3 ms·

I'm all for civil liberties, but the info in this case is actually quite thin. I'd keep the pitchforks and torches away till a fuller picture emerges. The fact

I'm all for civil liberties, but the info in this case is actually quite thin. I'd keep the pitchforks and torches away till a fuller picture emerges. The facts of the case so far are: 1) Dude is outfitted in camo, watch that looks like an IED timer, and shoes rigged out like the "shoe bomber". 2) Dude gets pulled aside and claims it's all art. 3) Dude gets arrested. Getting flagged for questioning because of (1) seems straightforward to me. How it went from (2) to (3) is less clear, and it might be prudent to hold off the hand-wringing for now.

ScottBurson 14y ago
Disagree. The fact that McGann actually has a Web site demonstrating his artistic bona fides is plenty of evidence for me.
- SoftwareMaven 14y ago
  Because you can believe everything you read online, right? It wouldn't be hard to fake that? I tend to think there is more to this as well, including plenty of Gestapo ass-hattery from the police and the TSA. I just wonder if part of the art project included being arrested. We may be witnessing a piece of performance art.
jQueryIsAwesome 14y ago
Who is going to tell you how it went from 2 or 3? The TSA? That would be certainly unbiased. The fact is that he was arrested for having a wierd outfit. If somebody believes that this guy who has been an artist for many years, flies a lot and registered his domain in 1995 is a actually a terrorist they are delusional and shouldn't be in charge of any kind of law enforcement.
- dkokelley 14y ago
  > "The fact is that he was arrested for having a wierd [sic] outfit." It's not possible to know that yet. It may never be possible, if the TSA withholds certain information, or that information never becomes part of the public record.
  - jQueryIsAwesome 14y ago
    Oh yeah, is actually possible that they voluntarily omitted crucial information in their report that would make them look as the heroes they really are. /s
saalweachter 14y ago
You've got to look at four probabilities: X, probability someone wears a geeky watch with exposed toggles and electronics; Y, probability someone wears military-style clothing; Z, probability someone wears oversized shoes; W, probability someone is a terrorist. I'm betting X * Y * Z is still much larger than W.
- jQueryIsAwesome 14y ago
  You forgot to add investigation; that would be really easy checking his website and seeing that he has been an artist for many years and that he always dress wierd. And lets not forget that they could have easily break his shoes and see if he was actually hiding something inside those.

ScottBurson 14y ago

Disagree. The fact that McGann actually has a Web site demonstrating his artistic bona fides is plenty of evidence for me.

SoftwareMaven 14y ago
Because you can believe everything you read online, right? It wouldn't be hard to fake that? I tend to think there is more to this as well, including plenty of Gestapo ass-hattery from the police and the TSA. I just wonder if part of the art project included being arrested. We may be witnessing a piece of performance art.

jQueryIsAwesome 14y ago

Who is going to tell you how it went from 2 or 3? The TSA? That would be certainly unbiased. The fact is that he was arrested for having a wierd outfit. If somebody believes that this guy who has been an artist for many years, flies a lot and registered his domain in 1995 is a actually a terrorist they are delusional and shouldn't be in charge of any kind of law enforcement.

dkokelley 14y ago
> "The fact is that he was arrested for having a wierd [sic] outfit." It's not possible to know that yet. It may never be possible, if the TSA withholds certain information, or that information never becomes part of the public record.
- jQueryIsAwesome 14y ago
  Oh yeah, is actually possible that they voluntarily omitted crucial information in their report that would make them look as the heroes they really are. /s

saalweachter 14y ago

You've got to look at four probabilities: X, probability someone wears a geeky watch with exposed toggles and electronics; Y, probability someone wears military-style clothing; Z, probability someone wears oversized shoes; W, probability someone is a terrorist. I'm betting X * Y * Z is still much larger than W.

jQueryIsAwesome 14y ago
You forgot to add investigation; that would be really easy checking his website and seeing that he has been an artist for many years and that he always dress wierd. And lets not forget that they could have easily break his shoes and see if he was actually hiding something inside those.