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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsFederal air marshals have begun following ordinary US citizens
Welcome to the Quiet SkiesBy Jana Winter
July 28, 2018
Federal air marshals have begun following ordinary US citizens not suspected of a crime or on any terrorist watch list and collecting extensive information about their movements and behavior under a new domestic surveillance program that is drawing criticism from within the agency.
The previously undisclosed program, called Quiet Skies, specifically targets travelers who are not under investigation by any agency and are not in the Terrorist Screening Data Base, according to a Transportation Security Administration bulletin in March.
The internal bulletin describes the programs goal as thwarting threats to commercial aircraft posed by unknown or partially known terrorists, and gives the agency broad discretion over which air travelers to focus on and how closely they are tracked. But some air marshals, in interviews and internal communications shared with the Globe, say the program has them tasked with shadowing travelers who appear to pose no real threat a businesswoman who happened to have traveled through a Mideast hot spot, in one case; a Southwest Airlines flight attendant, in another; a fellow federal law enforcement officer, in a third.
It is a time-consuming and costly assignment, they say, which saps their ability to do more vital law enforcement work.
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http://apps.bostonglobe.com/news/nation/graphics/2018/07/tsa-quiet-skies/?p1=HP_SpecialTSA
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Federal air marshals have begun following ordinary US citizens (Original Post)
DonViejo
Jul 2018
OP
dalton99a
(81,568 posts)1. "The teams document whether passengers fidget, use a computer"
WTF
dewsgirl
(14,961 posts)2. Wild guess, those being harrased aren't white.
Bernardo de La Paz
(49,033 posts)3. Probably are whites
... or, better said, at least including lots of whites who have protested against the RubleCon-Трамп Party.
Or presented a global warming talk at a conference or to a publication.
Or protested against the Trump Child Abductions.
Or written / spoken anything for the supposedly "failing Fake News Media".
Or marched against police killings.
Or invested in a cannabis company.
Or posted a video against forced birthing.
Or attempted to reverse a voter list purge.
Or ....
maxrandb
(15,349 posts)7. No, if they weren't white
the agents would be perfectly fine with it, and we'd never hear about it until they killed someone.
SWBTATTReg
(22,156 posts)4. Or enemies on Rump's 'enemies list'...nt
irisblue
(33,019 posts)5. Warrents?
Note to self, another donation to the ACLU.
mn9driver
(4,428 posts)6. A common feature of authoritarian regimes.
There are endless stories of people being watched by minders for literally years as they go about their daily business in repressive states.
Its no surprise that it is now happening here.
Petosky Stone
(52 posts)8. Disband the TSA.
A hugely bloated and un-American agency.