TSA's Worst Nightmare Continues: Phil Mocek Now Suing for Civil Rights Violations

[low preference guy]

​Remember the case of Seattle's Phil Mocek, the guy who tried to pass through Transportation Security Administration checkpoint at the Albuquerque airport in November, 2009 without a valid ID? The 37-year-old software developer and political gadfly not only ended up missing his flight home, but was also slapped with a quartet of misdemeanor charges, all four of which were eventually dismissed in January after recordings proved that airport officials made false claims about Mocek's behavior during the incident. But Mocek's acquittal, it seems, isn't the end of his story. He's now planning to sue the City of Albuquerque, their Aviation Police, and, eventually, the TSA for alleged civil rights violations.

Read the rest. (http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/dailyweekly/2011/05/tsas_worst_nightmare_continues_phil_mocek_suing.ph p)

H/T: Daily Paul

As the article says, he was found non-guilty of four charges. Here is the video of what prompted his trial:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Pc5DBUK1K8M

Most recent article (http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/dailyweekly/2011/05/tsas_worst_nightmare_continues_phil_mocek_suing.ph p)

More here (http://www.seattleweekly.com/search/index?keywords=mocek)

[Romulus]

good for him

[jmdrake]

I'm surprised they didn't "accidentally" erase the footage from his phone.

[low preference guy]

I'm surprised they didn't "accidentally" erase the footage from his phone.

I bet it can be undeleted. Unless the police guys are experts and delete all the traces.

[jmdrake]

I bet it can be undeleted. Unless the police guys are experts and delete all the traces.

You're right. The irony of it all. Big brother undone by his own methods. ;)

[low preference guy]

You're right. The irony of it all. Big brother undone by his own methods. ;)

It's more widespread than just big brother. You know that if you delete files in your computer, even from the recycle bin, you have some time to recover them, using some program. I think the way it works is that your computer marks an area on the hard disk as "deleted", it does't actually scrub all the bits. So you can recover the files until the moment you write new files in the space previously used by your deleted files.

I suppose cell phones work the same way, but I don't know whether software to recover deleted files is as available as it is for PCs.

[jmdrake]

It's more widespread than just big brother. You know that if you delete files in your computer, even from the recycle bin, you have some time to recover them, using some program. I think the way it works is that your computer marks an area on the hard disk as "deleted", it does't actually scrub all the bits. So you can recover the files until the moment you write new files in the space previously used by your deleted files.

I suppose cell phones work the same way, but I don't know whether the software to recover deleted files are available as they are for PCs.

That's true. I used to be a computer tech and recovered people's files. And I sat through a lecture a few months ago on "e-discovery" and found out that there's software to recover data from cell phones and MP3 players as well. In fact some USB storage devices store a list of the files you download on the computer you are downloading from. (I forget the exact brand). I called it the "big brother method" because software to retrieve deleted data from cell phones is marketed directly to law enforcement (although anybody can buy it). http://accessdata.com/products/computer-forensics/mobile-phone-examiner

I suppose if LE really wanted to screw with you they could buy a new phone and transfer over all the data except the offending file. :p But that would be too much trouble. (And you could probably show all of the files were recently created.

On the privacy side, there is PC software to electronically scrub your hard disk. I don't know if that exists for cell phones.

[low preference guy]

That's true. I used to be a computer tech and recovered people's files. And I sat through a lecture a few months ago on "e-discovery" and found out that there's software to recover data from cell phones and MP3 players as well. In fact some USB storage devices store a list of the files you download on the computer you are downloading from. (I forget the exact brand). I called it the "big brother method" because software to retrieve deleted data from cell phones is marketed directly to law enforcement (although anybody can buy it). http://accessdata.com/products/computer-forensics/mobile-phone-examiner

I suppose if LE really wanted to screw with you they could buy a new phone and transfer over all the data except the offending file. :p But that would be too much trouble. (And you could probably show all of the files were recently created.

On the privacy side, there is PC software to electronically scrub your hard disk. I don't know if that exists for cell phones.

There has to be a way to stream everything you're recording to some backup place online. That way they can't do anything.

[jmdrake]

There has to be a way to stream everything you're recording to some backup place online. That way they can't do anything.

