TSA Tyranny Stacking

Consider the following -

Citizen journalist Julio Rausseo, a roaming correspondent for WeAreChange.org, was labeled a “terrorist” and threatened with arrest for filming a TSA checkpoint at the Union train station in Chicago.

An Amtrack police official confronted Rausseo, telling him that the government had sent them video of him filming the checkpoints, warning them to look out for people filming the station. A week after Rausseo filmed the TSA, Amtrack identified the reporter eating at restaurant inside Union Station and confronted him. That conversation is recorded in the following video:

“I’m telling you to your face, do not video tape us,” the Amtrack officer can be heard telling Rausseo in the video. “If you come beyond that point… if you come like you did before, you’re going to jail, Sir. Because it could be used for terrorist activity. Right now, you’re in violation.”

When Rausseo objected that he was a reporter and not a terrorist, the employee asked: “Did you approach us and ask to take video?”

When the reporter responded, “I didn’t think I had to. I thought this was America,” the Amtrack police official told him, “No, America nothing. You know better.”

The incident continued, with the employee demanding his ID and claiming that illegal activity had taken place, before admitting, incredibly, that the company had been sent video of Rausseo filming the checkpoint. Clearly, the company keeping tabs on such “trouble makers.”

“And the video didn’t even come… it came from the government. They sent it to us because now somebody is taking pictures of us doing our activity,” the Amtrack officer finally admitted.

I love discussing the origins of 'authority' with people. It's an incredibly fun topic and makes all sorts of individuals squirm intensely under its demands. Usually it goes something like this -

The Real Effect - Where did that individual get his authority from?
Other party - What do you mean? They are authorities.
TRE - Yes, they are called that, but their authority had to originate somewhere. Say the Constitution...
OP - (stunned silence)

You see, the problem inherit in the presiding view of authority is that it really has no source, no origin. Literally, the authorities are often imposters. They appoint themselves as authorities on something and then festoon upon themselves new powers. This is one of the ongoing problems with the European Union presently. An argument from them would look something like this -

• I am Authority Figure A. And by virtue of my office, I hold AF power A. 
• I will now declare by the use of AF power A, that I now possess AF Power B as well. (It is a good idea after all.)
• Behold my new title Authority Figure AB! As such, I now grant myself even more powers....

Such is this case in the example article above. Tyrants often becomes so enamored with their own power that they often grant themselves more power that often conflicts with other powers. Let's look at a few points.

• Since when does the 4th Amendment have limits?
• Where does the TSA derive it's right to police individuals at a train station?
• Filming an activity may be considered potential terrorist activity, but it is not a crime.
• Does the entity filming the people filming the TSA commit potential terrorism when they engage in filming to catch potential terrorism?
• Since when did the TSA's powers extend to arresting people AND sending them to jail?
• When the 'official' stated that reporter was '...in volation...', notice how the TSA doesn't cite what he is violation of. Perhaps a rule that the TSA has? (Note, rules apply to the TSA, NOT the general public.)

So, to summarize - The government derived a power through the Constitution, which itself prohibits these kinds of searches, the right to commit a potential terrorist activity  to prevent citizens from committing a potential terrorist activity and in doing so threatens a suspect of "violating" something which warrants jail.

Yeah, that is what we like to call...messed up.