TSA Defends Lawless "Quiet Skies" Domestic Spy Program

This comes as no surprise from the Nazi-style, unconstitutional agency formed following 9-11 by the George W. Bush administration. They've been violating the Fourth Amendment's protections hundreds of thousands of times every day, so, now they are coming out and defending more violations of our rights, all in the name of the "war on terror" and alleged "safety." However, in a recent interview with CBS, Transporation Security Administration (TSA) Administrator David Pekoske defended the unconstitutional and lawless surveillance of Americans, as we would expect.

"Our job overall as an agency, and the air marshals in particular, in flight, are working to make sure that we mitigate any risks that could occur in aircraft at 10,000, 20,000, 30,000 feet," Pekoske told CBS News. "If an agency responsible for security has some information that might indicate that there may be -- emphasis on may be -- more risk with a particular passenger, providing some mitigation or some risk management on the flight is a very important and very reassuring thing to me."

Well, that might be, but you should be focused on a particular passenger, not putting out a dragnet, and you better make sure you know what you are talking about and following the law, something that has not been followed since the days that TSA agents were federalized in American airports and the non-PATRIOT Act was signed.

CBS reports:

"Quiet Skies," first reported by The Boston Globe, dates back to 2011. It uses computer software to flag travelers, including U.S. citizens, who could pose a threat but may not have been accused of a crime and are not on the No Fly List.

In March, the program expanded to include assigning teams of air marshals to observe certain flyers' behavior while at airports and on flights.

Now, TSA has eyes on up to 50 flyers a day on domestic carriers nationwide under the program, according to leaked documents and sources who spoke to CBS News.

The program targets specific travel patterns, affiliations or some specific links to people who are on watch lists. Agents observing a "Quiet Skies" flier note behavior such as "excessive fidgeting," "excessive perspiration" or having a "cold, penetrating stare," according to leaked documents.

A flyer who has been flagged under the program receives enhanced screening at airport checkpoints and is on the "Quiet Skies" list for up to 90 days.

Many skeptics of the program, including some rank-and-file air marshals, have questioned whether a person who is being followed by two or three federal agents on a domestic flight should be flying at all.

"Throughout the entire system ... different passengers present different levels of risk," Pekoske said. "Passengers have a right to fly and if we ever thought the risk reached the point where the passenger shouldn't fly, then we have the authority to deny flight for that particular passenger."

"But as you can appreciate, there are some passengers that fall below that threshold but still create a level of concern that we need -- we felt we needed to have a presence on the flights that they were flying on," he said.
Well, I don't appreciate it. It's been shown time and again that TSA body scanners aren't worth the metal they are put together with. Furthermore, the entire process is a clear violation of the Fourth Amendment as agents of the government must have probable cause and a warrant to search and seize anyone's private things, something they basically force you into in order to travel via a plane.

"Throughout the entire system ... different passengers present different levels of risk," Pekoske said. "Passengers have a right to fly and if we ever thought the risk reached the point where the passenger shouldn't fly, then we have the authority to deny flight for that particular passenger."

Yeah, and so do certain government employees like Mr. Pekoske and TSA agents. There's a definite risk of tyranny from these people not matter their stated intentions.

"But as you can appreciate, there are some passengers that fall below that threshold but still create a level of concern that we need -- we felt we needed to have a presence on the flights that they were flying on," he said.

TSA has faced criticism from several members of Congress since the release of its "Quiet Skies" program last month.

"The 'Quiet Skies' program is the very definition of 'Big Brother,' and innocent Americans should not be subject to this kind of violation of their rights," said Sen. Ed Markey, D-Massachusetts, who sent a letter to TSA about the program. "This program raises serious privacy concerns, and depending on what criteria are being used for selecting individuals to surveil, including ethnicity, nationality, race, or religion, the program may be unconstitutional. We need answers about this questionable program, including if it actually resulted in arrests or prevented terrible events."

Furthermore, Pekoske, right on cue as I said would happen, started to put his nose into the recent theft of a plane at Sea-Tac airport that resulted in a man with clearance taking a plane on a suicidal joyride and ultimately crashing it.

"In my view, in looking at this 'Quiet Skies' program, I think it makes an awful lot of sense, to be able to look at some risks that we think exist on certain flights and put air marshals on those flights," Pekoske said.

That's fine that you put air marshalls on a flight. I have no issue with that, but this is going way beyond that. Pekoske is doing nothing but damage control via the bought and paid for mainstream, corporate-owned, CIA-controlled media.