"Opted out of verbally communicating" TSA's efforts to silence protest and obstruct justice

Sai [email protected] @saizai / +saizai s.ai/tsa http://s.ai/foia#tsa http://patreon.com/saizai http://

* Yes, Sai is my full legal name.

"[A] screening of passengers and of the articles that will be accessible to them in flight does not exceed constitutional limitations provided that the screening process is no more extensive nor intensive than necessary, in the light of current technology, to detect the presence of weapons or explosives, that it is confined in good faith to that purpose, and that potential passengers may avoid the search by electing not to fly." US v. Davis, 482 F. 2d 893, 913 (1973) US v. Aukai, 497 F. 3d 955 (9th Cir. 2007) US v. Fofana, 620 F. Supp. 2d 857 (S.D. OH. 2009) Bierfeldt v. Napolitano, No. 1:2009-cv-01117 (D. D.C. Sept. 9, 2009) (settlement)

What started things… Went through BOS while mute (neurological disorder) "Selected" by 2 supervisor "behavior detection officers": •

"Opted out of communicating verbally"

•

Wearing a satirical political shirt

•

Didn't look them in the eyes

•

Opted out of electronic strip search

•

Moved to keep bags in view

"Secondary screening" ~40 minutes looking through all bags, reading: •

medication labels

•

confidential business documents

•

personal notes

•

books

•

checkbook

•

wallet cards (including medical information card)

Their claims "At no point did passenger Sai ... try to convey that he had a medical condition." "Passenger Sai opted out of verbally communicating, but rather attempted to communicate via waving of his hands, mouthing words and handwritten messages. [We] attempted to communicate with passenger Sai, allowing for every reasonable accommodation at our disposal. We tried to decipher the mouthing of his words. We provided paper and a writing utensil so that passenger Sai could have other means of communication. … At no time did we deny him the use of writing utensils or paper."

Their claims "[We] provided reasonable accommodations in order to elicit responses from passenger Sai. Passenger Sai also did not provide any type of medical documentation that informed us of a disability. Passenger Sai was combative in his non-verbal actions with rapid, exaggerated hand movements in close proximity of [us]." "Passenger Sai was also in possession of several printed TSA mandates which he did not have a valid reason having."

Video doesn't lie Note: I had to sue them for a year to get this. … and >3k pages of docs* (* will get back to this later)

These are screening experts

"Passenger Sai also had a heavy solid ceramic orange object. It was an extremely dense unidentifiable object that resembled a small firearm. Passenger Sai did not explain what the item was, although he was provided reasonable accommodations to do so."

Trying the official route… 6 CFR 15.70 - Compliance procedures (d)(1) Any person who believes that he or she has been subjected to discrimination prohibited by this part may … file a complaint. … (2) The Department shall accept and investigate all complete complaints over which it has jurisdiction. (g)(1) Not later than 180 days from the receipt of a complete complaint … the Department shall notify the complainant of the results of the investigation in a letter containing: (i) Findings of fact and conclusions of law; (ii) A description of a remedy for each violation found; and (iii) A notice of the right to appeal. (2) Department employees are required to cooperate in the investigation and attempted resolution of complaints. …

2013-01-26 BOS complaint + FOIA
 


2013-03-01 SFO complaint + FOIA 2013-03-30 Own video of SFO on YouTube 2013-03-31 Hacker News; BoingBoing 2013-04-01 RT America news 2013-04-04 RightThisMinute; video from SF 2013-04-05 Complaint acknowledgment
 


2014-01-07 FOIA/PA lawsuit 2014-10-03 BOS video released 


2014-11-05 Rehab Act lawsuit 2015-03-04 Response re BOS complaint 2015-05-03 Administrative appeal 2015-08-25 Administrative appeal response 


2015-09-04 BOS lawsuit …still no response re. SFO complaint.

Oops, I didn't redact

TSA to court: ignore regs & promises

6 CFR 15.70 - Compliance procedures (g)(1) Not later than 180 days from the receipt of a complete complaint … the Department shall notify the complainant of the results of the investigation

Suing gets a response… (587 days past deadline) BTW, they never claimed there was "good cause" for delay. 6 CFR 15.70 - Compliance procedures (k) The time limits cited in paragraphs (g) and (j) of this section may be extended for an individual case when the Officer for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties determines that there is good cause, based on the particular circumstances of that case, for the extension.

