Flyer Arrested After Declining to Show ID
Nov 16th, 2009 by sherri
UPDATE: The Metropolitan Detention Center has confirmed that Mr. Mocek was arrested and is currently being held for $1000 bail. He is being charged with “concealing identity, disorderly conduct, refusing to obey an officer, and criminal trespass.” (1:40PM, 11/16)
Today a traveler going through the Albuquerque airport was arrested after politely refusing to show his ID. Phil Mocek, a Seattle area native, was traveling with his friend Jesse Gallagos when he politely declined to show ID to TSA agents.
According to reports from friend Ben Livingston, “Phil politely refused to show ID to the TSA employee. The TSA employee then called in a supervisor, and Phil started recording with his digital camera, which caused the supervisor to “freak out” and call the airport police. Approximately six police showed up in force, asked no questions, and told Phil he was being arrested for disturbing the peace.”
Mr. Mocek had previously contacted TSA personnel at the Albuquerque International Sunport Airport(ABQ) to find out if photography was allowed, and was clearly told by local TSA officer Susanne Spencer that advance notification was recommended, but not required. “We only encourage individuals to contact TSA in advance so we can facilitate the photography,” she wrote in an April 10, 2009 email. She subsequently reiterated that statement to Mr. Mocek on April 14. (FlyerTalk)
After Mr. Mocek was detained, “[Police] asked if he was with anyone, and he indicated he was flying with Jesse,” said Mr. Livingston. “The police told Jesse he would also be arrested if he did not leave the compound. They demanded and received Jesse’s ID, then drove him in a police cruiser off the airport property, where they informed him that he was banned from the property for 24 hours.
“I spoke with the Albuquerque jail and Phil hasn’t been booked yet. He’s still in the hands of the airport police… We are actively seeking help from anyone in Albuquerque who might be able to help… I’m hoping a local lawyer, or anyone local, might be able to get a little further.”
Philosecurity contacted local authorities at 7:50PM on Sunday, Nov 15 2009, and confirmed that Mr. Mocek was still in custody and being “processed.” Friend Ben Livingston provided some further perspectives on the issue, as follows:
“As Americans, we have the right to travel freely between the states… In America, we’re supposed to defend against the government demanding our papers in order to travel. A lot of folks remember that in Germany, you had to show your papers in order to travel. Since 9/11, our government has implemented a policy that in order to make
things more ‘safe’ and ‘secure,’ they’re going to force people to show their papers to get into the terminal to board the plane. The airlines don’t necessarily require ID, although it’s their right to decide who they do business with.
“As far as the federal government goes, demanding our papers in order to travel from state to state is actually a violation of our civil rights. If you’re traveling into or out of the country, the federal government has a right to demand your papers. But if you’re traveling interstate, you have a right to travel freely without interference from the federal government.
“In reality, ID checks don’t make us safer. All of the terrorists on that 9/11 flight had valid ID. It’s a fake security measure designed make us to feel safer. It’s not actually intended to keep us safe. There are ways around it, too… Just last year TSA announced a new policy for the first time ever, which said that if you don’t have your ID but you cooperate with TSA, show them credit cards etc, you can fly. So if you say you screwed up, it’s cool. If you politely refuse for whatever reason to show ID, TSA will deny you access.”
| Sherri Davidoff |
| PGP-signed text: 2009-11-15 (current) |
Sherri, please keep us posted on the harassment of Phil.
Phil if you are reading this, bravo, I am giving you a standing ovation. If you need any legal expense help let us know.
I wish Phil well with this one. I hope those cops and TSO all have very deep pockets for payout on the lawsuit.
What’s sad is that everyone who reads this will get angry & frustrated, and then go on with their day. If it were Johnny Long or some other security rock star I might spend all day working to bring down fiery hell on the heads of everyone involved in veiled hopes of being recognized for my valiant efforts. But this Phil guy is just some shmoe. Besides, I’m really busy today…oh look, a donut.
Good for Phil for standing up for the constitution. I hope this ends with a good precedent. This combined with that evidence case last week are all strengthening the cause against the TSA.
Plenty of interested people watching this.
Flyertalk has a thread going.
The Metropolitan Detention Center has confirmed that Mr. Mocek was arrested and is currently being held for $1000 bail. He is being charged with “concealing identity, disorderly conduct, refusing to obey an officer, and criminal trespass.” (1:40PM, 11/16)
…and any other trumped up charge they could think up over the course of a few hours.
Don’t you just love the array of charges placed against him. How does refusing to show ID turn into concealing identity?
Sounds to me like “nasty man refusing to play the game. Lets throw anything at him, no matter how stupid. That’ll teach him!”
Thank you, Phil, for standing up for your rights and those of all Americans. I hope this story gets the attention it deserves and leads to a withdrawal of the illegal and pointless ID checks at the airport.
Phil:
Thank you for standing up for all of our rights against these shit heads. I’m with you 100% here & wish you the best. Please keep us updated on this non sense. This just isn’t right.
