EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Military Blogger Michael Yon Detained, Handcuffed by CBP in Seattle Airport
by PubliusCorrected: The federal enforcement agency involved in the incident with Mr. Yon at Sea-Tac was previously misidentified as the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). The article has been updated to reflect that it was Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents who questioned and detained Mr. Yon.
Award winning war correspondent Michael Yon was detained and handcuffed at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport Yesterday by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) personnel.
Yon was returning to the United States from Hong Kong to visit family when CBP officials stopped him during a routine security checkpoint. “Officials asked me what was in my bag—nothing wrong with this question,” Yon said in an interview with BigGovernment.com. “I told them it was normal stuff, clothes and toothbrushes.”
At this point the Customs officials escorted Yon to a designated screening area where they examined the contents of his bag. “Then they asked me how much money I make,” Yon said. Yon suggested to the Customs officials that the question was inappropriate and unrelated to transportation security. The award-winning blogger noted another CBP officer approached Yon: “he asked who do I work for.” ”I did not answer the question which clearly was upsetting to the [CBP] officers.”
Yon was escorted to a room elsewhere in the airport where he said he remained silent during much of the questioning. According to Yon, “they handcuffed me for failing to cooperate. They said I was impeding their ability to do their job.”
Yon described the CBP officials as noticeably frustrated by his refusal to answer their questions: “I always assume everything is being recorded. I was trying to be professional.”
Yon continued, “They said I wasn’t under arrest, but I’m handcuffed. In any other country, that qualifies as an arrest.”
Ultimately Port Authority police released Yon; according to Yon, the police were “completely professional.”
In January of 2009, Yon’s article “Border Bullies” detailed a Homeland Security officer coercing a friend to give up her e-mail password so that he could read private email correspondences between her and Yon.
Regarding the incident in Seattle, Yon was adamant the Customs agents had overstepped their bounds: “If I am the guy on that passport and I don’t have any contraband in my luggage, it is a matter for the FBI, not the [CBP].”
“[Customs] people are out of control,” he said. “They are not doing their jobs, they are harassing people, creating animosity. They ask you ‘what time is your connective flight?’ and they bully you until you miss the flight.”
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472 Comments
The tactics described here are exactly like those used by the Gestapo and SS in Nazi Germany and those of communist Russia under Lenin, Stalin, Kruschev, and the rest of the ir premiers. It is up to free citizens to make these peoples live miserable. They will soon have a union (something that was promised would not happen), and will have further insulation from dismissal.
Yep, nothing safer than harrassing good Americans. As a memeber of government law enforcement all I can say is these guys are a joke and a disgrace.
Fvc\\<in' Barny Fife clowns that can't get real jobs as a rent-a-cops. But I'll be that stupid bltch, Napalitano, gives these fools a bonus.
I'd bet that he would not have had that much problem with them if his name were Mohammud.
sounds to us like Mr Yon has been 'profiled'…
One suspects that they most certainly know who he is, and what he does, and where he stands. His reputation no doubt precedes him. ergo the third degree.
What we wonder- and will try to find out on our own- is who put these bureaucrats up to it. You just don't ask people about their income for no reason.
SOMEONE wanted him to leak something they thought he knew. Hard to figure. But this is rotten, and it smells deliberate as well…
I have to say this because I believe it to my core. Government cannot do ANYTHING right. Every program they start or any agency they manage is a failure or damn close to it. Bureaucracy never solved a thing, it just gums up the works. Sorry to hear about your trouble Mr. Yon, that really sucks.
They are bullies they act no differently to most who get some power. not unlike traffic wardens or the idiots who follow you around a museum telling you to get away from the exhibits. I have chosen to drive or train many journeys I would have flewn before . Not only are these power hungry freaks not helping transit in the least they cannot be helping the airlines bottom line . I mean really these are the same people who stopped Ray Charles Lol Ray Charles !
He was being sarcastic.
VER ARE YOUR PAPERS!?!?!? ><
and just think the government parties gave them that power and more..
I guess "class profiling" is something we're still OK with. The country's in the very best of hands
Uh, oh. Did a neocon just realize he was fighitng to subvert our liberty – since that is what war is ultimately about in most cases? Why won't they stop immigration? Because it gives them a perfect way to maintain the "threat" (if there ever was one) and excuse this treatment.
Well it's good to know that our fine airport security officials are doing their best to keep former Green Berets off of commercial flights. You never know when one of these guys might snap and use a pillow one hour before landing, endangering the lives of any underwear-igniting jihadists aboard.
Um…not to put to fine a point on it… WTF???
If not wrong /sarc indicated end of sarcasm
for correct html I believe it should be along the following example
sarc/
Great job you're doing Secretary Napolitano
/sarc
And the difference is??
