Man Who Refused To Show ID at Albuquerque Airport Acquitted

[Newsjock]

Source: Albuquerque Journal

In a case that garnered nationwide attention, the Seattle man accused of disorderly conduct and other crimes following his refusal to show his ID at the security checkpoint of the Albuquerque airport was acquitted of all counts Friday.

A Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court jury found Phillip Mocek not guilty on four alleged offenses.

... In November 2009, Mocek, 36, refused to show an identification to TSA officers and began filming the process and confrontation that ensued with TSA and airport police personnel at the checkpoint area.

... Mocek didn't take the stand in his defense. The defense rested without calling a witness.

Read more: http://www.abqjournal.com/news/metro/22234431metro01-22-11.htm

[hlthe2b]

1. Glad to hear it, but Paid subscription Only...

Can you paraphrase a few more details... What defense was offered, etc?

[csziggy]

2. This source was before the acquital but details the case and defense

Phil Mocek: On Trial For Being TSA Checkpoint Worker's Worst Nightmare
By Keegan Hamilton, Wed., Jan. 19 2011 @ 1:25PM

On November 15, 2009, Phil Mocek stepped into the main terminal at the Albuquerque International Sunport planning to board a Southwest Airlines flight bound for SeaTac. He carried with him two pieces of luggage, a boarding pass, and a cell phone capable of recording audio and video. What he didn't have was a valid form of identification--no driver's license, no passport, nothing. So when Mocek reached the front of the line at the airport security checkpoint, the TSA worker asked him to step aside for further questioning. A few hours later, Mocek's flight touched down in Washington. He wasn't on board. Instead, the 37-year-old software developer was stuck inside a cell at the Albuquerque jail.

When Mocek attempted to record his conversation with the TSA checkpoint workers, they summoned both the Albuquerque police and the FBI. Mocek was eventually arrested and charged with four misdemeanors: trespassing, disorderly conduct, refusing to obey an officer, and concealing his identity.

<SNIP>

Edward Hasbrouck, founder of the Identity Project, a nonprofit organization that "builds public awareness about the effects of ID requirements on fundamental rights," says Mocek's case marks the first time anyone has ever challenged the TSA's authority to question and detain travelers.

" wants people to show ID and submit to a search and groping, but there's no legal basis for most of this," Hasbrouck says. "The TSA relies fundamentally on intimidation. The ultimate threat is 'We'll call the local police.' And when they're called in, they don't say 'We don't see a crime here.' They get that person out of there."

http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/dailyweekly/2011/01/phil_mocek_tsa_checkpoint_trial.php

[sabrina 1]

3. Excellent. I hope there will many more challenges to the creeping

fascism in this country. Good for him, he is a hero imho. As is everyone who challenges the authoritarians.

[csziggy]

4. He is a brave man - I am glad he won in court

I was taught in Civics class that one of the things that made the USA better than the Soviet Union was that here we did not have to carry ID every where. My Civics teacher would hate what this country has become - and he was a right wing type back in the mid 1960s.

Of course, that was only true for middle class or better white people in the South where I grew up. Poor people, non- whites or anyone the cops wanted to harass were subject to being arrested if they did not have ID or a story the cops would believe.

[Warren DeMontague]

7. I know. The last time I was pulled over, I had to show my drivers license.

Fascism!!!!!!

[aikoaiko]

17. In a traffic stop, the officer has probable cause to investigate...

While I have never thought showing an ID to get on the plane was fascism per se, this case makes me wonder why we should have to show IDs if we are screened to not have weapons or other destructive devices when boarding. Really, why does it matter if our names match our tickets if we have no means of causing damage?

[csziggy]

18. Driving is different than just being out in public

I will assume you are being sarcastic.

[Warren DeMontague]

23. And getting on a federally regulated airplane is different than being out in public, too.

That's my point.

[Warren DeMontague]

6. Showing your id to get on an airplane is "fascism"?

I'm sure the people who were held up in line behind his egotistical little stunt, and actually had planes to catch, didn't appreciate it.

[sabrina 1]

8. That's not what I said of course.

If I were behind him in line, I would probably have applauded and would not have minded the delay at all. Some people died for their rights, being delayed at the airport is not too much to ask to take a stand against the continuous destruction of rights in this country.

