Unsurprisingly, what happened to the man on Amtrak appears to be a regular occurrence, as DEA agents and Amtrak officials basically assume all human behavior to be deemed “suspicious.”
We learn from the Atlantic that:
An ACLU staffer reported on the results of the request. Amtrak employees are instructed to report conduct “indicative of criminal activity” to law enforcement. Such as:
As the author of the Atlantic article, Conor Friedersdorf notes:
So to avoid getting hassled by the state, don’t act nervous, but don’t act too calm either. Don’t stare straight ahead unless you’re on the telephone, in which case don’t look around. And disembark right amidst all the other passengers with lots of luggage.This is not what freedom looks like. Are we livestock, or are we human beings?
I suggest reading the entire Atlantic article, as it focuses on the recent plight of 37-year-old mathematician Aaron Heuser of Eugene, Oregon, who was unceremoniously robbed by a DEA agent who told him:
You Oregonians may think that the green leafy stuff is harmless, but I know from my job that it kills people every day.Of course, he wasn’t even traveling with drugs. Just another example of an ignorant clown with a badge and a license to rob you with impunity.
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