Man detained and harassed at airport for carrying CASH!

[Kingofthehill78]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMB6L487LHM&feature=haxa_popt00us0f

[ratchet]

That was interesting...

[The Batfan]

that's crazy he only had 4,700 bucks. I usually have twice that on me when I got a convention. I drive I DON'T fly so maybe I am lucky. soon big brother will be watching all:banghead:

[riderV3]

It's what that guy said, when Capitalism turning into Fascism.

[Tetragrammaton]

My favorite part was when Judge Andrew Napolitano asks, "Is that the face of a terrorist?"

http://i40.tinypic.com/28v4s3b.jpg

Nothing that I heard seemed wrong or unethical. Granted, I think $4700 in cash isn't too unusual an amount of money to be carrying but it can be an indicator of some sort of criminal activity. If it was $47,000 is it suddenly less of a violation of personal freedoms?

Look, I don't travel much but these types of questions seem reasonable. You aren't required by law to answer them and when Mr. Bierfeldt asked, he should have been informed as much.

Now, what motivated his 30 minute detainment? Was he detained because of the cash or was it because he had the Campaign for Liberty literature?

[Primal]

My favorite part was when Judge Andrew Napolitano asks, "Is that the face of a terrorist?"

http://i40.tinypic.com/28v4s3b.jpg

http://img91.imageshack.us/img91/4573/smilielolcb1.gif Well played Tet.

[dr_teng]

It's pretty obvious why he was detained, not only due to the cash, but because they thought he was being evasive with that particular answer. Yeah, he was within his legal rights, but TSA agents really won't see it that way.

So basically, he got the treatment that lots of non-white people get on the TSA, or the treatment that tons of people get going through US customs. I travel through customs a lot, and I had a streak going for around 5-6 trips where I saw at least one person crying due to customs agents at each entry. Not a good way to encourage tourism, that's for sure.

[armitage]

This country is clearly becoming a police state.
Anyone who doesn't see that has no idea what's going on.

[nemesisenforcer]

Well that was interesting. There were alot of arguments on this situation. IMO both were right and both were also wrong.

[MrYac]

interesting, 5,000 bucks in a box is a bit suspicious. i don't know why people have to be so difficult, respect law enforcement officers and they'll respect you, if you get detained just answer the simple questions they have for you, of course if you sit there and be evasive they aren't just going to let you walk away

[Kingofthehill78]

interesting, 5,000 bucks in a box is a bit suspicious. i don't know why people have to be so difficult, respect law enforcement officers and they'll respect you, if you get detained just answer the simple questions they have for you, of course if you sit there and be evasive they aren't just going to let you walk away

I understand your reasoning but this isn't nazi germany in 1939. You shouldn't have to answer questions about having money.What if he was a terrorist? You think hes going to say I'm using this money to buy a bomb? They are profiling people who have money.... I forgot that only terrorists carry money around :rolleyes2 ....your more likely to get a banker then a terrorist. What's next being detained because your shoes are too expensive? does that make you a terrorist too? This is supposed to be america, the land of the free not the land of the persecuted.:(

[DeKind]

interesting, 5,000 bucks in a box is a bit suspicious. i don't know why people have to be so difficult, respect law enforcement officers and they'll respect you, if you get detained just answer the simple questions they have for you, of course if you sit there and be evasive they aren't just going to let you walk away

$4700 in a box is suspicious? i dont think so. its not like he had money belts and was attempting to hide it nor is it even that large of a sum. You're not going to buy massive quantities of illegal drugs or ultra secret weapon plans for 4.7k.

simply put i think the entire situaion was caused TSA officers who didnt know what the hell they were doing which comes as no surprise to me. Most dont and arent even given a clear outline of what their limitations are. They're just told to go out and hassle anyone who looks even remotely strange in any way.

[dr_teng]

They are profiling people who have money.... I forgot that only terrorists carry money around :rolleyes2 ....

It's more likely that he was asked about having the money due to suspicion of drug-related purchases/sales. That's why they mentioned the DEA. There's quite a few news reports about officers pulling people over and discovering large sums of money in their cars, then confiscating it for the same reason.

If you do a google search for "pulled over in car cash confiscated" you'll find a variety of stories about similar such things.

[DeKind]

It's more likely that he was asked about having the money due to suspicion of drug-related purchases/sales. That's why they mentioned the DEA. There's quite a few news reports about officers pulling people over and discovering large sums of money in their cars, then confiscating it for the same reason.

