Unfinished year old post (on terrorism)
I commented the other day that I feel like the United States has been slowing moving closer to a police state since 9/11. I found the draft of this post while looking for something else. I started writing this last year. I think it’s time I finished it and posted it.
I chose not to write about 9/11 last year because I’m still so conflicted about it. George W. Bush used the attacks on our country as an excuse to start a war, roll back civil rights, and generally ignore large parts of the Constitution in an effort to “find terrorists.” And we, as frightened Americans, thanked him for it, and asked for more.
My high school friend Noel posted this story on Facebook last year. I think it’s frightening how this woman was treated by her own government. Our government. The government that we keep holding up as an ideal for the rest of the world to aspire to. Ten years after 9/11, this woman was arrested dragged off a plane and treated horribly for 1) being brown and 2) being assigned a seat next to two men who had to go to the bathroom during a flight. And then the next day I read a second article about the woman, who said she was strip searched while she was detained.
Here is what horrifies me about this scenario. In the United States, if you are taken into police custody you have rights. When you are first arrested, you are read your Miranda rights. You are told the reason why you are being taken into custody. When you get to the station you are entitled to a phone call. You are entitled to a lawyer, and you have the right to remain silent if you so choose. Unless the reason why you are taken into custody is for something that happens on a plane.
This woman was NOT told what she was accused of doing. (In this case, the crime of being assigned a seat next to someone with a full bladder. Who happened to be non-white and therefore suspicious.) She was not read her rights. Because she clearly had none in the eyes of the TSA officers who were handling her. The FBI at least sounds like they dealt with her like a human being. She was strip searched. There was absolutely no reason for this. The pat downs you receive at the airport are humiliating enough. The plane had landed by the time this all happened. If she had truly been a terrorist, what would be the point of allowing the plane to land safely and let herself be arrested if she had any weapons on her person? There’s no logic in thinking that she was dangerous, only racial hatred.
She was fingerprinted. What was the reason for this? She hadn’t committed a crime. She was questioned and released. So what purpose was there to adding her fingerprints to a database? It speaks of “Well, we’ll let you go this time missy, but just be aware, we’re watching you.” Like they think she’s guilty and they’re just letting her off this time because they can’t prove she’s a dangerous criminal, but just in case, we’ll take your fingerprints…. She was not allowed the basic human dignity of going to the bathroom without being watched. Not allowed a phone call. And yet, they described what happened to her as merely being “questioned.”
And lest we forget, there’s the Occupy Wall Street movement. And the sometimes violent police response to peaceful protesters. Remember this police officer at UC Davis? Earlier this week I read this story by a woman who was peacefully protesting. She wasn’t violating any laws. But the police pulled her off the sidewalk and arrested her. Her story sounds eerily similar to the woman on the plane, although this time it’s the NYPD, not the TSA.
I hate what’s happened to the United States since 9/11. The terrorists won. They don’t have to do anything anymore, because it’s our own government terrorizing us now.
I chose not to write about 9/11 last year because I’m still so conflicted about it. George W. Bush used the attacks on our country as an excuse to start a war, roll back civil rights, and generally ignore large parts of the Constitution in an effort to “find terrorists.” And we, as frightened Americans, thanked him for it, and asked for more.
My high school friend Noel posted this story on Facebook last year. I think it’s frightening how this woman was treated by her own government. Our government. The government that we keep holding up as an ideal for the rest of the world to aspire to. Ten years after 9/11, this woman was arrested dragged off a plane and treated horribly for 1) being brown and 2) being assigned a seat next to two men who had to go to the bathroom during a flight. And then the next day I read a second article about the woman, who said she was strip searched while she was detained.
Here is what horrifies me about this scenario. In the United States, if you are taken into police custody you have rights. When you are first arrested, you are read your Miranda rights. You are told the reason why you are being taken into custody. When you get to the station you are entitled to a phone call. You are entitled to a lawyer, and you have the right to remain silent if you so choose. Unless the reason why you are taken into custody is for something that happens on a plane.
This woman was NOT told what she was accused of doing. (In this case, the crime of being assigned a seat next to someone with a full bladder. Who happened to be non-white and therefore suspicious.) She was not read her rights. Because she clearly had none in the eyes of the TSA officers who were handling her. The FBI at least sounds like they dealt with her like a human being. She was strip searched. There was absolutely no reason for this. The pat downs you receive at the airport are humiliating enough. The plane had landed by the time this all happened. If she had truly been a terrorist, what would be the point of allowing the plane to land safely and let herself be arrested if she had any weapons on her person? There’s no logic in thinking that she was dangerous, only racial hatred.
She was fingerprinted. What was the reason for this? She hadn’t committed a crime. She was questioned and released. So what purpose was there to adding her fingerprints to a database? It speaks of “Well, we’ll let you go this time missy, but just be aware, we’re watching you.” Like they think she’s guilty and they’re just letting her off this time because they can’t prove she’s a dangerous criminal, but just in case, we’ll take your fingerprints…. She was not allowed the basic human dignity of going to the bathroom without being watched. Not allowed a phone call. And yet, they described what happened to her as merely being “questioned.”
And lest we forget, there’s the Occupy Wall Street movement. And the sometimes violent police response to peaceful protesters. Remember this police officer at UC Davis? Earlier this week I read this story by a woman who was peacefully protesting. She wasn’t violating any laws. But the police pulled her off the sidewalk and arrested her. Her story sounds eerily similar to the woman on the plane, although this time it’s the NYPD, not the TSA.
I hate what’s happened to the United States since 9/11. The terrorists won. They don’t have to do anything anymore, because it’s our own government terrorizing us now.