'This Is Not Right'

KOMO 1000 News (Radio) ^ | June 1, 2005 | Kevin Reece

[ActionNewsBill]

'This Is Not Right'

June 1, 2005
 
By Kevin Reece

DES MOINES - Cecilia Beaman is a 57-year-old grandmother, a principal at Pacific Middle School in Des Moines, and as of Sunday is also a suspected terrorist.

"This is not right," she told us. It's not right!"

This past weekend she and several other chaperones took 37 middle school students to a Heritage Festival band competition in California. The trip included two days at Disneyland.

During the stay she made sandwiches for the kids and was careful to pack the knives she used to prepare those sandwiches in her checked luggage. She says she even alerted security screeners that the knives were in her checked bags and they told her that was OK.

But Beaman says she couldn't find a third knife. It was a 5 1/2 inch bread knife with a rounded tip and a serrated edge. She thought she might have lost or misplaced it during the trip.

On the trip home, screeners with the Transportation Security Administration at Los Angeles International Airport found it deep in the outside pocket of a carry-on cooler. Beaman apologized and told them it was a mistake.

"You've committed a felony," Beaman says a security screener announced. "And you're considered a terrorist."

Beaman says she was told her name would go on a terrorist watch-list and that she would have to pay a $500 fine.

"I'm a 57-year-old woman who is taking care of 37 kids," she told them. "I'm not gonna commit a terrorist act." Beaman says they took information from her Washington drivers license and confiscated and photographed the knife according to standard operating procedure.

She says screeners refused to give her paperwork or documentation of her violation, documentation of the pending fine, or a copy of the photograph of the knife.

"They said 'no' and they said it's a national security issue. And I said what about my constitutional rights? And they said 'not at this point ... you don't have any'."

KOMO News did reach a spokesperson with the Transportation Security Administration for comment. They said they did not have record of Beaman's confrontation but did admit that TSA screeners are, by design, becoming more strict.

Despite continued warnings to passengers, TSA screeners say travelers continue to bring banned items in their carry-on luggage. Knives, guns, and other weapons are found and confiscated daily.

Fines issued for knives and other sharp objects range from $250 to $1,500. Fines issued for firearms discovered in carry-on luggage range from $1,500 to $7,500.

The TSA web site also indicates firearms violations will be referred for potential criminal prosecution. The same site does not propose the same criminal referral for knives like the one Cecilia Beaman was carrying.

"This is not the way my country should be treating me," she said. My concern is that if that's the way they're treating American citizens I would hate to think how they're treating other people. It's crazy."

The TSA reminds travelers that is has the authority to impose civil penalties up to $10,000 per violation.

"TSA needs the help of the traveling public in reducing the number of prohibited items brought to airport screening checkpoints," reads the Sanction Guidelines section of the TSA web site. "TSA recognizes that most passengers who carry prohibited items do so without any ill intent. TSA does not impose fines on the vast number of passengers who inadvertently carry prohibited items. Dealing with any prohibited item, however, adds time to the screening process both for the traveler who brought the item and for other travelers as well."

You can find a complete list of banned items, range of fines levied for violations, and information on how to plead your case with the TSA at www.tsa.gov.

[iconoclast]

I would remind you that the terrorists on 9/11 used weapons of much less lethality.

I wouldn't want to show up at box-cutter fight carrying a butter knife.

[ActionNewsBill]

This 'grannie' was carrying a butter knife with a serrated edge that was over five inches in length.

"Please, someone protect me from a 'terrorist' granny with a butter knife".

When did Americans become such wusses?

[Hunble]

The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

Thanks for understand what I was trying to say. We, the people, have the ultimate responsibility for the protection of our lives.

We have delegated some powers to the government, but at all times, our safety is always our own responsibility.

[ActionNewsBill]

#182 was meant for you Dug.

[DugwayDuke]

I find it mildly amusing to be accused of being 'psychotic' and to be "absent common sense" because I realize that an American can be a terrorist, can be an unwitting pawn of a terrorist, or can be forced by threats to cooperate with a terrorist. Oh well, I guess my 'psychotic' nature and lack of 'common sense' is a cross I'll have to bear.