One of the benefits of bureaucracy, as P.J. O'Rourke phrased it, is that it gives every pissant an anthill to piss from.
The report button is on the Right. Fitting isn’t it.. The reply button is on the left… if your nose is in the air the negative thumb is on the RIGHT. Fitting once again.
[...] blogger on the planet not in Hong Kong or Iraq but freaking liberal foreign land known as Seattle. EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Big Government: “Award winning war correspondent Michael Yon was detained and handcuffed at Seattle-Tacoma [...]
Unfathomably unbelievable. I vow never to fly until the situation improves. If the travel inductry suffers sanity may retrun. What's the point of harrassing old ladies and white marines? It's common knowledge who the bomb carriers are. Profile the SOBs!
Unless things have changed with html since I last checked, it should be <sarc> Excellent Work, Obama Administration! </sarc>. For readibility, I (and others) omit the angle brackets and the opening tag.
No one has ever had a problem getting it before. : |
Were bloggers on the DHS list along with ex-military and people who wave signs at Congress?
things have changed so much since 911.. now if you are suspected terrorist they tear your life apart. what ever a suspected terrorist is.
Pretty soon they'll be asking American citizens to prove they have health insurance if they want back in.
That one works for me.
Gee, it's not like anyone has tried to blow up a plane lately, or that anyone tries to sneak anything into the country illegally. But I can relate. I enter government buildings at least several times a week. The marshals know me, have seen my identification many times, have checked my bags many times. They even know that I am a reputable citizen their on behalf of civic commerce. But I go through the routine everyday, every time. It is just the times we live in. If you don't want to pass through border check points, you can always hike across the Sonoran Desert.
Isn't this what the much lauded El Al security does? Ask questions?
Tards Standing Around.
There must not have been any grannies in wheelchairs to harass so they went for a military veteran. We vets are a threat according to Heimatland Sicherheit Kommissar Napoleon-itano…
Stand with the Heroes, Fight the Zeros!
http://westernhero.blogspot.com/
[...] MORE ON Michael Yon’s detention at Sea-Tac. [...]
Sounds like that Civilian Force OBAMAU was talking about. Serious power!!!
cont…..
She didn;t like the fact I was well groomed, a business person, nothing to hide and she was another Bertha Lewis making minumum wage. I filed an official complaint aganst Southwestern and since I got many letters of apology, that was a cue to sue their butts but I didn't.
Bottom line is we are in an era with this Obongo adminisitration that all these blogs are being monitored and our ISP addresses are being logged. I can assure you that we, who express our "anger" against the dear leader are on a list and will be harrassed sooner or later if we fly because we like Mr. Yon are a threat to these communists and the muslim's get preferential treatment.
You got the immigration and war points in but you didn't get the dig on the JEWZ. Douchebag, you are slipping.
See if you don't use too much sarcasm and then make your real point you don't need the <sarc> tag.
They are just setting Yon up for his detention by Interpol and then being whisked off to that secret rendition camp in Venezuela.
[...] Yes, it’s getting starting to get crazy out there… UPDATE from Big Government: EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Military Blogger Michael Yon Detained, Handcuffed by TSA in Seattle Airport [...]
It's time to take this coutnry back America!!! Stand up and be proud!!!
This video needs to make it to CBS / NBC / FOX .. this would be my campaign slogan !!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiyqvuTxaEs
Pass it on through facebook, twitter.. Let Harry and Pelosi know were watching and waiting until November !!!!
Come on, tell us how you really feel. Just like the rest of us;)
SEIU IS LICKING AT THE CHOPS TO UNIONIZE THEM !!!!!
Talk about total failure then !!!!
WoW!
Lucky for US they detained Michael Yon.
I can hear Janet "Butch" Napalitano now: "THE SYSTEM WORKED!"
I just re-read your post at least 3 times…twice aloud even…and I still have NO idea what you're trying to say.
(By the way a**wipe, "neocon" is libtard code for that "dirty jew_ish backstabbing democrat turned conservitive").
You show your true self on these pages and hence forth shall be ignored!
Not Over.
Obama's AmeriKa
http://rightwingstuff.com
LOL! Everyone just be sure to wear your sexiest looking underwear when you fly! Or none at all!
Very, very funny!
Since we are on the issue of money and the IRS you might want to look here and see if you are eligible for their taxes http://www.losthorizons.com
So he really did get his dig on the JEWZ. My bad.
Don't get stoned before you troll forums. Infact should you not be quing up for your free healthcare somewhere?
Go on meow' que up!
This while they're letting a terrorist already on a watch list onto a plan with explosives in his undies.
