Posted on 05/22/2005 7:30:03 AM PDT by Dada Orwell
From NHfree.com Man Without I.D. Vows to Board Flight or be Jailed
Manchester, NH May 21, 2005
Inspired by New Hampshire's "outlaw manicurist," another Granite Stater is stepping forward to peacefully defy license-related laws. Thirty-five-year old Russell Kanning of Keene has announced he will approach a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) checkpoint at Manchester airport on June 11 and refuse to cooperate with the requirement to show ID. "I will either board the plane without I.D. or be arrested," he says. "In a free country you do not need government permission to travel."
Kanning has a ticket to Philadelphia and, if allowed to travel there, plans to celebrate by visiting Independence Hall.
Two months after the September 11th attacks, the Aviation Security Act federalized airport security nationwide and granted new police powers to the TSA. Now, an ID is mandatory to travel by commercial aircraft, passengers must travel alone past security checkpoints, and random full-body searches in public are considered normal.
Kanning stresses that he will not resist arrest or do anything that might be perceived as physically threatening. He says this act of nonviolent resistance will follow the model laid down by Gandhi, who used peaceful noncooperation to expel the British from India. "We will tell them everything we're going to do ahead of time. We are not going to disrupt the operation of the airport," he says.
Kanning says the parallels with Gandhi's situation go further than a shared belief in nonviolence. "In South Africa (where Gandhi's protests began), Indians had to have special I.D...so it's very similar that way, and he wanted to burn it...He was appealing to that same basic idea that we have rights to not have to have paperwork to be able to move freely."
Earlier this month another Gandhi admirer, Mike Fisher of Newmarket, used the Mahatma's techniques to protest business licensing. After announcing he would perform an unlicensed manicure in front of the state licensing offices, he carried out his promise, earned a brief trip to jail and received heavy regional media coverage for his viewpoint.
Kanning says Gandhi's and Fisher's examples inspired him to take similar action against the growing "surveillance state." He believes the Real ID amendment passed by the Senate this month will make things even worse. But he says it's important to stay positive. "The goal is we want to get to the point where we can travel without having to have paperwork so, this is the beginning of that. We see light at the end of the tunnel. "
Currently the plan is for Kanning to approach the security checkpoint at 12:30 PM. Journalists and supporters will want to be there by noon.
Summary:
What: Civil disobedience against ID requirements under federalized airport security. Where: Manchester Airport in New Hampshire (exact spot to be determined) When: Saturday, June 11 @ noon Who: Russell Kanning of Keene, NH, supporters from NHfree.com Why: To draw attention to the recent and continuing loss of privacy and freedom due to federalized airport security and National ID. How: By approaching a TSA checkpoint with a ticket but no ID, refusing to show ID, and refusing to cooperate with the law until arrested or allowed to board the plane. Contacts: You can find out more and post questions to the discussion boards at NHfree.com
And that's why I don't fly - I won't jump through their hoops.
"The FSP helped turn NH from 'red' to 'blue'."
I think it was more of the "Massholes" migrating north that has turned NH purple.
Well, I hope he's ready to review the "Constutional Gaurantee for right to Air Travel" with the judge and jury when the time comes.
In addition, if it's an airline policy and not governmental policy he's already lost. Even if it's not airline policy, the government certainly has a right to expect reasonable oversight after 9/11. An ID simply isn't asking that much.
Bodily searches, OTOH, and I'll throw my share of stones...
Who said you needed govt permission to go anywhere?
You are still allowed to go anywhere you like- but if you want to go ON AN AIRLINE (or anyone elses transportation not owned by you) then they are perfectly within their rights in wanting to know exactly who you are.
I personally know of a number of people who voted DEMORAT as a response to the 'invasion' of Free Staters. Benson was attacked on talk radio a number of times because of his 'support' of the FSP (although the scandals swirling around him didn't help, either). There were a number articles in local newspapers discussing this phenomenon, as well. Of course, I don't consider newspapapers a terribly credible source. Natch, many of the DEMORATS came from Mass, as well.
It was the massholes with the help of MoveON who targeted NH because of the liberal same day voter registration laws without specific language vis a vis, identification which allowed Mass residents who owned seasonal property in NH to vote. Their vote in Mass was redundant so MoveOn could use these criminals to vote in a state not of their legal domicile. NH must change the registration and ID laws before 2006. I think it very unlikely however.
If ANY of the cops that had stopped Atta driving around the U.S. on an expired visa had checked on that, 3000 more people would be alive today.
We don't need to turn into a surveillance state to maintain security.
In fact, we fought a Cold War against a foe with hydrogen bombs, enough chem/bioweapons to kill everything on Earth, and an active program of infiltrating spies and saboteurs into the U.S. WITHOUT requiring ID to fly.
Wear your chains lightly.
I don't think he will succeed this time. Or, as Bud Grant once told Fran Tarkenton after the LA Rams had stuffed the Vikings running game in the first three possessions, "I don't think we can beat these people on the ground."
OK, so tell me when the Constitution was amended to enable the government to infringe on what was previously an absolute right.
I used to think the same way, but check the results. The southern tier (along I-93 & Route 3) was more Bush than Kerry. I would expect that those fleeing from MA would be more likely to settle in Hillsborough and Rockingham counties.
I hope the TSA does its homework, makes sure he's OK to fly before he shows up, and lets him on through. Then the TSA agents in Philly can turn him away. Ha ha! Enjoy your walk home, loser.
"Thousands of people were killed on 9/11 because of lax security at airports.
"
Wrong. Terrorists could still do the same thing today. This strip searching of grandma has done NOTHING to prevent another attack.
while you are being fondled by the TSA, there are illegals on the tarmac with no American loyalty servicing your aircraft. Anyone one of those people could aid a terrorist. Besides, a terrorist could go on the plane butt naked and still pull off a 9/11 if that cockpit door can be made to open.
Wow. Guess I need to change my bookmark to "www.SecureRepublic.com". Yeah, terrorists will sneak into the country, learn to fly aircraft, coordinate multiple simultaneous hijackings, but (unlike the Sept. 11th hijackers) will never figure out how to get a driver's license. < /s >
I would stress it this way: thousands were killed because we did not comprehend the nature of a suicide mission. Prior to 9/11, if a plane were hijacked, pilots and cabin crew were trained not to resist. The underlying assumption was that the hijacker wanted to live. Better to land the plane safely- no matter where than potentially causing a problem in flight.
9/11 changed that paradigm.
Yeah. What an idiot for actually believing the propaganda that this is a free country.
Freedom is now defined by statists as "free to obey the law or suffer the consequences".
By the same measure, Soviet peasants were "free" also.
Russell Kanning; Hope you enjoy jail food.
Now this Russell fellow is complaining about IDs yet I'd bet he'd be screaming his head off bor better airport security if there were another attack using that means. Dufusses like this are all alike.
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