He proved a point. The TSA does not have the legal right to bully people they way have been doing. Not only that they do not even have the right to demand ID.

How does showing ID prevent a terror attack btw?

[Warren DeMontague]

9. Either it's legitimate to make people show ID to get on a plane, or it isn't.

In terms of simple, basic security- like, the people on the plane are who they say they are- it's a no-brainer. If the argument you're advancing is that no security, at all, is legitimate for airplanes, ever, then make that argument.

But don't pretend that refusing to show an ID is any sort of grand statement beyond refusing to show an ID. It reminds me of when I used to work in a video store, and every once in a while there would be some goober who would get all indignant that he had to show ID to sign up and rent a video. Yeah, dude. It's fascism that we want to know you are who you say you are, before we let you walk out the door with our copy of The English Patient or, more likely, Foreskin Gump (tagline: "his pants are like a box of chocolates")

...

even more fun were the right wingers who would try to sign up with some idiotic "Constitutional Drivers License" they had printed up from the back of some neo-nazi pamphlet at Kinko's (this was pre-internet) because they didn't acknowledge the authority of the State of California DMV or some such idiotic shit. Jesus, people, get a fucking life. :eyes:

[sabrina 1]

10. There's a big difference in asking for ID when you are renting

someone something and asking for ID when someone takes a bus, subway, train, taxi, or plane ride where they pay in advance so you don't need to know who they are.

I AM saying I see no reason for ID on planes any more than on any form of transportation, although I'm sure that is coming soon. All in the name of 'security' of course.

Not sure what you thought I was saying. I thought it was pretty clear.

[Warren DeMontague]

11. Except on a "bus, subway, train, taxi" you don't have to show ID.

Air travel is regulated by the FAA and subject to a different set of rules. For whatever reasons.

Hyperbole over 'slippery slopes' notwithstanding, most people understand why there is a certain level of security around air travel. Note that this is not about enhanced pat-downs, this is about showing your ID to get on an airplane. Showing that the name on your ticket matches who you are.

I understand perfectly what you're saying. You're mad you have to show ID to get on an airplane. Coming through loud and clear.

[social_critic]

13. The whatever reasons aren't good enough, Warren

Sorry, but I don't buy it. Maybe what you need to do is re-examine the way you support government behavior. I have to face it, though, I'm more of a rebel, I don't like most of what governments do.

[Warren DeMontague]

14. Yes, I reflexively "support government behavior" because I don't have a temper tantrum over

having to show an ID before getting on a FUCKING AIRPLANE.

:eyes:

[sabrina 1]

21. Not mad about it, although I see no logical reason for it

Definitely mad about the TSA's assertions that they have law enforcement powers when they do not.

Which this case proved once and for all.

Most people would be willing to show their ID, driver's license eg. But again, how does seeing an ID stop a terrorist? A terrorist who intends to get on a plane to do harm, will have an ID or whatever s/he determines is necessary to facilitate getting to where they want to get.

I'm for actual security, not power trips for pretend law enforcement or rapiscans and/or forced sexual assaults on passengers with threats of prosecution and arrest if they exercise their 4th and 5th Amendment rights.

Iow, I'd rather take a small risk with my security than hand over all my rights for the dubious assurance that if I do, I will be safe.

Death by terror is a miniscule risk compared to the risk of dying from lack of Health Care eg, or from driving every day, or from being murdered by a fellow American.

Should we be so protected from risks of any kind that we need constant surveillance everywhere we go?

[Warren DeMontague]

22. We should be protected from the threat of red herring slippery slope arguments, that's for sure.

That said, I don't think the TSA has the right to arrest the guy or charge him with a crime for not showing his ID. But he can't get on the airplane.

Sorry, that's the way it is. People who are bent out of shape about it are fully free to pursue other means of transportation.

[May Hamm]

24. Amtrak requires ID

You have to show ID when you buy a ticket. Even when tickets are bought in advance by credit card they will make you show ID before boarding the train. No security reason at all. The tickets are already paid for but they make you show Picture ID as if that matters.

[Warren DeMontague]

25. Outrageous!

Or something.

