rich your lawyer is gonna be by the end of it.
i always check the tsa website before i travel........ and i double check the day before to see what they have changed since i last checked. 3 oz of liquid......... wtf. ok do they allow lighters...... no...... matches....... yes............. no wait zippo is sueing them so now they gotta allow lighters again......... what can i put in carry on what can i put in checked.... what can i not bring at all. all of that changes to often to keep track of.
is that good enough? no it isnt........... i had a friend who actually worked for TSA........ he took a trip up north, i do not recall if he went to NY or just connected there. you can have blades in checked baggage......... he was a martial artist..... and i mean a teacher of martial arts with documentation to prove it.......... just not with him. had swords in proper containers inside his checked baggage but guess what.......... you cant have them in NYC unless you have that proof with you. he flys into nyc no problem because they checked his bags at another airport and it was legal there......... he tried to come home........ guess what happened. now TSA is supposed to allow things that can be carried in checked baggage to go. they are NOT NYPD.............. yet they called the police up there.
so my friend proceeded to tell the TSA agents that they couldnt involve local authorities because according to their own rules what he was doing was legit............. and he produced his DHS govt id to show how he knew................. so next they showed him what he should have known........... you question their authority at their airport.......... your gonna have a bad day. if he had his proof with him maybe the cops wouldnt have arrested him................ MAYBE. he got his court date........ he flew back to NY and had his proof that he had been a teacher of martial arts for over 20 years, i still dont know if he got his swords back..........
I make it my business to know what TSA is gonna look for and i take only the bare necessitys with me. I want my bags to show up on xray with a couple of zippers maybe and the rest clothing. If i have several bags im gonna make sure that its Easy for them to find whatever it is they are looking for. i will basicly PICK the bag i want them to search and put all my wires and liquids over 3 oz and lead bars into it.
its funny that people want to point fingers at DHS and TSA.............. this kinda crap hasnt just been invented with them, cops have been doing this same crap for ....... well since the beginning. they associate mostly with criminals so they are gonna assume that you are one and treat you accordingly. i got stopped by a cop for going 8 miles over the speed limit......... guess what.... hes training a new officer. He sees....... ok guys im a redneck.............. lets just get that out there......... he sees 4 boxes of .40 cal ammo in my center console...... in plain sight. he didnt see the other 2 boxes in my glove box or the 4 cases of 12 gauge shotgunshells in my trunk........ well .......... untill he searched the car. he asked if he could search the vehicle........ i said well i had somewhere to be and didnt really want him to........ so guess what. he informs me that because he can see the boxes he has probable cause so im like........ ok whatever feel free. then he asks ..... any weapons or dangerous things i should be aware of........ nope.
that poor dumb son of a b****............ my trunk had so much crap in it......... i had a couple dufflebags of clothes incase i need to change clothes while im out...... one was a gym bag and it had been in there for three days at least and was RIPE, i had two cases of skeet and the ammo......... nothing that was dangerous but that trunk was PACKED........ it took him 45 minutes. he just KNEW i had something i shouldnt and he had to be thorough for the newbie........... i was just laughing my ass off watching him look in every nook and cranny and still come up empty.
i finally told him that if he needed to he could set things on the ground so he could actually clear items and not go through them three or four times...... finally he just gave up. i made it to my movie only 10 minutes late.............. then after the movie i moved the ammo to the trunk lol so hopefully that wouldnt happen again.
now that was a nice enough cop, and i didnt give him any reason to get pissed at me................ was it a violation of my rights....... yeah. but i find that i really dont like getting tazed and thats probably the least of my worries at the end of the day. screw them breaking out my windows and detaining me for hours.
bottom line: you question any law enforcement officers authority........... your in for a bad day. does that make it right.......... hell no but it does give a person a choice to make.
