Occupy activist/filmmaker put on no-fly list
by peacearena Follow for Oklahoma Roundup
Mark Faulk, a documentary filmmaker and prominent member of Occupy Oklahoma City (OccupyOKC), discovered he was on the no-fly list when he attempted to check in online and then at Will Rogers Airport in Oklahoma City.
I received the following press release, which at the time of this writing contains all I know about the matter.
Mark has been deeply involved in the OKC Occupy movement since it started last summer.
Oklahoma City Filmmaker/Political Activist on No Fly List
An Oklahoma City writer and filmmaker active in Occupy OKC has been placed on the federal No Fly List. Mark Faulk was surrounded by TSA agents at the United Airlines ticket counter at Will Rogers World Airport on February 29th, when trying to obtain a boarding pass to travel to New York City to attend the March 2nd premiere of a anti-Wall Street film he worked on.
Faulk, who has researched and covered financial fraud since 2004, said that he tried to check in online, only to receive a notice that said “Unable to Complete Check-in. Your reservation requires special handling. Please check in at an airport kiosk.”
Said Faulk, “That’s the first red flag that you’re on the No Fly List. The second clue is that you can’t check in at the kiosk either, and the clincher is that the associate at the ticket counter can’t issue you a boarding pass either. The airline computer systems are programmed to block anyone who is flagged by the TSA as being on the No Fly List from obtaining a boarding pass.”
At that point, the supervisor came over and checked the system, then immediately called TSA officials, who immediately surrounded Faulk. The United Airlines supervisor told the TSA, “He’s on the No Fly List”.
After an approximately 45 minute delay, Faulk was subjected to two extensive searches, had his carry-on bags searched again at the boarding gate, and was finally allowed to board the plane.
“When I arrived at my hotel in New York, I found that my checked baggage had been searched as well,” said Faulk. “I asked one of the TSA agent searched me why I was on the list. He said he had no idea, that the system just flagged me. I told him I was visiting New York for the premiere of a film about Wall Street and was active in the Occupy Movement in Oklahoma, and he said simply ‘There you go.’”
On his return trip from Newark Liberty International Airport, Faulk was detained again while airline officials spent 45 minutes on the phone with TSA officials, and then searched again before being allowed to return to Oklahoma City.
“I think that it is ironic that I’m on the No Fly List for speaking out against corruption on Wall Street and in our government. In reality, it’s the crooked Wall Street executives who are the true financial terrorists.”
CBS news magazine 60 Minutes obtained a copy of the No Fly List in 2006, and reported that 44,000 names were on the list, along with another 75,000 people who are allowed to fly on domestic flights after being pulled aside for additional screening.
Mark Faulk was the writer and directed interviews for the documentary “The Wall Street Conspiracy” ( www.thewallstreetconspiracy.com ) , a film about financial fraud that is also critical of the SEC and Congress’s lack of enforcement to stem corruption that triggered the current economic crisis.
by peacearena Follow for Oklahoma Roundup
Mark Faulk, a documentary filmmaker and prominent member of Occupy Oklahoma City (OccupyOKC), discovered he was on the no-fly list when he attempted to check in online and then at Will Rogers Airport in Oklahoma City.
I received the following press release, which at the time of this writing contains all I know about the matter.
Mark has been deeply involved in the OKC Occupy movement since it started last summer.
Oklahoma City Filmmaker/Political Activist on No Fly List
An Oklahoma City writer and filmmaker active in Occupy OKC has been placed on the federal No Fly List. Mark Faulk was surrounded by TSA agents at the United Airlines ticket counter at Will Rogers World Airport on February 29th, when trying to obtain a boarding pass to travel to New York City to attend the March 2nd premiere of a anti-Wall Street film he worked on.
Faulk, who has researched and covered financial fraud since 2004, said that he tried to check in online, only to receive a notice that said “Unable to Complete Check-in. Your reservation requires special handling. Please check in at an airport kiosk.”
Said Faulk, “That’s the first red flag that you’re on the No Fly List. The second clue is that you can’t check in at the kiosk either, and the clincher is that the associate at the ticket counter can’t issue you a boarding pass either. The airline computer systems are programmed to block anyone who is flagged by the TSA as being on the No Fly List from obtaining a boarding pass.”
At that point, the supervisor came over and checked the system, then immediately called TSA officials, who immediately surrounded Faulk. The United Airlines supervisor told the TSA, “He’s on the No Fly List”.
After an approximately 45 minute delay, Faulk was subjected to two extensive searches, had his carry-on bags searched again at the boarding gate, and was finally allowed to board the plane.
“When I arrived at my hotel in New York, I found that my checked baggage had been searched as well,” said Faulk. “I asked one of the TSA agent searched me why I was on the list. He said he had no idea, that the system just flagged me. I told him I was visiting New York for the premiere of a film about Wall Street and was active in the Occupy Movement in Oklahoma, and he said simply ‘There you go.’”
On his return trip from Newark Liberty International Airport, Faulk was detained again while airline officials spent 45 minutes on the phone with TSA officials, and then searched again before being allowed to return to Oklahoma City.
“I think that it is ironic that I’m on the No Fly List for speaking out against corruption on Wall Street and in our government. In reality, it’s the crooked Wall Street executives who are the true financial terrorists.”
CBS news magazine 60 Minutes obtained a copy of the No Fly List in 2006, and reported that 44,000 names were on the list, along with another 75,000 people who are allowed to fly on domestic flights after being pulled aside for additional screening.
Mark Faulk was the writer and directed interviews for the documentary “The Wall Street Conspiracy” ( www.thewallstreetconspiracy.com ) , a film about financial fraud that is also critical of the SEC and Congress’s lack of enforcement to stem corruption that triggered the current economic crisis.
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