I agree with Nathan in post #3. We the people continue to allow the government that is for us, by us introduce more and more ways to restrict freedom in the name of ‘public safety’. The only way to change these things is to gather together and ‘instruct’ the government on where the power we give them starts and stops. In the microcosm of the airports we have bowed our heads and allowed the ‘powers that be’ to decide how to treat us, again in the name of ‘public safety’. No change will happen until the customers/citizens/voters start pushing back and demanding that our elected officials make some serious changes. A simple action would be to post your comment here and then copy your congresspeople and senators for your home state AND the state where these things happen. Believe it or not, there are people who read those emails and push them in front of the politician.
I can say with authority that it is not the case that “everyone who reads this will get angry & frustrated, and then go on with their day”. I’m out of the clink and back at a hotel in Albuquerque. The Internet paid my bail. I have leads for several attorneys who are interested. Thanks a bunch to Sherri for digging up the FlyerTalk thread where I documented past contact with ABQ. I wasn’t able to get ahold of anyone via phone while at the detention center, and the first I heard of all this was when one of the public defenders handed me a copy of the press release from the Cannabis Defense Coalition Web site. I can hardly describe how good that felt.
Ewwww.. I see… (Stewie voice) a weed activist purposely gets arrested at an airport while his friend records everything and then his friend Sherri, all in an attempt to drum up attention and traffic to her blog starts blogging about it.
So it’s one thing when you forget your ID like Sherri did in her example (she left her wallet at home, she really had no ID on her) it’s another thing when you have it on you and you just want to be a dick.
You know what Phil.. to all the people you held up in line to be a hero, fuck you. I’m all for change, just do it when no one else is in line. Because of this ruckus I wonder how many people were held up in total.
@13 – Henry: Perhaps the people to complain about are the ones making the ridiculous rules to begin with, rather than the people who refuse to submit quietly for the sake of convenience.
(Also, I didn’t leave my wallet at home. I left it in a FedEx envelope addressed to my destination hotel the day before traveling.)
I had no idea you could get on a plane if you forgot your ID. That is good news, but I have to agree the rules are ridiculous. I remember a time about 10 years ago when flying was fun and so easy. Will it ever be like that again? Well maybe if everyone stops following the rules like Phil did.
@14 – Sherri: Right, you talk lots of talk but I seriously doubt you do anything about it like Phil did.l Seriously if you want to say “Perhaps the people to complain about are the ones making the ridiculous rules to begin with, rather than the people who refuse to submit quietly for the sake of convenience.” then I think you should put your money where your mouth is. 100$ says you willingly show your ID to get through security the next 10 times you fly. In fact I’ll bet $1000 that if you were perhaps like some of the folks who were held up by the stunt, if you were running a little late for your plane and you had to catch it for a business trip to make money and feed your family, I bet you will submit to their “ridiculous rules” without question to make your plane.
I’m all for change, I’m all for firing the TSA and I don’t like the rules myself. Your pretentious blog posting here may be well meaning but it falls flat when everyone realizes:
A. this was a planned event (clearly..)
B. No regard for the other people in line or at that airport for any delays that might have come about because of this stunt (just because you are self-rightous doesn’t mean everyone else wants to miss their flight).
C. You’re using this stunt to promote your blog (don’t lie).
You are such a freedom loving activist! Now hurry, don’t miss your corporate sponsored SANS class you teach!
@16: Henry – I’m not quite sure I understand why you’re angry. Yes, I show my ID all the time in order to go about my life. I don’t believe it’s right, but most of the time I have to go about my business like a normal American citizen. That’s the way our world works right now.
I think it’s important to challenge rules that we think are broken, but that doesn’t mean we have to dedicate our entire lives to being rebels. I firmly believe that a few well-chosen, peaceful actions and clearly spoken (or written) words can make a difference.
I’m with you, Phil. Keep standing up for our rights. If there’s a legal defense fund, let us know. I do hope the ACLU will help.
@13 – Henry, how many people were delayed for how long while Phil politely declined to show identification? They don’t have more than one way to get through security at a major airport like ABQ?
@13, @16: Come to think of it, I’ll bet Rosa Parks made the entire bus run late. Was she being a dick too? Gandhi disrupted an entire nation’s economy, so clearly he was an asshole, yes?
Perhaps civil disobedience isn’t your cup of tea, Henry. As a minimal courtesy, you could at least stop being rude to the few conscientious actors willing to put themselves at risk of serious repercussions and retaliation by actually doing *something* as opposed to, well, nothing at all.
Phil’s legal defense fund
Henry, you claim you’re all for change, all for firing the TSA and don’t like the rules yourself. Ooooooohhh.
Have you done ANYTHING about it? How’d that work out?
IF you took action (sounds like not) has it benefitted anyone? Changed anything? Phil’s might.
A. What is your problem with this event being “planned” (you probably meant “prepared for”)? You’d rather he was too lazy to do the proper research so loses the court case? How will that bring change, fire the TSA, or change the rules you hate?
B. Who was inconvenienced? Red herring.
C. You have it backwards. The event was significant enough to be posted on the blog.
Then, if you’re a TSA troll, it’s easy to understand why you might have a problem with this thing getting any publicity at all. Calling people names for using their rights will serve as a warning to others who presume the Constitution actually applies to them!
