Man booted from airplane for wearing anti-TSA shirt

[Danny Tanner]

What I find funny is many people on this very board if the subject were guns not tshirts in a private business would be screaming about how wrong it is for the business not to let you exercise your rights. All he was doing was expressing his 1st Amendment rights. He, according to the article, did not make a scene. The TSA saw nothing wrong with the shirt, it was a Delta employee that made a big deal about the thing. Now lets change to private businesses. If this would have happened at Quick Trip or 7/11 and involved a gun everyone here would be petitioning those establishments. So lets say you walk into one of those places and you talk to your neighborhood police officer who you know and knows you carry. He says nothing, then because you dropped a quarter on the ground you bend over and the store employee sees your gun and asks you to leave. It is not quite the same but close. This guy is an a-hat for wearing a shirt that makes fun of the TSA. The TSA had no issue with it, however some power tripping Delta employee with zero sense of humor got offended. Then after that too many over zealous people got involved at what was the most exciting thing to happen to them that week. The guy did nothing wrong and his political speech should be protected.

This hypocrisy is frequently pointed out by JB.

I disagree that he's being an a-hole, though. He has every right to protest the perversion, sexual and non-sexual, performed by the TSA, whether it's through a microphone or on a t-shirt. Many men died fighting for this man's right to do so. Personally, I wouldn't wear it, nor would the majority of us, but that doesn't mean he's an a-hole for doing so.

 

[loudshirt]

I guess the thing that really gets me up in arms about this is that it was some idiot employee from Delta that blew this completely out of proportion. I also find it irritating that if an airline does not like how you dress they can kick you off the plane. It is outrageous that one person was initially offended and it cost this guy a crap ton of money.

My question for Glocktogo is why didn't the TSA stand behind the initial screening? Why is the TSA getting involved with someone being offended by clothing?

 

[1fast8]

This hypocrisy is frequently pointed out by JB.

I disagree that he's being an a-hole, though. He has every right to protest the perversion, sexual and non-sexual, performed by the TSA, whether it's through a microphone or on a t-shirt. Many men died fighting for this man's right to do so. Personally, I wouldn't wear it, nor would the majority of us, but that doesn't mean he's an a-hole for doing so.

that is your opinion and not the same as many

 

[Danny Tanner]

I guess the thing that really gets me up in arms about this is that it was some idiot employee from Delta that blew this completely out of proportion. I also find it irritating that if an airline does not like how you dress they can kick you off the plane. It is outrageous that one person was initially offended and it cost this guy a crap ton of money.

My question for Glocktogo is why didn't the TSA stand behind the initial screening? Why is the TSA getting involved with someone being offended by clothing?

Forgot to say that I agreed with everything else you said.

I get businesses have the right to refuse service, but c'mon, it's just a damn t-shirt. It's a slippery slope when we start catering to the paranoia of the ignorant.

 

[Danny Tanner]

that is your opinion and not the same as many

Wearing a t-shirt isn't my ideal way to stand up for The People, but it and mockery are, as minor as they may be, forms of protest. We don't have to agree with the way he protests, but he broke no laws and put nobody in harm's way. I just fail to see what the big deal is and why it constitutes him being called a stupid a-hole.

 

[Glocktogo]

This hypocrisy is frequently pointed out by JB.

I disagree that he's being an a-hole, though. He has every right to protest the perversion, sexual and non-sexual, performed by the TSA, whether it's through a microphone or on a t-shirt. Many men died fighting for this man's right to do so. Personally, I wouldn't wear it, nor would the majority of us, but that doesn't mean he's an a-hole for doing so.

I agree 98%. The other 2% is where the bomb portion of it lies. That's out of bounds and the courts have agreed on this.

I guess the thing that really gets me up in arms about this is that it was some idiot employee from Delta that blew this completely out of proportion. I also find it irritating that if an airline does not like how you dress they can kick you off the plane. It is outrageous that one person was initially offended and it cost this guy a crap ton of money.

