A number of videos have been shared on social media claiming airline passengers are being denied boarding because they’ve been added to the government’s “No Fly List” after participating in protests and riots at the U.S. Capitol last week. That hasn’t been true – although it is about to come true, according to Delta Air Lines.
Union boss Sara Nelson first called for those who participated in disruption of the electoral count last week to be banned from flying on U.S. commercial airlines. That was followed by the Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee Bennie Thompson (D-MS) demanding this as well.
That hasn’t happened to far. However during Delta’s earnings call the airline shared that they expect people will be added to federal no fly list from Capitol riots,
We certainly know that the TSA is looking very carefully at those that were in the capitol building, the rioters, and we are working closely with them and I do anticipate that that if the TSA is able to identify individuals you’ll have people added to the no fly list no question about it.
The ‘No Fly List’ is the government’s pre-crime profiling that keeps people off of U.S. airlines and airlines flying to the U.S. It’s a secret list that people haven’t been entitled to know how they got on or to confront the evidence relied upon to put them on it. Legally there is very little recourse, and when challenged the government claims ‘state secrets.’
People get on the list by mistake (FBI agent checking the wrong box on the form or having a name similar to someone else) and even maliciously (such as retaliation for refusing to cooperate in an investigation). Denying the freedom of travel, without trial, is precisely the mob rule outside of the rule of law that we’re supposed to be pushing back on after last week’s events.
Individual airlines are free to choose to ban passengers. Delta, which has banned over 800 passengers for refusing to wear masks, increased the total by “a number” but “not a huge number” since last week’s events. Having the government ban travel on all airlines without judicial review is frightening in a democracy.
And if it’s justified now in being used against people not yet convicted of crimes then it will be used against unpopular people later. Remember that expansions of power will be used later by the people you hate when they have power. Any new power should be one you’re comfortable with the next President Trump having and using.
In advance of next week’s Presidential Inauguration, Delta has banned firearms in checked luggage and American Airlines has again banned alcohol on DC flights.
Did any airline ban Antifa/BLM rioters who burned down large parts of a bunch of US cities for months?
Thought not.
Loving the new civility.
About time that No Fly list is used accordingly. @toomanybooks BLM protests were nothing like what happened at the Capitol. It’s disgusting to compare the two events.
While I agree that the Government holding lists is unsavory, the evidence suggests that these people pose an immediate threat.
Given that airlines are basically a public utility at this point, there needs to be some due process when someone is banned. How many times have we heard stories of people landing on some no fly list accidentally (including famously Senator Ted Kennedy)?
If these protestors have children, they should be stripped of their parental rights as well – if they can’t be trusted to fly on planes, they can’t be trusted to take care of children either.
Yeah, I’m actually not a fan of airlines even banning individual customers. Not sure I have a better answer, and I understand why it’s a problem, but considering that they are highly regulated common carriers, it would make sense that they are required to transport people.
Even some convicted terrorists only make it to the “selectee” list.
http://jetsettingterrorist.com/
It’s not hard to see how these things are abused, and why we should oppose them; look at what Trump’s TSA did to NY travelers as political retaliation for not providing information. No one in NY could get Global Entry.
To back up what @William says, shouldn’t we also put the children and friends of all protesters on the “No Fly” list as well? If they can’t be trusted to bring up children properly then those children are a risk to national security as well I’d think. No trial needed. No 14th Amendment.
@A
Spot on. No one at the capitol destroyed private property. Hell, property destruction at all was infinitesimal compared to what we saw this summer.
@ Kingmaker – I didn’t realize that people calling for police reform was the equivalent of people trying to overthrow a democratic election.
Have no problem with people being added to the no fly list if they engaged in this conduct. If someone is charged and/or convicted there is no need for judicial review. If someone is not charged or charges are dismissed then they should have an independent judicial review. Not sure how a state secrets argument would even be applied here so I don’t think that is a realistic concern. State secrets deal with people on the no fly list related to terrorism where there certainly can be concerns about disclosing too much. Anyone not charged with or convicted of a crime deserves a judicial review.