Indeed there is. http://qik.com/

[low preference guy]

Indeed there is. http://qik.com/

Nice. That might be a reason to not delete the files. You can accuse them of another crime.

[Liberty Rebellion]

And if you for some reason you wanted to delete your hard drive in a hurry or just when you get a bigger better hard drive, you can use this

http://www.dban.org/

Darik's Boot and Nuke ("DBAN") is a self-contained boot disk that securely wipes the hard disks of most computers. DBAN will automatically and completely delete the contents of any hard disk that it can detect, which makes it an appropriate utility for bulk or emergency data destruction

[Romulus]

That was my first notion.. they would delete the video when they took the phone...

how can 'failure to show ID' be against the law? papers please?

[pmocek]

Hi, all. Thanks for your interest.


I'm surprised they didn't "accidentally" erase the footage from his phone.

The airport police told me the jail wouldn't take my belongings because I was "being processed as a John Doe," so they would be held there in safe storage for me. When I returned a couple days later after being released from jail, everything on the camera had been erased. I recovered it using forensic analysis software on the flight home. That was a very, very, happy moment.

For lots more detail about my criminal case, see the excellent State of New Mexico v. Phillip Mocek FAQ (http://papersplease.org/wp/mocek/) created and maintained by the Identity Project and my blog (http://mocek.org/blog/2011/02/07/i-fought-the-law-and-the-law-lost-but/). I paid for my criminal defense out-of-pocket, and still owe my attorneys (who were excellent) about $25,000. I'd appreciate any donations, large or small, to my legal defense fund (http://papersplease.org/wp/mocek/#help). The 501(c)(3) I was representing at a conference in Albuquerque (http://cdc.coop/tsa_arrest) is managing that fund, so donations are tax-deductible.

[low preference guy]

Nice to have you here Mocek. You're a hero!

[pmocek]

Nice to have you here Mocek. You're a hero!

Thanks. That's very nice of you to say.

For more on this, you can see my brief interview on Freedom Watch (http://video.foxbusiness.com/v/4515889/phil-mocek-on-battling-the-tsa-/), a longer interview on Adam vs. The Man (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tX8JzSpUumY#t=2555s) (Adam Kokesh's radio show; he has a TV show now), and an interview I recently did with someone from the Fully-Informed Jury Association (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnNa6MK46es).

[iGGz]

Would you agree the problem here is stupid people with too much power?

And to think that they would have gotten away with this if the video weren't recovered is infuriating


Thanks. That's very nice of you to say.

For more on this, you can see my brief interview on Freedom Watch (http://video.foxbusiness.com/v/4515889/phil-mocek-on-battling-the-tsa-/), a longer interview on Adam vs. The Man (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tX8JzSpUumY#t=2555s) (Adam Kokesh's radio show; he has a TV show now), and an interview I recently did with someone from the Fully-Informed Jury Association (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnNa6MK46es).

I'll take a look at all your links. Keep up the good fight, and I'll donate when I can.

The letter sent to the City of Albuquerque by your attorneys is awesome.

[pmocek]

Would you agree the problem here is stupid people with too much power?

That's kind of a vague question, but guessing what you mean, I'd say the answer is "no". I think the problem is that people are kept distracted from important issues and are manipulated by fear. 30,000 people die every year in automobile accidents in the United States, yet most of us are so focused on the minuscule risk of airplane bombings that we put up with being strip searched as a condition of commercial flight. Our federal government openly operates a system of restriction of movement based on blacklists, and those of us who resist cooperation with that system are mostly accused of slowing other people down. Our elected representatives -- on both sides of the aisle -- show little regard for the Bill of Rights, and hardly anyone seems to care.

[low preference guy]

Regarding what the cause of the problem is, in my opinion it's lack of competition. Airlines (or each airport) should take care of their own security just like banks do. That way, there will be different practices and if one airline behaves stupidly, people can choose to travel with a company with a different security policy. Competition can show what the right balance security and comfort is.

[iGGz]

Meh, I still say it's stupid people with too much power.

[low preference guy]

Meh, I still say it's stupid people with too much power.

I believe stupid people go out of business when there is competition.