My question for Glocktogo is why didn't the TSA stand behind the initial screening? Why is the TSA getting involved with someone being offended by clothing?

Would you also disagree with a restaurant that says "No shirt, no shoes, no service."? What about fancy restaurants where a jacket and tie are required? Businesses have the right to set reasonable rules within the areas they conduct business. The cabin of an aircraft is no different. The TSA cannot interfere with the decisions a PIC makes regarding their aircraft and it's safety. We routinely screen intoxicated persons who are subsequently denied boarding. They were not a safety risk to themselves or others during screening, but during an in flight emergency they may be.

 

[Craig3]

He made a bad decision- but I'd say they took it a little far. They could have asked him to turn his shirt inside out or change.

I think we'd have less issues w/ the airport security if it was all run by private sector instead of Gov. Its amazing to me the low standards the TSA has for its employees, some of them wouldn't be eligible for Walmart and yet they can grope the general public.

**edit- of course I don't mean that ALL of them are low quality people/workers/etc. But I do maintain that private sector would do it better. The Gov is really only good at Armed forces imo.**

 

[11b1776]

First thing I thought as I was reading the report.



I got your back bro!



LOL!



The TSA could've made him change the shirt before allowing him into the Sterile Area. Jokes about bombs in an airport are taken VERY seriously. They obviously screened him and determined that he was merely an azzhat, who was exercising his rights while judgement impaired. That's the part everyone forgets. Just because you have a right, does not MAKE you right. You can be fully within your rights and be completely wrong. Your 1st Amendment rights allow you to burn the US flag as a form of protest, but you're wrong if you do it. The Delta pilot recognized that this guy was wrong, exercised his judgement as Pilot In Command that it would cause civil unrest on board the aircraft and denied him passage. As PIC, that's within his authority.

With rights come responsibilities. Some people care nothing about the responsibilities, only the rights.

Well said sir.

 

[loudshirt]

I agree 98%. The other 2% is where the bomb portion of it lies. That's out of bounds and the courts have agreed on this.



Would you also disagree with a restaurant that says "No shirt, no shoes, no service."? What about fancy restaurants where a jacket and tie are required? Businesses have the right to set reasonable rules within the areas they conduct business. The cabin of an aircraft is no different. The TSA cannot interfere with the decisions a PIC makes regarding their aircraft and it's safety. We routinely screen intoxicated persons who are subsequently denied boarding. They were not a safety risk to themselves or others during screening, but during an in flight emergency they may be.

Here is his blog entry about the whole thing: http://arijitvsdelta.blogspot.co.uk/ it has more info from the guys point of view, no way to tell if it is accurate, however I have not seen anything from Delta to dispute the facts.

The restaurant is not a good comparison. If there is a jacket and tie requirement you can usually find that in writing somewhere before you arrive. Also those types of restaurants would not call the police to tell you that you can not eat there. If this shirt was such a big deal how did the guy make it all the way to the gate before anyone said anything? I have read too many stories of a flight attendant kicking someone off a plane because of baggy pants. If the airlines want to have dress code go ahead. I fail to see how a person wearing a tshirt is the same as an intoxicated person. One person, the Delta manager, caused this whole issue. The TSA was fine with it, and the Delta manager got over themselves. The public outcry on the plane was most likely caused by seeing a person about to get on the plane with them being non discreetly interviewed by the TSA and local law enforcement.

 

[bettingpython]

Were you there? Did you personally witness his behavior when confronted by the gate agent about his poor choice in attire? Just because TSA said he was OK to travel doesn't mean the airline has to accept him. I would almost bet he made a douche bag spectacle of himself in dealing with the gate agent for the airline, fastest way not to get on a plane be loud, argumentative or disorderly.

Want to know why places have dress codes? It's a litmus test to see if you're a douche bag.

I'm already irritated that I am not allowed so much as a pocket knife when I fly I certainly don't want some douche bag with a **** the TSA shirt on my flight that has been spouting off.

Maybe I am in the minority but good job Delta.