Administrative appeal (84 days past deadline) 6 CFR 15.70 - Compliance procedures (j) The Department shall notify the complainant of the results of the appeal within 30 days of the receipt of the appeal. …

… so I'm suing Multiple offers to settle ignored / denied TSA's position: the screeners were 100% right Why let me speak unless it's to answer their interrogation? Mutism, satirical shirts, & keeping bags in view: "suspicious" Ocarinas look like a "firearm" Failed to preserve video evidence (despite preservation letter) LAWYERS WANTED ASAP 
 (US Dist. Ct. MA)

Remember that FOIA litigation?

Current litigation:

2014-07-25 TSA FOIA/PA reqs & responses

2013-01-26 BOS events 2014-08-20 CAS contracts 2013-02-21 BOS surveillance 2013-02-21 SFO events

2014-08-25 SFO surveillance contracts

2013-03-16 TSA policies & procedures

2015-05-30 Consolidated User Guide

2013-11-23 my grievances

2015-05-30 self

2014-01-18 self

2015-06-03 49 USC 46110 "orders"

2014-02-02 RIC events

2015-06-06 military deployment at mass transit locations

To be added: 2014-07-17 training materials

2015-06-16 CHIP, RIOT, CCSS, & CCTV

2014-07-24 TSA complaints

2015-08-25 TSA documents

>3k pages so far… s.ai/foia#tsa

http://

BOS-TSA surveillance agreement (18p) TSA Airport signage guidelines (16p) TSA-SFO agreement re explosive storage magazine (10p) TSA-SFO airport lease (34p) TSA-SFO Covenant Aviation Security terminal use permit (70p) Complaints (304p)

MD 100.4 Transportation Security Searches (11p) Emergency Amendments (70p) Security Directives (14p) Model security programs (327p) Foreign air carrier model security program (245p) Twelve-Five standard security program (82p) Employee discipline (67p)

Exercise of FSD discretion (1p)

OSO - The Frontline - 2014-11 issue 12 (19p)

Language access binder (3p intro + 26 languages @ 20p each, 523p)

Screening cancer patients and survivors flyers (9p)

Civil rights and travelers with disabilities and medical conditions slides (26p) Civil rights and travelers with disabilities slides (20p) International day of persons with disabilities flyer (4p) Medically necessary LGA defined (1p)

Screening passengers with ostomies and related equipment (3p) TSA personnel talking points screening passengers with disabilities and medical conditions (15p) TSA prohibited items list (2p) TSA website - medically necessary liquids (1p)

Best practices for screening passengers with autism (1p) Best practices for screening passengers with medically necessary LGA (1p) Best practices for screening passengers with ostomies & ostomy-related equipment (1p) Best practices for screening passengers with service animals Best practices for screening passengers with traveling companions (1p) Effective communication - courtesy and respect for ALL passengers (4p)

Uncommon external devices (1p) Internal enforcement of policies and regulations (39p) Video surveillance storage/ access/etc policies and standard agreements (94p) TSA LEO statement of joint objectives template (4p) Airport security program and 49 CFR 1542 implementation guidance (207p) Security Capabilities Advanced Surveillance Program - Usage policy guidance (6p)

MD 2810.1 SSI Program (13p) MD 2810.1 SSI Policies and Procedures Handbook (74p) Posting material on TSA Intranet (2p) SSI Identification Guide 2006-09-27 (5p) SSI Identification Guide 2013-04-16 (6p)

Special Mission Coverage for OLE-FAMS (5p) Policies re. "no fly" & "selectee" lists (160p) BDO training materials (779p) 2011 SPOT validation study final report (465p)

… and more incoming s.ai/foia#tsa

http://

"[A] screening of passengers and of the articles that will be accessible to them in flight does not exceed constitutional limitations provided that the screening process is no more extensive nor intensive than necessary, in the light of current technology, to detect the presence of weapons or explosives, that it is confined in good faith to that purpose, and that potential passengers may avoid the search by electing not to fly." US v. Davis, 482 F. 2d 893, 913 (1973) US v. Aukai, 497 F. 3d 955 (9th Cir. 2007) US v. Fofana, 620 F. Supp. 2d 857 (S.D. OH. 2009) Bierfeldt v. Napolitano, No. 1:2009-cv-01117 (D. D.C. Sept. 9, 2009) (settlement)

Questions? Sai [email protected] @saizai / +saizai s.ai/tsa http://s.ai/foia#tsa https://patreon.com/saizai http://

Lawyers wanted