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"I'm Nick George. I go to Pomona College near Los Angeles where I'm studying physics." At
the airport, Nick was handcuffed, interrogated, and jailed for hours. "I was traveling back
to school from Philadelphia to California. When I went up to the metal detector, the
woman told me to step aside for the special screening. So emptied my pockets of everything
non-metal and hadn't already given out which included of Arabic flashcards. Just simple
word in English on one side and a word of Arabic on the other side, which I was using
to study. The vast majority of the flashcards had words like 'graduate' or adjectives like
'funny' or things like verbs 'to smile'. First she asked me how I felt about 9/11 which,
you know, what is the answer to that question. I thought it was a bad thing. I thought it
was a terrible thing and she asked me if I knew who did it. And I said 'Osama Bin Laden'.
Then she got this real like sneer on her face like she caught me in a trap or something
and said, 'Yeah, you know which language Osama Bin Laden spoke?' And I noticed that there
was a police officer behind me and he instructed me to put my hands behind my back. I did so
and he put me in handcuffs and started leading me away. I was just in total shock. The whole
thing is very surreal. At first, you think ha ha how silly that they're questioning me
about my Arabic. It just became more and more confusing as it went on. Leading me through
a very populated airport in handcuffs like I'd shoplifted or actually done something
unsafe for the airplane." Ben Wizner, ACLU attorney speaking: "The idea that someone
can be arrested and handcuffed and locked in the cell simply for studying a foreign
language is illegal and it's unconstitutional." Nick George speaking: "From the cell, I could
see into the police office and so I could see for the next four hours that I was in
there. I could see them pouring over my flashcards like they were going to find some secret on
them. I saw them photocopying my flashcards. I heard them describing it on their phones
to some superior like "It's a small piece of paper with English writing on one side
and Arabic writing on the other side" and the longer that I was in there, the time transitioned
from being shock to being really angry saying this is just wrong. They have nothing on me.
I've done nothing wrong. And here I am locked up in a cell for four hours." The ACLU is
suing on behalf of Nick. Ben Winzer speaking: "And this is important because passing through
airport checkpoints is probably the most common encounter that Americans have with law enforcement
in this country. And Americans need to know when the TSA needs to know. We do not give
up our Constitutional rights when we choose to fly by plane. TSA has a very very important
job and that is to keep air safety secure. But when they use their precious resources
to target people like Nick George, they're not only making us safe. They are in fact,
making us less safe because they are not doing their real and important work." Learn more.
Do more. aclu.org