Does that routine include being asked what you make and being handcuffed for no reason?
Michael Yon looks just like your typical Jihadi, doesn't he?
When profiling goes bad.
I may not have all of the facts here, but… If he is a US Citizen, with a US passport, he has the right to reenter the country. If he has contraband, they can arrest him. But they cannot deny him entrance into the country. I don't believe CPB has the power to prevetn a US Citizen entrance. It is the difference between being a foreign national and a US Citizen.
What's happening kurt as we cross paths out here reading the complete idiocy of these out of control government workers around the country's airports who are now like every other government run agency (besides the military just yet), being run into the ground by liberals who don't have a clue how to achieve security and maintain it.
I blogged about this too.
They'd never handle an Arab or a guy in Muslim garb like they did Yon.
Must of thought he was a Teabagger.
Buh…what? How do you stop immigration? Are you talking about illegals or immigration in general?
The troll Kool-Aid must have a little but too much cough syrup in it today.
I think Marc was being sarcastic, but forgot to add the sarc 'emoticon'….which I guess could be a winking eyes and/or eyes rolling or whatever/
This is yet another example of how people just don't think anymore. Lets see, if I was going to harass someone I would NOT choose an award winning, well connected, well respected photographer and new reporter. Doesn't it make sense that anything I said or did would wind up in an internationally available story? Only by the professionalism shown by Yon are the names of these fools not mentioned in the article!
It is a scary thing, the idea that these people are so shortsighted and they are responsible for keeping people safe.
Just more GD pig swill. I curse them every day for what they've done to this country. Now if Mr. Yon was a black Muslim, he would have been free to go. Can't touch that!
Helloooo, they are cops— skycops.
They're pigs. They don't have to think. The MSM won't touch this. And their fellow pigs have their backs.
So how much money do you make, Smiley?
What kind of helth insurance do you have?
How much is your mortgage?
How do you pay it?
Do you gamble?
Have you reported all your winnings?
Just askin'.
I'm a 58 year old grandmother of 7 with pure silver very short hair. Leaving for Japan and returning from Japan last summer I was pulled out of line and patted down. The patdown returning to USA was very thorough and even ran her fingers through my very short hair and around my waist band up under my arms and all the way to my crouch. I have an anglo-saxon name and have blue eyes. I can trace my ancestery back to before the Revolution. But, on my next trip out of Little Rock the person standing in front of me was named (I saw his ticket) Mohamad, Mohamad and he flew right through and he was around 20 or so with a Middle Eastern name and color. Go figure.
I am not a Union member, but I can appreciate all the benefits I have received as a result, maybe you would like to give up some of the things that were fought for by Unions that have benefited all of us, here are just a few.
-8 hr day, 40 hr week.
-overtime pay
-safe work environment
-family and medical leave
-sick days
Why don't you just give those things up?
They might have had a problem, but they would have been too scared to do anything.
you are both correct…
Now, the question is why? There is NO doubt they knew exactly who he is… we are going to look into it and see what we can find. If something is there we'll pass it on…
Exactly!
The lesson being- just change your name to Mohamad. You'll be left alone.
Given our president's recent elevation of Interpol agents above the restrictions of normal Constitutional and federal investigative restrictions, he may have an even farther reaching police force in mind.
If he had some C-4 in his underwear, they would have walked him straight through holding his hand.
What does any of this have to do with the price of tea in China? Unionization also left us with cumbersome work rules, a lack of flexibility, debilitating illegal strikes, SEIU corrpuption, Teamsters corruption, the NEA's destruction of the school system, etc., etc.
They wouldn't be managing at McDonalds- that requires business sense and skill. They would be asking (these days) "Can you afford fries with that?"
OK I'll bite…how much money do you make a year?
I'll wait over here at my kitchen table for an answer.
Not Over.
Seems to me that under this administration they should have advised him of his right to counsel before asking any questions.
Have to agree…Profile now…Because SO many Marines have attempted to blow up airliners.. As much as we want it, Obama will not do it.. We will be groped and scanned.. As someone online said the other day "Our National Security Requires BOTH the mom AND the Dad to call Officials" … As a Marine Wife, I am both sorry for your harassment and hopeful YOU will be on my next flight. Don't stay off airplanes folks…then the Bastards win…Thank you for your service Michael..and Semper Fi!
I've been forced to payola union dues at closed shops in the past, the unions are
a concept who have outlived their usefulness. To quote the late Frank Zappa "The
unions have the mafia curse". SEIU anyone?
To prove rape, the woman must have (4) male witnesses.
Often after a woman has been raped, she is returned to her family and the family must return the dowry. The family has the right to execute her (an honor killing) to restore the honor of the family. Husbands can beat their wives 'at will' and he does not have to say why he has beaten her.