This is a HORRIBLE precedent. The no-fly list must not be used as an extra-judicial means of punishment as it incorporates zero due process which is the bedrock of our legal system. Those who participated in the storming of the capital broke laws, and they should be arrested and charged with the violation of those laws. If found guilty in front of a jury of their peers they should be subject to the statutory penalty for those crimes. This is how our legal system works. We do not pick groups of people who we think are trouble-makers or bad people and then ban them from traveling without trial or evidence and without recourse of appeal.
You all are missing the point. The No-Fly List has *NEVER* contained the names of convicted terrorists that have gone through the judicial process. Fat-fingering, and similar names (which is why Redress Numbers exist) aside, the No-Fly List contains names of terrorists and suspected terrorists. There has never been a requirement for someone to have been convicted to be on a No-Fly List.
There was not a lot of outrage when this came to fruition after 9/11 – why? Because they were foreign terrorists. But now that these domestic terrorists, who are largely white, are being presumably added to the No Fly List, there is outrage about no due process.
This is white supremacy and privilege at play. Shame on you.
This is beyond bad as a precedent. All of you in favor of this, will you also be ok if 4 years from now President Ivanka uses the NSA to track your identity from these posts and then adds you to the no fly list?
Keep this up and a president Ivanka (or someone like her) is more likely to be elected and more likely to seek retribution.
The only way to move forward is to actually move forward.
We have a legal system for a reason. Let those who break the law face consequences. And then if they are added to the list, so be it.
toomanybooks i agree no blm and antifa were put on the NO FLY LISTS and they destroyed cities/buildings/businessses etc tried to burn down federal buildings and police stations..rioted/looted and burned anything they wanted with no interventions tho our President offered troops to help but the Liberal cities refused !!!!
Why not put all felons on the list, and all misdemeanor criminals, people behind in child support, owe back taxes, have a concealed weapons permit. This is a slippery slope we are heading down. I don’t condone what those knuckleheads did at the capitol and all of them that can be identified should be prosecuted but I think it’s a stretch to think that because they walked into the capitol they are going to try and take down an aircraft.
If you were in the Capitol that day – there is no need for any due process before being added to a no-fly list. It is conclusive. The no-fly list is exactly for this sort of thing – terrorism. And make no mistake – those people who were physically in the Capitol building are domestic terrorists. There is zero comparison to BLM which did not initiate an attack on our government. Those who even try to find a comparison or create fake slippery slope arguments are just ignorant or worse.
I have no problem with accused Capitol domestic terrorists being put on a temporary NO FLY list, as long as they’re removed if found innocent in court. They pose an immediate threat.
Gary just can’t help himself. The capacity for blatant and unabashed hypocrisy from the Left never ceases to amaze. When BLM/Antifa and other left-wing Biden supporters loot and burn down private businesses while threatening police and innocent bystanders for months on end Gary and the Left ignore, wink, justify and even encourage such behavior, but a few loonies claiming to be on the Right trespass on our suddenly “hallowed” and “sacred” capitol and there’s Hell to pay. The difference between the true Left and true Right? Conservatives call out incivility and counter-productive actions regardless of the offenders’ political claims. Don’t agree Gary is a dripping hypocrite? Link to all his posts calling out and condemning the exponentially more incidents of violence and other uncivil behavior coming from his side and I’ll be happy to retract. I’ll wait…
(lol. There are no such posts to link to so I’m kidding about the wait part.)
The regular Trump Sycophants and their what aboutism in this thread are almost as bad as the Trump Terrorists themselves.
Enjoy being on the wrong side of history all! BTW this is why you lost the Executive and Legislative branches, big congrats.
Larry, I think you’re missing the point.