[social_critic]

12. If I may weigh in...

I don't know if the government has the right to know who is flying and who isn't flying. Security systems are in place to search individuals and their bags. Therefore if the screening system is in place, then one can ask, why would government agents have the right to demand an ID?

I'm looking at this from a libertarian perspective. One can argue asking for the ID saves lives. One can also that taking all guns from everybody and shooting anybody who owns a gun saves lives, but the nation as a whole seems to believe it's ok to have a gun, and therefore thousands of Americans die after being shot every year. I think the same case can be made for the government NOT to ask us for IDs all the time. Evidently some of us may get blown up as a result. But that's the price a person has to pay for being free, I guess.

I know this libertarian argument is going to raise hairs on both sides of the aisle. I am making it to prove this guy's behavior wasn't that outlandish, and it's not necessarily "progressive" nor "right wing". It may be driven by a need to get the government off his back.

When I see the way our government has behaved in the past - the Guantanamo concentration camp and the use of torture are key problem areas - I lean towards becoming more and more of a libertarian. I'm starting to believe the country would be better off if some of us do get killed by Osama, but we do take our government back to a more sensible behavior, which includes getting the TSA off our backs.

[Warren DeMontague]

15. I'm libertarian in that I think consenting adults should be free to smoke pot.

I don't extend that to the idea that anyone should be able to get on an airplane without showing an ID. Millions of people fly every day. Matching your name with the name on your ticket isn't "knowing who is flying and who isn't flying" any more than having to show your ID to buy a bottle of scotch means government "knows who is drinking and who isn't drinking".

How is the "TSA on your back" because you have to pass through a security checkpoint before getting on an airplane? Jesus. The friggin' hand-wringing and hyperbole over this shit is just beyond absurd.

[WinkyDink]

20. The ticket is the ID. Same as it always has been.

[hlthe2b]

5. Thank you... I wonder if there will be any wider impact of this decision.

[truedelphi]

16. I hope you don't mind me copying your posting of this

Information and kicking it over to my journal, csziggy.

I may have to fly somewhere later on this year. And I am increasingly edgy about the way people "in authority positions" are acting.

It is good to have some of the better information about my rights handy at all times.

You posted:

Phil Mocek: On Trial For Being TSA Checkpoint Worker's Worst Nightmare
By Keegan Hamilton, Wed., Jan. 19 2011 @ 1:25PM

On November 15, 2009, Phil Mocek stepped into the main terminal at the Albuquerque International Sunport planning to board a Southwest Airlines flight bound for SeaTac. He carried with him two pieces of luggage, a boarding pass, and a cell phone capable of recording audio and video. What he didn't have was a valid form of identification--no driver's license, no passport, nothing. So when Mocek reached the front of the line at the airport security checkpoint, the TSA worker asked him to step aside for further questioning. A few hours later, Mocek's flight touched down in Washington. He wasn't on board. Instead, the 37-year-old software developer was stuck inside a cell at the Albuquerque jail.

When Mocek attempted to record his conversation with the TSA checkpoint workers, they summoned both the Albuquerque police and the FBI. Mocek was eventually arrested and charged with four misdemeanors: trespassing, disorderly conduct, refusing to obey an officer, and concealing his identity.

<SNIP>

Edward Hasbrouck, founder of the Identity Project, a nonprofit organization that "builds public awareness about the effects of ID requirements on fundamental rights," says Mocek's case marks the first time anyone has ever challenged the TSA's authority to question and detain travelers.

" wants people to show ID and submit to a search and groping, but there's no legal basis for most of this," Hasbrouck says. "The TSA relies fundamentally on intimidation. The ultimate threat is 'We'll call the local police.' And when they're called in, they don't say 'We don't see a crime here.' They get that person out of there."

http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/dailyweekly/2011/01/phil...

[csziggy]

19. No problem - I could not find a straight news story with the information

This blog had.

While I don't think most TSA agents are inherently evil, it has been shown that people put in positions of authority tend to become authoritarian. In that famous experiment with students, even those who had been subject to the authoritarian acts of others acted the same way when put into authority. Without sufficient safeguards any system will disintegrate into what we currently call fascism. So the more limits put in the way of authoritarianism, the better.