If you do a google search for "pulled over in car cash confiscated" you'll find a variety of stories about similar such things.

what the heck are you reading? police do not confiscate 5 grand for the sake of it. first of all the sums of money in the examples you're citing are usually exorbitant and secondly the driver is usually stoned, armed, or they find drugs which leads them to search the rest of the vehicle which is when they locate the money.

the TSA officers forced the man into a room simply because he had $4700 in a box, thats it.

might as well of been a jeweler with a pouch of diamonds.

[dr_teng]

what the heck are you reading?

The news? If you do the above google search, you'll find a number of stories in various newspapers from across the US.

police do not confiscate 5 grand for the sake of it. first of all the sums of money in the examples you're citing are usually exorbitant and secondly the driver is usually stoned, armed, or they find drugs which leads them to search the rest of the vehicle which is when they locate the money.

the TSA officers forced the man into a room simply because he had $4700 in a box, thats it.

might as well of been a jeweler with a pouch of diamonds.

To many people, $4700 in cash is exorbitant. To your second part, I'd be interested to see you back that up. The majority of news articles you'll find about cash confiscation do not involve people that are stoned, armed, or in possession of drugs. Primarily because you'd have to be an idiot to be involved in any of those three things (driving strangely, waving a weapon around, or with drugs obviously around) while transporting that type of cash.

Just for kicks, here's a rather recent news article about Texas confiscations.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-texas-profiling_wittmar10,0,6051682.story

[DeKind]

The news? If you do the above google search, you'll find a number of stories in various newspapers from across the US.

I did the above search and got a number of google hits for seizures of amounts in the 100k range. Is that relevant? No.


To many people, $4700 in cash is exorbitant.

Nothing is exobitant about the amount its simply odd because of the ease in electronic transactions when it comes to moving larger amounts. Again this is far from any crime. If i wanted to conduct ALL my personal finances in cash from this day forward are you saying the law enforcement has the right to kick my door in detain me and harass me about it? What country are you living in? Really?


To your second part, I'd be interested to see you back that up. The majority of news articles you'll find about cash confiscation do not involve people that are stoned, armed, or in possession of drugs. Primarily because you'd have to be an idiot to be involved in any of those three things (driving strangely, waving a weapon around, or with drugs obviously around) while transporting that type of cash.

Just for kicks, here's a rather recent news article about Texas confiscations.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-texas-profiling_wittmar10,0,6051682.story

Thats usually what happens. The locating and seizing of an extremely large amount of currency is usually secondary. I'd like to know what state you're in so i can avoid it if your law enforcement pulls people over for the sake of stealing their money.

And nice story, really. Dirty cops abusing their power. Thanks for proving my point.

[oddball]

you folks can thank the patriot act for the legal harassment people have to face. last year i tried to get a $950 money order from amscot, a company that offers free money orders. according to the pamphlet they handed me, they can legally contact the authorities to report what they consider a large amount of cash (close to $1000) to prevent illegal money laundering. i had to produce ID which they copied and had to tell them what i was using the money order for, my profession, etc. an obvious violation of my personal freedoms in the name of 'national security'. i'm surprised they didn't implant a tracking chip in my *ss!

[dr_teng]

I did the above search and got a number of google hits for seizures of amounts in the 100k range. Is that relevant? No.

And there's many for far smaller ranges, perhaps you might want to check beyond 2-3 hits.

Nothing is exobitant about the amount its simply odd because of the ease in electronic transactions when it comes to moving larger amounts. Again this is far from any crime. If i wanted to conduct ALL my personal finances in cash from this day forward are you saying the law enforcement has the right to kick my door in detain me and harass me about it? What country are you living in? Really?

You should probably read posts a little better than you've done so far in this thread. If it isn't clear, I'm 100% against suspicion of crime, and confiscation of money, due to someone having more money on them than the average citizen would.

Thats usually what happens. The locating and seizing of an extremely large amount of currency is usually secondary. I'd like to know what state you're in so i can avoid it if your law enforcement pulls people over for the sake of stealing their money.

And nice story, really. Dirty cops abusing their power. Thanks for proving my point.

Those sorts of stories aren't uncommon in many states across the US, that one just happens to be very recent and has a racist slant to it. When police departments have been granted that power, and been told that the confiscated money goes into their budgets, it becomes far too much incentive to abuse this ability and confiscate as much cash as possible.