The problem isn’t that these people are being put on the list without being convicted. They’re the very type of people the list was made for, people who are a security threat and may be a danger on an aircraft. And the process of them getting on it seems to be the same as the process that all the other people got on the list, evidence came up that the person belonged on the list, the evidence was examined and the evidence was deemed sufficient to place the person on the ‘do not fly’ list.
And I am reluctantly OK with the list itself. It does seem that there are people who even though they haven’t been convicted of a crime are too dangerous to let fly.
The problem is the lack of accountability, and the lack of a simple way of challenging the inclusion on the list.
As an aside, how do the commenters know that none of the rioters and looters in the BLM protests are on the list? The government doesn’t hand out statements of new names on the list or why they were added, so there could be 100’s of rioters and looters added and we’d never know.
@Joe
The TSA shouldn’t be in the business of making value judgments of people’s politics, only in their level of threat to transportation. One group has proven far more violent and destructive than the other to date.
Well, the TSA shouldn’t exist at all, but as long as we’re stuck with ’em…
@David Due process is always needed. The worse the offense, the more important that it is for there to be due process.
The rioters were wrong. However; they need to be penalized based upon what the law says the penalties are for their offence at the time when the offence is committed. Anything different means acting outside of the rule of law, which is problematic.
One of my big issues with adding these people after the riots is that it has the feel of an “ex post facto” penalty, which is prohibited both by the U.S. Constitution and by general principles of fairness for legal issues, which are relied upon in most systems of justice.
If being added to the no fly list was a penalty for the type of behavior committed prior to offence being committed, then I would believe that adding the people to the list who committed that type of offence would be completely fair (after a trial, of course). However; it is problematic to introduce the penalty after the crime was committed.
The United States Government has turned into North Korea.
the Ministry of Love is now in full operation
While in general I have no sympathy for these Capitol rioters and hope to see them receive whatever punishment possible, I don’t see them (even those checking in fire arms) posing direct threat to aviation security and preventing them from flying is not a logical outcome.
According to Federal law, there is a minimum 10 year jail terms for trashing and invading Federal buildings. Being an accomplice to murder for the violent protestors who were involved in cop killing!? Throw the book at these seditionists. Good job MAGA tards! Rethuglcan party yet again is a complete disgrace. The party of Law and Order? What a joke.
Sorry, but Trump lost the election, fair and square. But Trump can never accept defeat, so he has spread conspiracy theories and lies that go back to the August timeframe. I voted for Trump in 2016 and 2020 and I’m a lifelong republican. Trump had every right to challenge the results in any state where he thought the election was rigged. And his team did. And his team lost. Virtually every legal case was thrown out because of lack of evidence. And in many cases, it was conservative, republican judges, many appointed by Trump. Once the “grown ups” knew that the fight was over, Trump should have admitted defeat and stopped the games. But he wouldn’t. None of what happened last week in Washington would have happened if Trump had admitted defeat, or at least stopped the games. It’s too bad people have died — all because of Trump continuing to press his false claims. As much as I want to support the republican party, I cannot do so if any Trump remains the “owner” of the party (as his kids have claimed).
Sure, its perfectly normal to pull out suitcases full of mail in votes after the vote counting ends for the night or put cardboard over the windows of the vote counting room. We are a democracy right? Who wouldn’t want millions of mail in ballots sent out to dead people or people who are not registered to vote? Can’t disenfranchise the dead!! And those pesky voter registration lists and ID’s – who need em, right?
Nothing to see here folks, er sheep.
Bravo- airlines and hopefully our federal govt for giving these”patriots”…or FASCISTS the freedom to drive, swim or flap their little wings to wherever! Anyone who entered the Capital deserves also the freedom of being hosted in one of our fine federal prisons. They
attacked(killing one)Police! some were there to kidnap/or execute members. Qballs/tRumpets need to really get serious therapy!!
@Joe – Can you seriously argue with a straight face that the BLM riots were really protests about police reform? There is nothing in your mind about the thousands of businesses that were wrecked and destroyed, billions of dollars worth of damage, hundreds of people injured and dozens killed?
vs one protest where a guy dressed as a viking got into the senate chamber and scared our cowardly “representatives” half to death.
