Erroneously claims travelers are alerted before exercise
Paul Joseph Watson
Infowars.com
September 28, 2012
Following controversy over a You Tube video which shows the TSA’s bizarre “freeze” policy in action, the federal agency responded by lying about the nature of the drill, erroneously claiming that travelers are notified beforehand.
The footage shows travelers at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport in Arizona being caught up in what the TSA calls “Code Bravo,” a suddenly announced drill whereby passengers who have already passed through security are required to “freeze” on command.
The You Tube user who uploaded the video commented, ” I suddenly found myself in a bunch of travelers who were being sharply told to “STAY RIGHT WHERE YOU ARE! DON’T MOVE!”. A TSA employee was pointing his blue-gloved hand at anyone who moved a muscle (including airport workers) and barking these orders. Beyond him were two other agents doing the same thing to everyone in a 90-degree radius. The tension was rather palpable, as you might imagine. No explanation was given, no other words were spoken. No one moved a muscle. Parents grabbed their children. Anyone who fidgeted or made a step forward got yelled at.”
“Two minutes or so later, Mr. Gloved Hand brusquely waved everyone about their business (as seen in the tape)….After this, I walked into the terminal intersection they had cut off, expecting to see someone in handcuffs, face down on the carpet with a bunch of cops on him. Or at least ONE single police officer or security guard… but there were none. There was NO incident happening, whatsoever.”
TSA spokeswoman Kristin Lee admitted to the New York Times that travelers are not mandated to obey the order to “freeze”. The article highlights two separate occasions during which NY Times columnist Joe Sharkey experienced the same drill.
After our original article was picked up by the Drudge Report and the story was also reported on by other news outlets, the TSA responded by claiming that travelers are notified beforehand that the order to “freeze” is part of a drill.
After first admitting to the Phoenix New Times that passengers are kept in the dark over the order to “freeze” or “stop,” TSA spokeswoman Nico Melendez later corrected herself by claiming “I was mistaken earlier. In fact, our TSOs do alert passengers of the drill and thank them for their patience. The exercise usually takes no more than 2 minutes.”
However, this is simply not true.
In the case of the drill at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport, travelers were not informed of the drill beforehand. In addition, the two drills experienced by NY Times writer Joe Sharkey at different airports were not preceded by a warning.
Other cases where passengers have experienced the drill, including ones sent by readers directly to us at Infowars, were also absent any kind of pre-warning.
The TSA has once again been caught lying about its own security procedures.
The federal agency seems reluctant to release much information about the “freeze” drill, presumably because it is so patently ridiculous (a wannabe terrorist would just freeze along with everyone else), that widespread media attention on the issue would cause considerable embarrassment.
In reality, as we highlighted yesterday, the drill has nothing to do with security and everything to do with subjecting Americans to “obedience training,” conditioning them to obey orders from someone in a uniform no matter how bizarre the command.
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Paul Joseph Watson is the editor and writer for Prison Planet.com. He is the author of Order Out Of Chaos. Watson is also a regular fill-in host for The Alex Jones Show and Infowars Nightly News.
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