TSA Detains Man for Trying to File a Complaint

There are no places in the country where civil liberties are in danger as much as airports. Roger Vanderklok, a 57-year-old Philadelphia architect, found this out the hard way in January 2013. Heading to Miami, Vanderklok had packed in his carry-on some PowerBars and a heart-monitoring watch. The TSA found these items to be suspicious and accordingly pulled Vanderklok aside for further inspection.

After finding no dangerous materials, TSA agent Charles Kieser became confrontational. Vanderklok asked to file a complaint but was instead arrested by Philadelphia Police and placed in an airport holding cell. After being detained for three hours (and missing his flight), he was then transported to a cell in a Philadelphia Police District. It wasn’t until his arraignment at 2:00 AM that he had been charged with “threatening the placement of a bomb” and making “terroristic threats.” At 4:00 AM, Vanderklok was bailed out by his wife.

At trial, Kieser testified that Vanderklok had placed his finger in Kieser’s face and said that he would “bring a bomb through here any day I want.” However, airport surveillance video showed that Kieser was not telling the truth. Vanderklok never places his hands in Kieser’s face and TSA employees do nothing to suggest there is imminent danger. Even Kieser’s statement to police at the time of the arrest does not allege that Vanderklok made such a threat. At trial, Kieser was the only witness to testify. Vanderklok was acquitted of all charges within minutes of the testimony.

The most frightening apart of this entire ordeal is that it does not at all seem unique or out of the ordinary. What happened here could happen to anyone when such power is placed in the hands of the government bureaucracy that is a police state. The rights to be protected from unreasonable searches and seizures, as well as the right to habeas corpus can disappear in an instant when we grant so much power to the state.
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Some may claim that the protocol taken by the TSA is only an issue if one has something to hide. However, this case, as well as many others, proves that this is not necessarily true. The concept of liberty has no “buts” included within it. The right to one’s own body (and property in general) is absolute, and the government has no business taking action to remove or lessen this right unless said person has infringed upon another’s same right.

Fourth Amendment rights are absolutely crucial to upholding all of the liberties preserved in our constitutional republic. The right was devised because British soldiers had created “general warrants” to search and investigate colonists who seemed suspicious of the standing authority. While it was never clear just what was being looked for, it was not hard for the British to find “something” for which they could fine or imprison. This acted as a check on any dissent in the general public.

Today, we find too many of the same themes. Besides the fact that the government now listens in on all phone calls and e-mails, the appearance of a police state is much more apparent in the airport. We are required to take off our shoes and belts, and sometimes nearly all of our clothes, before we are granted the privilege of traveling to where we wish. The threat of terrorism is propped up as justification for taking our liberties. However, we must challenge this authority and refuse to accept fear as a valid reason for sacrificing our liberty. When we see liberty under attack, we should correctly identify it as a rebuke of the principles which our republic was founded upon, and we must accordingly rise up against such oppression.