Man detained and harassed by TSA at St. Louis airport for carrying CASH!
 

Last Aug I was flying from Buffalo to Indy. I was dressed in Jeans tee shirt and work boots. I had 1 small carry on bag and a book about Alexander Hamilton and that was it. After going thru the Metal detector I was then asked to step into a clear plastic like area. I was than searched and my wallet was taken. I was than questioned by TSA. Questions such as Where I was going , why ect. Also If it was a good book , What kind of fish do I fish for (because of the fishing license in my wallet) and while poking thru the Alexander Hamilton book if I expected a long flight. Than similar questions just reworded such as where do I fish and what I catch , was it a good book what type of work did I do ect ect. Meanwhile they took everything out of my carry on bag and wallet. Poked around inside my work boots and pocket change and disappeared with my drivers license for about 15 minutes. In the end after having 2 supervisors come over in addition to the 4 TSA people already questioning me , they said I was free to board the plane. I had to repack all my things including every scrape of paper in my wallet they had emptied. I must have fit some type of profile.

Obviously, those guys get bored during the day . . . . I have seen the TSA guys do that with little old ladies, too. I don't know what kind of secret profile they may have fit. It seems we have gone from being way too lax to being excessively intrusive. It must be tough trying to maintain a balance when it comes to airline security.

Why would you carry cash unless you were a criminal? Only criminals and terrorists carry cash. Everybody knows that.

Do YOU carry cash?! What are YOU trying to hide?

Its an example of poorly trained TSA agents, the final outcome was an FBI agent that instructed them to let him go. I think the story sort of ends there what does bother me is the email the man mentioned labeling Ron Paul supporter as potential militia members I think that is a bigger breach of liberty than questioning a person about the cash whether it was a legal amount or not.

And I don't think there is a limit on the amount of cash you can carry inside the US, its more than $10,000 that you have to declare if you are going overseas.

I dont have a lot of cash, but last summer when I went to Vegas, on my way back, I was not allowed to check in at the curbside check in. They said my name came back as being on a terrorist watchlist or something like that. I guess a name like John Lewis is pretty common in the terrorist realm. They didnt check my bags or anything like that though.

I think a lot of people who weren't good enough to become cops become things like College Campus officers.....security guards......TSA AGENTS....and so on. And somehow it seems that a good 50% of cops I have met have great jerk potential.

I'm glad this guy recorded what a bunch of morons the TSA are. They get power hungry and think that they can treat you however they like and do whatever they want.

I've experienced jerk-cops before....so I can't imagine what a loserly TSA agent can be like.

I think that is needed to be a cop. I know two cops personally and they are good people, but I'm sure on the clock they are real jerks. I'm sure it helps to keep them from taking their work home with them.

Yeah but a cop is supposed to be friendly, professional and helpful, not someone who harasses you.

Cash is king man. Especially in today's economy. I regularly carry about $2-3k around with me at one time. If I'm on a trip I carry enough to cover my hotel room, car rental, etc.

Let's see how many people believe that

When you get your boarding pass look in the lower left hand corner if a "SSS" appears you will get special attention in the screening area. I was flying to St Louis to purchase a car, purchased a one-way ticket about an hour before the flight. I was carrying a substantial amount of $$ for the car purchase, got lots of attention, they didn't like my explanation for the cash even though I had printed information on the car, a CARFAX, etc.

Vhere are you travel papiers?! Hmmm. Pleeze step into zee security office, SCHNELL!

One of the local pro football players got detained at an airport with $100K in his pocket...he was going to LA to buy a Porsche. Anyway, the authorities alleged that he was a drug dealer, it cost him his contract with the team, and a bunch of legal issues. I may have the details wrong, but the basic story is right. That would have been maybe 10 years ago.

I do believe cash is King

I fly all the time due to my job, sometimes they pull people at random for these things. My worst moment was when I had somehow gotten one of my six year old's toys put into my duffle bag, it had a dial on it that he could spin around to a particular animal and it would then say the name of the animal and make the sound of the beast. As the TSA ex-hamburger flipper groped around in my duffle bag, all of a sudden my duffle bag started shouting "cow!" "cow!" "cow!" as it also bleated moooooooooooooo...... You'd think the hamburger flipper had found a severed head, he reacted so intensely. I was quickly surrounded by terrified ex-flippers, and soon ushered into a room were a Dallas police officer was waiting. I was made to stand there with my arms outstretched as I was given a professional searching by the real cop, forced to watch as they went through every last thing I owned, while another cop whisked away my license, probably to check me for warrants. When it was done, it was done, and I got on the plane as usual.