A WhiteHouse invasion is terrorism. Anyone caught inside on camera should be sent to Guantanamo until their trial. There is no excuse for what happened, and comparing it to plain vandalism or trespassing is ridiculous. Why coddle these criminals? In many other countries they would be executed.
@Brian Scott – You’re not a Trump-voting republican.
All of you people blathering about how people should be put on the no-fly list, or have their kids taken away, or thrown into Guantanamo or whatever remember what Gary wrote at the end of the article: Biden’s time is numbered. You know full well that there will be a republican president again, if not in four years then 8, and it very well may be Trump again, or someone like him. What will you say when all of these nasty tactics are turned against you?
Little help for the folks on here comparing the terrorist attack on our Capitol to the BLM protests.
The BLM protests were as a result of understandable rage over the George Floyd murder. Which was not an isolated incident but just the tipping point for so many truly understandable issues. I don’t justify the violence but the fact is it was made worse by Trumpies getting involved. The Trump Insurrection was pure Trump. Also notable, if the George Floyd killing had been a staged hoax then it would have been more comparable to the Trump terrorists attack whose outrage was based on a proven lie perpetuated by Trump.
Finally, most important of all, how can you call yourself a patriot if you think the Capitol is not hallowed grounds for all Americans and an attack on it is anything less then an attack on what has made our Country great….Democracy and freedom for all.
Finally, we came very close to possibly having members of Congress murdered by mob violence if it wasn’t for some very brave Capitol Police and other heroes….think about that.
The politician’s way of saying “protest anywhere you like, except in our house”
Joe 11, you made a statement that simply proves you can’t understand anything other then the dialogue you are feeding yourself…..Brian Scott very eloquently said what many are, he is an example of the many good Republican voters out there that will be the future of the Republican party once all the rhetoric and emotions die out. If the Q Anon faction of the Republican Party continues it’s influence then we will lose a strong voice in politics that is needed to keep the Government from over taxing and over regulating.
I’m an optimist, I think under President Biden we are going to see a renewed focus on Renewable energy and infrastructure to rebuild our Country (think WPA after the Depression) as well as more much needed stimulus funds. We will have a unified House and Senate that can make it happen.
The vast majority of Americans, both Republican and Democrats are weary of Trumps Q Anon influenced ideas and the havoc it’s wrought.
@John Galt—I hope you mean protest outside anywhere, and are not condoning the break-ins or damage done by any protesters?
Due process? We don’t need no stinking due process. We don’t have to show you any stinking due process.
Those calling for multie generations to be punished, how North Korean of you.
How about adding the leftist rioters? My condo in Seattle is boarded up for fear. The government building across the street has an 8′ tall concrete wall to protect it.
Guess leftist riots are approved.
@ Warren Trout – Yes, leftist riots are permitted because they wanted social change. Somehow stealing TV’s from Best Buy brings George Floyd back to life? And didn’t they send in the US Marshall service to keep the “peaceful” protesters in Portland from burning down the Federal Courthouse? Some people on here want to lump everyone together in that all Trump supports are rioters and should be put on the no-fly list. That’s like saying that all Democrats are socialists. All of the violence regardless of the cause or the group is wrong.
It’s mind boggling that some are trying to saying the BLM protests were as bad as Trump and his kids egging on the Q Anon crowd to storm our Capitol and get physical. I’m surprised no one has thrown in the old “What about Hillary’s E=Mails?” as justification for the attack.
The funny thing about Trump and all this talk about the evils of Socialism…….it’s capitalism that’s turning on him…..losing contracts, Deutsche Bank, the PGA, most of the major Republican party supporters and best of all, the growing trend worldwide of people saying they will boycott anything with the Trump brand on it.
Somehow I think millions of people taking their business elsewhere is not a good thing for Erik and Donnies hand me down business.