You are all property of Corporate America. The constitution is null and void. You have no rights, only privilege. You own no property, but rent from the Corporate State as a user.
USCA Title 12, Section 95(b), Congressional Report 93-549, Senate Document #43, 1933, and Black’s Law Dictionary term: “Bank Holiday of March 6, 1933″.
“The ultimate ownership of all property is in the State. Individual “So-called” ownership is only by virtue of government i.e. law, amounting to a mere user and use must be in accordance with law and subordinate to the necessities of the State.”
At #20…… is this legit?
@23: Yes, Phil was in Albuquerque working at the 2009 International Drug Policy Reform Conference. Looks like the Cannabis Defense Coalition has set up a legal defense fund for him. This is great! More info here:
http://cdc.coop/tsa_arrest
This is a total load of crap. i was in the airport at the check point when this was going on. they tried to atleast get his real name but he refused to give it up. and then he started recording which is not against airport policy but is against the department of homeland security’s checkpoint policies because if you record or take pictures of a federeal check point it could be used for illegal activity. And when he was asked to stop and the federal check point policy was explained to him he still refused to turn off the camera. at which time the law enforcement officers were brought in which by the way there was only 4 officers. and the second guy they arrested also refused to cooperate with A.P.D. so he was also arrested.
@Alan (25): I see your point. However, I have to wonder why on earth filming at any transportation check point could possibly be grounds for prosecution. First, it is very easy for anybody to film surreptitiously. A ban against filming could not be fairly enforced. Hidden cameras these days are *tiny,* and everybody has cell phones with cameras and such. The only people who would be arrested for filming would be those who are doing it obviously– NOT people who would actually be trying to take advantage of security weaknesses.
Second, an airport is an area where everyone is constantly made aware that we’re under surveillance already. Many of us have serious concerns about the imbalance of power and the growing “police state” at airports. It’s very important for individuals to have the right to record and distribute the things that happen to us, especially in places where law enforcement is monitoring us already. Information is power.
I don’t understand why it’s really an issue if it were planned. There’s no way that refusing to show ID happens accidentally so whether or not he planned it ahead of time is pretty much irrelevant.
I’m not really understanding the obsessing over inconvieniencing the people behind him in line, either. First of all, it’s really unlikely that anyone missed a flight because of this, everyone knows that getting through security takes forever and if it weren’t him refusing to show ID it’d be a random bag search or something else. Secondly, who cares? People inconvience me all the time for much less important things than taking a stand about a civil rights violation very few people seem to take seriously. Henry, you seem to be really blowing out of proportion how serious it is to mildly inconvience some strangers.
Lastly, Rosa Parks arrest for refusing to move to the back of the bus was meticulously planned in advance by the NAACP, and that’s still remembered as a defining moment in the civil rights movement.
As someone who was also getting their ID and boarding pass checked, I’m a bit confused by a number of things claimed in this article. Commenting on the end statement alone, this gentleman was offered the same opportunity as someone who “screwed up” and forgot their ID but he also refused to answer identifying questions. From what I saw and heard, he got the exact reaction he wanted so he could embellish the truth and rile us all up (myself included if I hadn’t actually seen it.)
Hi Sherri
Is there an update on this?
I travelled to the US a few years ago and found the whole mentality of airport security very frightening; they were treating every traveller as the enemy. When asked how I was finding America I tended to answer with ‘very much as I’d expect Germany to be in 1939′.
America is so much better than this; the lack of training, a lack of IQ and the wrong attitude of the TSA is damaging America.
I have to say Phil got what he deserved. thank you and have a nice day!
For updates, see the Identity Project’s State of New Mexico v. Phillip Mocek FAQ
I find it facinating that people allow for their servants to dictate proof of existence for one to travel. What proofs? Picture ID. Anyone can manufacture picture ID. The photo is nothing in the scheme of things. Same for the signature. I went to germany with my US Government Picture ID and was denied the ability to cash a travelers check because I did not look like the person in the picture and my signature was not the same as on the ID. Does that mean that I can only look like the picture to “prove myself,” and that I must signe in the same fashion every time I apply my signature? I have neuropathies that affect my ability to sign. My hair color naturally changes… and does this mean I must always shave in the same manner?
Unless I am issued an ID free of charge, I am not going to purchase one to prove who I am. And if American Officials are hurt by the idea… then they have to prove to me who I am NOT!
My Fingerprints are in a national database as I once served America. That is my ID. If stopped to Prove myself, I will give them the finger, which IS the proof of who I am!
I have found that in America you have to LIE, commit perjury to get an ID. I reside nowhere as I reside everywhere, ensuring that I am not in any one state or address longer than any other, thereby I am a resident of no state by my choice. Therefore to get a NEW PHOTO ID, I have to LIE… I won’t so I have none save my Finger to which I will gladly show to any government official.
Finally, If I tell an officer my name, it [is] my name and therefore no concealing of identity occurs… as my FINGER is the only true validation of who I am. I also sign nothing, I cannot be compelled to sign anything, and even the US Supreme Court cannot order my signature to any document as to do so would invalidate the document as it would be under duress.