Free Republic

Pro-Palestinian protesters gathered across the nation Monday, including in the Seattle area, blocking landmarks and highways to bring attention to the war in the Middle East. The expressway to the Seattle-Tacoma International (SEA) Airport was blocked by protesters for several hours. Subsequently, 46 people have been arrested, according to spokesperson for the Port of Seattle Perry Cooper. Cooper said those arrested have been sent to SCORE for processing. However, he said, more people may be arrested as an investigation continues.

Imagine, going to the airport and through all the indignities of security just to eat at the P.F. Chang’s near gate B12 and then go home. Or better yet, imagine trying to get to your gate and having to deal with people just poking around and taking their sweet time while you have a flight to catch. Every side of this scenario is uniquely miserable, yet more airports are trying to tempt locals into visiting the shops and restaurants in their terminals without all the hassle of actually flying somewhere. Orlando International Airport is now getting in on the action,...

Following the attacks of September 11th, Congress passed the Aviation and Transportation Security Act (ATSA), creating the Transportation Security Agency (TSA). The TSA replaced private security screening companies with one government agency. Since then, air travelers have bowed to pat downs, bans on water bottles and other inconvenient, intrusive procedures as the “new normal” at our nation’s airports. But does any of this make us safer?

Airport security is finding guns in passenger carry-on bags at triple the rate they did before the pandemic, per the Associated Press — and most of the guns they find are loaded. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers found 15.3 guns for every million people screened in July. This is triple the number of those screened found with guns in July of 2019, at 5.1 per million people, according to the AP. The TSA screened more than 830,000 passengers Sunday, a number that hasn’t been reached since March 17 as many are still apprehensive about flying due to the virus and...

Britons fighting for militant groups in Syria are being targeted to smuggle explosives on to Western airliners and become suicide bombers as Al Qaeda plan a spectacular attack over a major city, intelligence officials warn. The Pakistan-based, Iranian-backed Khorasan group linked to Al Qaeda is said to have sent members to 'embed' with affiliated terror groups to identify British, European and United States passport holders who could slip through security and carry a bomb on to a plane.

In recent years, Hezbollah has stepped up its activities beyond Lebanon’s borders. This uptick has been clearest in the Middle East—in Iraq, Yemen, and especially Syria—but plots have also been thwarted in South America, Asia, Europe, and now, possibly, the United States. Reports of Hezbollah activity in North America are not new, though such reporting tends to focus on the group’s fundraising, money laundering, procurement, or other logistical activities from Vancouver to Miami. But last month, the criminal prosecution and conviction in New York of the Hezbollah operative Ali Kourani revealed disturbing new information about the extent of Hezbollah’s operations...

DHS Gives the ‘Red Carpet to Middle Eastern Airlines Obama’s Top Government Media Official Guilty of Stealing $40,000 DHS Gives the ‘Red Carpet to Middle Eastern Airlines Next time you’re waiting in your socks as your luggage is rifled through by security at the TSA checkpoint, you might reflect on how unchecked people and vehicles are getting through security in other parts of the airport. Our Corruption Chronicles blog exposes the disturbing facts. The massive agency created after 9/11 to protect the nation risks security at U.S. airports by letting airlines impose expedited measures to keep traffic flowing, according...

Diana Ross says a TSA agent at a New Orleans airport took a pat-down search too far -- which left her feeling shaken and violated afterward. The legendary soul singer described her experience early Sunday morning in a string of tweets, explaining that while she's normally treated like royalty in NOLA ... she got the exact opposite treatment at an airport there -- saying, "I was treated like [expletive]." [snip] Ms. Ross says she's not blaming the airline she flew with -- Delta, apparently -- but instead is pointing the finger at a female TSA agent that conducted an "over...

Top U.S. intelligence officials gathered in the White House Situation Room in March to debate a controversial proposal. Counterterrorism officials wanted to create a government dragnet, sweeping up millions of records about U.S. citizens—even people suspected of no crime. ~ snip ~ The rules now allow the little-known National Counterterrorism Center to examine the government files of U.S. citizens for possible criminal behavior, even if there is no reason to suspect them. That is a departure from past practice, which barred the agency from storing information about ordinary Americans unless a person was a terror suspect or related to an...

As Americans pack their bags for holiday travel, a new report is raising key questions about a pilot program that scans the faces of international travelers. The report, from Georgetown Law’s Center on Privacy and Technology, criticizes the scope and execution of Homeland Security’s biometric exit pilot program. The program, currently running at nine airports around the country, uses facial recognition technology to identify passengers leaving on international flights. Homeland Security says the program, which it plans to expand, can catch travelers fraudulently using another person’s personal documents. But the report questions whether Homeland Security is vested with the power...

