http://www.philly.com/philly/news/2...A_suspicious_of_an_interest_in_the_world.html
The Wyncote native was detained for five hours after Transportation Security Administration screeners grew suspicious about something in his pockets.
Arabic-language flash cards.
George, who was 21 at the time, and about to fly back for his senior year at Pomona College in Claremont, Ca., says he answered every question to the best of his abilities, and figured he'd be quickly sent on his way.
But what questions...
According to a federal suit filed Wednesday on his behalf by the American Civil Liberties Union, a TSA supervisor asked him, "How do you feel about 9/11?"
He said he hemmed and hawed a bit. "It's a complicated question," he told me by phone. "But I ended up saying, 'It was bad. I am against it.' "
He was asked if he knew who "did 9/11."
He answered, Osama bin Laden.
Then he was asked, "Do you know what language he spoke?"
George answered, Arabic."
The supervisor then held up his flash cards. "Do you see why these cards are suspicious?
The Wyncote native was detained for five hours after Transportation Security Administration screeners grew suspicious about something in his pockets.
Arabic-language flash cards.
George, who was 21 at the time, and about to fly back for his senior year at Pomona College in Claremont, Ca., says he answered every question to the best of his abilities, and figured he'd be quickly sent on his way.
But what questions...
According to a federal suit filed Wednesday on his behalf by the American Civil Liberties Union, a TSA supervisor asked him, "How do you feel about 9/11?"
He said he hemmed and hawed a bit. "It's a complicated question," he told me by phone. "But I ended up saying, 'It was bad. I am against it.' "
He was asked if he knew who "did 9/11."
He answered, Osama bin Laden.
Then he was asked, "Do you know what language he spoke?"
George answered, Arabic."
The supervisor then held up his flash cards. "Do you see why these cards are suspicious?