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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
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    4

    Default Unlawful Detainment at the Airport

    My question involves police conduct in the State of: Georgia

    I was at the airport with my partner leaving for an early morning flight. I picked up two of those bins, one for myself and one for my partner. A TSA agent named Claude was standing near us and saw me pick up the bins. He said, "You don't need two of those bins, put those back." I said to him in a calm voice, "I'm capable of deciding how many bins I need, but thanks for your concern." He started getting hostile with me, telling me if he sees me putting my bag in a bin he would dump it on the floor. At this point my partner raised his voice at Claude and said loudly, "The other bin is for me, leave us alone." Claude screamed at my partner "Calm down" in such a loud voice that everyone around us looked up. I said to him in my normal tone of voice, "No its you that needs to calm you are way out of line harassing us over the number of bins we are using." Claude said to us, verbatim, "You faggots are going to see, wait and see what happens." And then walked away.

    Once we got through security a young police officer came up to us and pulled us out from that stupid glass room where they search passengers, cut us off when we tried to ask him why we were being pulled out of line, and walked us out to the front of security. I told him that Claude had harassed us, that we had done nothing wrong, and he continued to cut me off by holding his hand up. He lectured us on 'airport behavior', without listening to our insistence that we did not do anything wrong, and then told us we were going to the end of the line to try again. I was angry at this point but I know better than to mess with black police officers in Atlanta as a gay white man, and so I simply told him, "I understand that Claude is obviously your buddy but if you keep covering for him and playing these games with citizens its going to bite you in the ass one day."

    He grabbed my arm at this point for 'cursing' in the airport and started to pull me somewhere. I told him I was not going with him, I'd done nothing wrong, and I'd sooner leave the airport than play his games. At this point he threw my bag on the floor and told me to pick it up, which I did. Next he threw my hat on the floor and stepped on it, and when I refused to pick it up he dragged me towards the airport police office by the arm. My partner picked up my hat and followed us to the airport police station. The officer took my cellphone from me and put it in his pocket when I said I was going to call my attorney. He took me to a small room where he told me to take off my jacket. I decided to do an experiment with him at this point, and even though it was just a regular jacket I told him it was the only thing my father had left me when he died so to please not damage it. I put it on a chair, he threw it on the ground and stepped all over it.

    He took me into a small cell, and started to pat me down when I saw another black officer in the office area outside the cell. I told him I was being unlawfully detained by this officer and he said, verbatim, "I don't give a **** faggot." They kept me in that room for 20 minutes until my partner lied to them and told them I had heart problems. I happened to be lying on the floor when they came to check on me and that freaked them out I guess because at that point they let me go. When I was leaving I noticed that I did not have my cell phone and I told the officer to give it back to me, at which point he produced it from his pocket. I know his intention was to steal my phone but at that point I was so in shock about everything that had happened it was the least of my worries.

    I never did anything because the officer refused to give me his name and badge number and my family discouraged me from trying to fight the system, but I was wondering what my legal options might be or might have been had I done something earlier. Its probably too late now to file a civil suit based on the detainment, but I assume the statute of limitations on discrimination is longer. I know this was based on my sexual orientation from the very beginning with Claude and the other officer knowing I was gay without seeing my partner leads me to believe that it was discrimination based in that respect as well. Thanks in advance for any advice you may have for me.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
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    Behind a Desk
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    98,846

    Default Re: Unlawful Detainment at the Airport

    Quote Quoting Andrew112883
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    ...I know better than to mess with black police officers in Atlanta as a gay white man...
    Or as any man... or woman... of any race.

    You knew this, yet you chose to argue, be difficult, backtalk, and ultimately lie. You emerged with no injuries that you have described, save perhaps for aggravation. With no injuries to speak of, and conduct during your detention that will make you less than sympathetic, I'm not seeing this as a case a lawyer would be interested in taking. But you're free to call some area law firms and ask.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Aug 2009
    Location
    Central Florida
    Posts
    37

    Default Re: Unlawful Detainment at the Airport

    Sounds like you started the whole incident with your

    Quote Quoting Andrew112883
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    "I'm capable of deciding how many bins I need, but thanks for your concern."
    It sounds like you are lucky that you were not arrested for disorderly conduct or trespassed from the airport. And you want to know what your legal options are? Try not causing a scene and then blaming it on everybody else.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    Michigan
    Posts
    28,906

    Default Re: Unlawful Detainment at the Airport

    I've at times experienced of "respect my authoriteh"-type power tripping at airport security lines. How is it a security concern if somebody uses two bins instead of one?

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Location
    Washington comma the Great State of.
    Posts
    1,211

    Default Re: Unlawful Detainment at the Airport

    Quote Quoting Florida Deputy
    View Post
    Sounds like you started the whole incident with your



    It sounds like you are lucky that you were not arrested for disorderly conduct or trespassed from the airport. And you want to know what your legal options are? Try not causing a scene and then blaming it on everybody else.
    So your position is that saying to someone something which is pretty obvious to any reasonable person is grounds for, um, what exactly? He said he can decided how many bins he requires. I think that's probably quite accurate: we have two bags, perhaps one in each bin?

    I'm really having great difficulty figuring out exactly how that would be disorderly conduct. Can you please elaborate on what you mean?

    OP, you're not going to engender much sympathy in a court as a know liar (or as you called it an "experiment"). You lied to the police; most people do not find that to be a noble trait. And your partner lied to them as well. Presumably while you were inside and he was out, he had access to at least a pay phone. Anyway, most people don't want to take to trial a case where the "victim" is a confessed liar.

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