If a terrorist wanted to find the most vulnerable point in America’s airport network they could not have hoped for a better guide than what just happened at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson. Just after 1 p.m. Sunday the whole airport, the world’s busiest, went dark. Thousands of flights were disrupted. For many hours nobody in authority attempted to explain—or even seemed able to explain—what had happened. Just imagine this is a classic plan for phase one of a terrorist attack: Render the target blind. None of the defenses are operational. Thousands of people are trapped in restricted space without directions about how...

An air traffic controller at Charlotte Douglas International Airport was arrested Friday for having a weapon of mass destruction, a source told WSOC.Paul Dandan was working in the Charlotte Douglas airport at the time of his arrest, sources say.Dandan had some kind of explosive, which was not at the airport, sources say.Dandan’s roommate was arrested for having bomb-making materials, which were not at the airport.The Federal Aviation Administration has terminated Dandan’s access to the airport.Read more at WSOC.

Two Middle East immigrants in the United States have been arrested in connection with terrorist activities after the FBI found out their chilling ties to the terrorist organization known as Hezbollah. This is a wake-up call to every American. According to a news release from United States Attorney’s Office, District of New York, “Ali Kourani and Samer El Debek, a/k/a ‘Samer Eldebek,’ were arrested on Thursday, June 1, 2017, on charges related to their alleged activities on behalf of Hizballah[sic], a designated foreign terrorist organization. “ Kourani was reportedly living in the Bronx in New York, while Eldebek was living...

ASHEVILLE, NC (FOX Carolina) - Asheville Police said they detained a person of interest after an explosive device was found at the Asheville Regional Airport. Michael Christopher Estes, 46, was detained Saturday morning along Airport Road after federal authorities said a tipster recognized him. Authorities told FOX Carolina that a suspicious device was found on a curb outside the airport's baggage claim area Friday morning. Police later confirmed the package was, in fact, explosive and had been rendered safe by the bomb squad. The airport was briefly evacuated, but the terminal reopened just before 9 a.m. The FBI released a statement about...

BRUSSELS (AP) - Belgian authorities say that a U.S. youth in Pittsburgh tried to hack into the Brussels airport computer system and disable it the night after the March 22 attacks that killed 32 people. The federal prosecutor's office said in a statement Thursday that at its request, the FBI interrogated the American minor and said he confessed. The statement said the hacking attempt was unsuccessful and stressed that "it appeared there were no terrorist motives."

Britain banned laptops from cabins of flights from six countries in middles eastItems such as laptops, iPads, Kindles and Nintendo 3DS game consoles bannedComes amid fears terrorists have developed bombs that can be hidden insideGovernment denies it is linked to US decision - but have not clarified the reason Britain last night took the dramatic step of banning laptops from the cabins of UK-bound flights from six countries, amid fears terrorists have perfected a new type of airline bomb. The move, which is likely to spark travel chaos at affected airports, was imposed just hours after a similar ban...

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A former North Carolina police chief whose mother is Italian and father is Somali said Sunday that he’s disappointed with his country of 42 years after he was detained at John F. Kennedy International Airport. Former Greenville Police Chief Hassan Aden of Alexandria, Virginia, who now works as a law enforcement consultant, said he was detained March 13 on his return trip from Paris for his mother’s 80th birthday. He supports the officers of the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, but he believes his 90-minute detention was unreasonable, he said in a telephone interview.

For some 15 years, airport security has become steadily more invasive. There are ever more checkpoints, ever more requests for documents as you make your way from the airport entrance to the airplane. Passengers adapt to the new changes as they come. But my latest flight to Mexico, originating in Atlanta, presented all passengers with something I had never seen before. We had already been through boarding pass checks, passport checks, scanners, and pat downs. At the gate, each passenger had already had their tickets scanned and we were all walking on the jet bridge to board. It’s at this...

Police have responded to a shooting inside Fort Lauderdale / Hollywood International Airport Friday afternoon. Details have not been confirmed by police, but early reports indicate as many as seven people were shot. Former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer, who was traveling from the airport, tweeted out following the incident:

MINNEAPOLIS (KMSP) - Signs will soon be posted at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport with a warning that your current Minnesota driver’s license won’t be enough to pass through security in 2018. Starting Jan. 22, 2018, you will need an alternate ID to fly if you have a standard driver’s license or ID card issued by any of the following states: Kentucky, Maine, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina or Washington. Alternate forms of ID include a passport, military ID, or permanent resident card. You can find a full list of accepted ID at https://www.tsa.gov/travel/security-screening/identification