# TSA, Police and FBI handcuff and detain student for possessing arabic flashcards **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 10, 2010, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsa-police-and-fbi-handcuff-and-detain-student-for-possessing-arabic-flashcards/528497 "2010-02-10T23:58:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mozchron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@mozchron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mozchron)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2010, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsa-police-and-fbi-handcuff-and-detain-student-for-possessing-arabic-flashcards/528497/1 "2010-02-10T23:58:23Z")
[http://www.aclu.org/national-security/aclu-sues-over-unconstitutional-airport-detention-and-interrogation-college-studen](http://www.aclu.org/national-security/aclu-sues-over-unconstitutional-airport-detention-and-interrogation-college-studen) Well, I feel safer. Maybe this is why people can sneak bombs on a plane in their underwear - the TSA agents are too busy detaining language students. ---
**Author:** ![Zagrobelny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/fbc32d/32.png) [@Zagrobelny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zagrobelny)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2010, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsa-police-and-fbi-handcuff-and-detain-student-for-possessing-arabic-flashcards/528497/2 "2010-02-11T00:15:39Z")
I feel safer already. We must defend our shores against the threat of bilingualism. ---
**Author:** ![buttonjockey308](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@buttonjockey308](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buttonjockey308)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2010, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsa-police-and-fbi-handcuff-and-detain-student-for-possessing-arabic-flashcards/528497/3 "2010-02-11T00:16:26Z")
Well, if it happened the way the arrestee and the ACLU say it did, that there is a load of grade A bullshit. On the other hand, if the cards were not the only reason…I’m gonna wait and see. [nitpick]The reason the TSA didn’t find the underpants bomber is beause they didn’t screen him, thier counterparts in the netherlands did.[/nitpick] ---
**Author:** ![mozchron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@mozchron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mozchron)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2010, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsa-police-and-fbi-handcuff-and-detain-student-for-possessing-arabic-flashcards/528497/4 "2010-02-11T00:18:50Z")
> [@buttonjockey308](#): > > [nitpick]The reason the TSA didn’t find the underpants bomber is beause they didn’t screen him, thier counterparts in the netherlands did.[/nitpick] Yeah yeah…never let facts get in the way of a good hyperbole.🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2010, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsa-police-and-fbi-handcuff-and-detain-student-for-possessing-arabic-flashcards/528497/5 "2010-02-11T00:32:23Z")
From the linked article: \* A TSA supervisor then arrived and aggressively questioned George, asking him questions such as how he felt about 9/11, whether he knew “who did 9/11” and whether he knew what language Osama bin Laden spoke. \* If this is true, the supervisor should be fired for being an idiot, regardless of the outcome of the lawsuit. I fail to see how those questions have any relevance to issue of whether the student was a security risk and/or criminal. ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2010, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsa-police-and-fbi-handcuff-and-detain-student-for-possessing-arabic-flashcards/528497/6 "2010-02-11T00:32:50Z")
> [@Article\[/quote](#): > > After producing a set of English-Arabic flashcards, which each had an English word on one side and the corresponding Arabic word on the other, George was detained by the TSA agents in the screening area for 30 minutes. A TSA supervisor then arrived and aggressively questioned George, asking him questions such as how he felt about 9/11, whether he knew “who did 9/11” and whether he knew what language Osama bin Laden spoke. Why in the hell would anyone _not_ know that bin Laden speaks Arabic? Is this a serious question to ask? ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2010, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsa-police-and-fbi-handcuff-and-detain-student-for-possessing-arabic-flashcards/528497/7 "2010-02-11T00:35:19Z")
I feel that if you’re planning on blowing yourself up on a plane in the next few hours, you’re probably not going to spend the intervening time trying to learn a new language. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2010, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsa-police-and-fbi-handcuff-and-detain-student-for-possessing-arabic-flashcards/528497/8 "2010-02-11T00:41:09Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > I feel that if you’re planning on blowing yourself up on a plane in the next few hours, you’re probably not going to spend the intervening time trying to learn a new language. Well, now–You think those 72 virgins are going to speak English? ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2010, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsa-police-and-fbi-handcuff-and-detain-student-for-possessing-arabic-flashcards/528497/9 "2010-02-11T00:41:23Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > I feel that if you’re planning on blowing yourself up on a plane in the next few hours, you’re probably not going to spend the intervening time trying to learn a new language. Seriously, dude, how are you going to chat up those virgins in Islamic heaven if you don’t speak Arabic? ETA: and I was beaten to it by **MEBuckner** But, even more seriously, if Arabic is a sign that you are a terrorist, then the Iranians and the North Koreans have won. ---
**Author:** ![Rumor\_Watkins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@Rumor\_Watkins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rumor_Watkins)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2010, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsa-police-and-fbi-handcuff-and-detain-student-for-possessing-arabic-flashcards/528497/10 "2010-02-11T00:58:09Z")
The TSA chief at Philadelphia International Airport must be a grade A bozo and bigot. Remember, this is the same airport with the “just kidding” planting of a white powdery substance on innocent passengers. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2010, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsa-police-and-fbi-handcuff-and-detain-student-for-possessing-arabic-flashcards/528497/11 "2010-02-11T01:09:38Z")