[ActionNewsBill]

...because I realize that an American can be a terrorist, can be an unwitting pawn of a terrorist, or can be forced by threats to cooperate with a terrorist.

We'll be keeping an eye on you.

[DugwayDuke]

"I wouldn't want to show up at box-cutter fight carrying a butter knife."

How about with a 'butter knife' that's over five inches long with a serrated edge? Remember this lady is the one that characterized this as a 'butter knife'. You don't think that facing a criminal action, she might have some reason to understate the facts?

[Hunble]

We'll be keeping an eye on you.

Giggle, I was having the same thought.

[iconoclast]

LOL, Mary. Good post.

But, wasn't the Armed Pilots program pretty much smothered in its cradle by the TSA?

[azhenfud]

And one with 37 hostages, too!

[DugwayDuke]

I've responded numerous times to the mistatement of facts about this 'butter knife' that was, according to the article, over five inches in lenght with a serrated edge. Hardly, your typical 'butter knife'.

I've also responded numerous times to the well-known terrorist tactic of using unsuspecting or otherwise compliant persons to ferry their weapons onto aircraft. Some don't seem to realize that not all terrorists are middle eastern muslim males.

[rwfromkansas]

I didn't realize they have stopped looking for bombs.

Kindly provide a citation and proof, please.

I am sure you can't. It is just you exaggerating things again due to your experiencces that are not like the vast majority of law-abiding American citizens.

[bvw]

Paranoia. Paranoid delusions. Inability to distinguish non-threatening situations from threatening. Nutso.

[Hunble]

I've also responded numerous times to the well-known terrorist tactic of using unsuspecting or otherwise compliant persons to ferry their weapons onto aircraft.

Interesting!

Do you have personal knowledge of terrorists who have recently used American citizens to ferry weapons onto US aircraft in the last three years?

If so, Freepers would love to hear the details...

[ActionNewsBill]

I've responded numerous times to the mistatement of facts about this 'butter knife' that was, according to the article, over five inches in lenght with a serrated edge.

A whole 5 inches? That sounds like a standard size for a butter knife.

And the serrated edge has got to be really dangerous...you can't even cut a steak with one of those.

[rwfromkansas]

Where did he say because she is lefty she doesn't have rights?

He is pointing out her agenda because it raises doubt as to the CREDIBILITY of her report since she may be making it up to get people angry and raise support for her cause.

[iconoclast]

I've also responded numerous times to the well-known terrorist tactic of using unsuspecting or otherwise compliant persons to ferry their weapons onto aircraft.

Could you point us to one such instance?

[Scott from the Left Coast]

We've reached that weird point in our devolution as a society where we think it is better to be destroyed than to sacrifice our cherished, happy fictions.

[azhenfud]

Our family's butter knives have serrated edges, too. The serrations are small though and yet could still be classified as a "knife of over five inches long with a serrated edge."

[ActionNewsBill]

It is just you exaggerating things again due to your experiencces that are not like the vast majority of law-abiding American citizens.

HOMELAND INSECURITY: "Mr. bin Laden, you're clear to fly"

Imagine if the world's most notorious fugitive, Osama bin Laden, attempted to board an airliner in the United States. Suppose he were clean-shaven, sporting short hair, wearing a pinstriped business suit and looked like so many other travelers that no suspicions were raised. How far might he get?

If he used aliases such as names of family members, he would be nabbed instantly and whisked away for questioning. That's because many of his relatives are on the FBI's secret "no-fly list," according to intelligence sources.

But suppose he boldly decided to use his own name. Would he be cleared to fly? Insight recently learned that scenario was tested at a U.S. airport in the South during January. The result was troubling: America's most-wanted fugitive is cleared to fly.

According to airline-security documents obtained by this magazine, the name Osama bin Laden was punched into the computer by an airline official and, remarkably, that name was cleared at the security checkpoint all passengers must pass through before being issued a boarding pass.

The realization that Osama bin Laden made the cut sent shivers down the spines of airline-security officials who discovered the system gap.

"When the most-wanted man in modern history is not included on the list of possible terrorists there are some serious deficiencies in the system which need to be addressed," says an airport-security official familiar with the test.

In fact, Insight has learned from law-enforcement sources that at least two other names of known terrorists cleared security checkpoints when officials punched them into the computer.