Kind of like trying to promote a Joseph McCarthy chain of hotels in the 1960’s…..don’t think that would have been too successful!
Typical of the far right, many of these comments and their false equivalencies make no sense. There is a difference between property destruction (those who may or may not be correctly associated with BLM) and terrorist activities.
Attacking the Capitol Building, breaking into the House and Senate chambers and offices, attempting to harm the Vice President and Speaker of the House, planting pipe bombs at DNC and RNC headquarters, among many other crimes for the purpose of preventing the lawful counting of electoral college votes, and overturning the election of the President of the United States is terrorism the same as if not worse than flying planes into the WTC and pentagon to change US policy in the middle east..
But the Capitol lynch mob was overwhelmingly white and the far right agree with the goals of that deluded, jihadist mob. Now maybe some white people have an idea of what lynch mobs and race riots look like when so-called decent, hard-working, law-abiding, god-fearing white people are incited to take matters into their own hands to defend their privileged way of life.
Of course, many had no issue with the domestic terrorists in those times as well. The mere concept of BLM is threatening to some. The no-fly list is for terrorists. The mob at the Capitol are terrorists. End of story at least until they can vetted individually. There may be many problems with name confusion if “Bill Smith” is on the list.
I am unalterably opposed to the existence of the “no fly” list. It needs to be challenged as unconstitutional on its face.
That said I think that those who engaged in actual acts of Violence and actual acts of Vandalism as opposed to merely being present in the Capitol or being present in DC are the ones who should be prosecuted and if convicted have the proverbial “book” thrown at them.
Welcome to the Stasi state. Flying is fundamental to moving around-domestically or internationally.
It is now one of our basic rights-freedom of movement.
Any threats or perceived threats of inclusion in this list is so intimidating that it is the path to political domination by a secret service.
The no-fly list amounts to a secret, Star Chamber proceeding, which instigated the Magna Carta, the fundamental, first step to our modern democracy.
What about Bill Gates and 5G?? And excuse me we haven’t even begun to investigate the Vitamin Water – Gossip Girl – Benghazi connection?? All roads lead to Hillary Clinton and Hunter Biden. They are still trying to overturn the 2016 election results by using the Covid hoax to hide the unicorns and cover up the Eggo Waffle Incident that was used as a false flag operation to coverup the true nature of Barack Hussein Obama’s REAL birth certificate. WAKE UP AMERICA YOU ARE BEING CONNED THEY WANT TO GIVE YOU DEATH PANELS AND TAKE YOUR WINDOWS AWAY!
The No-Fly List should never have existed.
I know that I should feel some sort of schadenfreude, that people who likely supported it from the get go, are now going to experience the harsh reality of perhaps being on it – But I don’t. It was wrong and unconstitutional back when it was implemented, and the same applies now.
I’ll never understand how anyone who calls themselves an American, can somehow be for punishment without due process.
The list is the dagger that has the potential to end freedom of speech and with, our American democracy.
That’s not an exaggeration looking at the number of commentators supporting its casual use.
These people are facist s. They need to face legal consequences and we all need to fight them politically.
No doubt the airline workers don’t want these people on their planes where they are not equipped to quell the disruptions! And other passengers don’t want to have to interact with others on the flight yelling about their civil rights………..let them drive………….yes there is a risk right now!
The crew can throw off anyone that they feel is causing a disturbance. That’s nothing new…..it wasn’t before and it isn’t now against their “Constitutional Rights” when the crew has a disruptive or drunk passenger removed that could potentially cause an inflight disturbance.
BTW…..How about that Congresswoman complaining that going through a metal detector at the Capitol is a “violation of her rights”….if that was so how does she get on an airplane? Is every time a passenger is screened by TSA a “violation of that persons rights?”
You better believe I want metal detectors in my Country’s Capitol in the current environment we are being subjected to. We just had one very close call so we need to be very aware that these Q Anon/Trump people are a clear and present danger and not minimize that fact by saying they are just voicing their political opinions..
They are plotting violence folks.