What the fuck is up with you people?! Do you not take air travel safety seriously? So he was asked a few questions and he missed his flight, is that too big a deal for keeping us safe? People miss their flights all the time. People wait in waiting rooms all the time. This is just part of flying. Would you rather have let someone broadcasting the same signals on board with _your_ wife and children? Should we just forget all about vetting passengers and go back to 1960s-style “air screening”? Don’t you get it? He had flashcards. Haven’t any of you people ever gotten a _papercut_? I bet they were on heavy stock, too. ---
**Author:** ![Rumor\_Watkins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@Rumor\_Watkins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rumor_Watkins)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2010, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsa-police-and-fbi-handcuff-and-detain-student-for-possessing-arabic-flashcards/528497/12 "2010-02-11T01:10:54Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#): > > What the fuck is up with you people?! Do you not take air travel safety seriously? So he was asked a few questions and he missed his flight, is that too big a deal for keeping us safe? People miss their flights all the time. People wait in waiting rooms all the time. This is just part of flying. Would you rather have let someone broadcasting the same signals on board with _your_ wife and children? Should we just forget all about vetting passengers and go back to 1960s-style “air screening”? Don’t you get it? He had flashcards. Haven’t any of you people ever gotten a _papercut_? I bet they were on heavy stock, too. he’s obviously a shitty terrorist. paper cuts hurt more with thinner paper. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2010, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsa-police-and-fbi-handcuff-and-detain-student-for-possessing-arabic-flashcards/528497/13 "2010-02-11T01:38:21Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#): > > Don’t you get it? He had flashcards. Haven’t any of you people ever gotten a _papercut_? I bet they were on heavy stock, too. Prolly printed with explosive poisonous radioactive ink as well. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2010, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsa-police-and-fbi-handcuff-and-detain-student-for-possessing-arabic-flashcards/528497/14 "2010-02-11T01:44:08Z")
Is there a cite for this story that doesn’t come from the agency suing the TSA? Granted, this on the surface seems remarkably stupid, but this IS from the ACLU’s website, and since they are legally pursuing the matter, they can’t really be considered unbiased. I’m interested to see what, if any, refutations there are on the part of the TSA, and if they make any goddamn sense. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2010, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsa-police-and-fbi-handcuff-and-detain-student-for-possessing-arabic-flashcards/528497/15 "2010-02-11T01:45:42Z")
> [@Rumor\_Watkins](#): > > The TSA chief at Philadelphia International Airport must be a grade A bozo and bigot. > > Remember, this is the same airport with the “just kidding” planting of a white powdery substance on innocent passengers. I wonder if in the Philadelphia TSA agents’ minds this was some kind of payback. It’s a bit of a trope in “bad cops” movies that “someone messed with one of ours, now _some_one’s gonna pay.” ---
**Author:** ![mozchron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@mozchron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mozchron)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2010, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsa-police-and-fbi-handcuff-and-detain-student-for-possessing-arabic-flashcards/528497/16 "2010-02-11T01:46:54Z")
> [@](#): > > Is there a cite for this story that doesn’t come from the agency suing the TSA? Yahoo news ok? Its on the front page. [http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100211/ts\_alt\_afp/usattacksrightsarabic](http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100211/ts_alt_afp/usattacksrightsarabic) On edit - the story itself comes from the AFP news group. ---
**Author:** ![Rumor\_Watkins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@Rumor\_Watkins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rumor_Watkins)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2010, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsa-police-and-fbi-handcuff-and-detain-student-for-possessing-arabic-flashcards/528497/17 "2010-02-11T01:55:57Z")
> [@Koxinga](#): > > I wonder if in the Philadelphia TSA agents’ minds this was some kind of payback. > > It’s a bit of a trope in “bad cops” movies that “someone messed with one of ours, now _some_one’s gonna pay.” read the article - this incident happened in Aug 09 and IIRC plantedevidence-gate happened this thanksgiving ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2010, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsa-police-and-fbi-handcuff-and-detain-student-for-possessing-arabic-flashcards/528497/18 "2010-02-11T02:00:30Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > SNIP > > I’m interested to see what, if any, refutations there are on the part of the TSA, and if they make any goddamn sense. Have they ever? Made any goddamn sense, I mean. ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2010, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsa-police-and-fbi-handcuff-and-detain-student-for-possessing-arabic-flashcards/528497/19 "2010-02-11T02:07:28Z")
Look at the video on the ACLU website. He was interrogated because of his annoying facial hair. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2010, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsa-police-and-fbi-handcuff-and-detain-student-for-possessing-arabic-flashcards/528497/20 "2010-02-11T02:29:12Z")
> [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](#): > > Look at the video on the ACLU website. He was interrogated because of his annoying facial hair. I actually used to get pulled out of airport checkpoints for extra screening back when I had a vaguely terrorist looking beard. Probably co-incidence, but it hasn’t happened since I went clean-shaven. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tsa-police-and-fbi-handcuff-and-detain-student-for-possessing-arabic-flashcards/528497.md?page=2)