The husband is permitted to have (4 wives) and a temporary wife for an hour (prostitute) at his discretion.
The Shariah Muslim law controls the private as well as the public life of the woman.
That's only for terrorist not AMERICANS
Exactly.
What is confusing about this for you? Seems pretty clear to me. Only in the US are the sheeple public trained to think the most basic functions of government are unattainable WHILE empowering the government to do what it was never intended to do. Some "libertarian."
Detained is arrested. Even with the help of Orwell you have allowed yourselves to be totally bamboozled by those controlling language. For instance, there are "civilians" and there are "military" but there are no "enemy combatants" – that is a fiction made up by tyranical government to ignore their own laws.
i go through this every month when i drive between az and tx. the fuckheads at the border patrol ask me at least 5 to 10 questions when i pass their checkpoints. i've never been to mexico, and yet when i legally drive on a legal highway, i have to go through the gestapo treatment. the government is out of control.
so you're saying that i might want to delete my last post?
This demonstrates how much bureaucrats value free speech. (sarcasm off)
The government can certainly stop illegal immigration, yes I agree.
Oh, the "sheeple", which is a code word for "I am smart and thus I can be an asshole to everyone". You're the moron who thinks we should become a white homeland.
That is VERY funny, except it's close to the truth.
Flown out of O'Hare lately?
15 yards, piling on.
'"neocon" is libtard code for that "dirty jew_ish backstabbing democrat turned conservative'
Thank you. That can't be pointed out too many times.
Amazing, 99.9% of people did not understand what dhass said above, yet fonz understood every word. We've said it numerous times here, but the libtard's brain is wired much different than that of others.
One distinctive difference that I have noticed about this phenominon is that the libtard brain is very subject to short circuiting.
If you can't leave, you've been arrested, even without handcuffs. Arrested is not the same as charged, of course.
And certainly there are enemy combatants. The fictions created by tyrannical politicians in order to control the populace are things like: the government cares about you, the government will take care of you, the government will protect you, the government knows better than you, etc., etc., etc.
If you have no objection to a Jew homeland why would you have an objection to a White homeland?
I at one time was pro union for the very reasons you have stated…but a lot has changed with the unions same as with our government…both corrupt to the bone!
Detained, gee what's the difference between that and being arrested, and not being charged? You are kept from your liberty, clown!
Killied Sheik Mohahamid was not arrested either. Why can't he just walk away? He is being detained.
[...] matter) brings down a year, or where one works (a question Yon was also asked)? As Mr. Yon “suggested” to the officials, not only was this entirely inappropriate, it has nothing, absolutely [...]
Another reason why I won't fly any more.
Oh, for goodness' sake. It is nothing like that, and it cheapens the debate to say so. Save the Hitler comparisons for when they really matter. I'm with you on the rest, though, it frosts me to think they might be immune from discipline or firing.
You had two doughnuts??
Actually, I do believe that every state (?) has laws saying how long you can work in certain situations with no break, or that work areas have to be kept at safe levels (OSHA). There are also laws (FMLA) that say an employer can not fire you for family emergencies or cases where you have to take time off from work to deal with family issues.
Really, really great way to improve your image, you blithering idiots.
Never harass someone who buys IP packets by the barrelful.
[...] I must have felt a disturbance in the force or something… milblogger Michael Yon was arrested in Seattle’s airport earlier today… returning from an overseas trip, he refused to [...]
Mr. Yon, I am sincerely glad to hear you've made it safely back to the States. And I hope your visit goes well in spite of purely malicious harassment on our soil. I hope to God you earn enough to keep you in the business. Outraged at the mental picture of you in cuffs.
Bingo– Arrest means you ain't going anywhere until you're released or charged.
"I assure you, when you are handcuffed you are under arrest, period. If you are ever in doubt about whether or not you are under arrest merely ask, am I free to leave, if the answer is no, you are under arrest. "
No. If you've never been trained to do any of this, you probably should not be making pronouncements on the subject.
As a private citizen (or in my capacity as private security, which I work sometimes), I can arrest people if I have personally witnessed them commit certain acts. I cannot detain someone unless I'm working retail and have cause to search someone (at which point you will often just detain them until the police arrive, and make them do the search).
Police may arrest someone, OR detain them. When you are detained you are not free to leave, but you are not under arrest either; detention might be for safety reasons, to conduct a lawful search, etc. (it is common practice to cuff anyone an officer suspects might get out of hand during a search of a vehicle or residence, for example. Honestly, this keeps hotheads, drunks, and idiots from doing something they'd just get into more trouble for)
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