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"Suspected Terrorism" Button Gets Gilmore Kicked off BA Flight
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posted by scubacuda
on Tuesday July 22, @10:48AM
from the "he-made-me-uncomfortable" dept.
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Politechbot: John Gilmore recently got kicked off a British Airline flight for wearing a "suspected terrorist" button."I asked whether I would be permitted to fly if I wore other buttons,
perhaps one saying "Hooray for Tony Blair". She said she thought that
would be OK. I said, how about "Terrorism is Evil". She said that I
probably wouldn't get on. I started to discuss other possible
buttons, like "Oppose Terrorism", trying to figure out what kinds of
political speech I would be permitted to express in a BA plane, but
she said that we could stand there making hypotheticals all night and
she wasn't interested."
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"Suspected Terrorism" Button Gets Gilmore Kicked off BA Flight
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The Fine Print:
The following comments are owned by whoever posted them.
We are not responsible for them in any way.
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Seth,
If you think Mr Gilmore’s pin is provocative, then try flying as an Arab…
We had the same incident in Sweden post 9-11, with the small difference that two Arabs were denounced and removed from a flight, and they were not wearing pins, bombs or radioactive shoe-laces. Just a beard and a too dark-tan for Swedish standards. Speaking as a gentleman, I agree that Mr Gilmore’s behaviour is out of line, but then again, if we can not handle the out-of-liners, then why do we need civil liberties at all?
I might add that I am personally not comfortable flying in planes with Arabs post 9-11 and I would not be comfortable flying in planes with passengers wearing John Gilmore’s “Suspected Terrorist” pin. I realise, however, that this is childish, racist and utterly naive and no policy should be formed on those grounds.
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The difference is of course that "being an Arab" is an intrinsic quality,
but "being a troll" is a behavioral one. I do not agree with any
equivalencing of the categories "Arabs" and "trolls". That is, one can
stop being a troll, as Gilmore had the chance to do. But one can't
stop being an Arab.
Moreover, this distinction applies in a deeper way. "Terrorist" is a
behavior category. It happens that the popular mind associates
terrorism with Arabs now, because that's in the news. Many years ago,
the predominant association was Cubans, that's how "I'm taking this
plane to Cuba" became a cliche. But Arab as a category itself has no
intrinsic connection to terrorism.
But trolling about terrorism is another matter. It is a deliberate
behavior directed to a volatile topic involving fear and panic. Now,
Gilmore's intent may not have this in mind. But, to use a lawyer's
term, it is certainly a foreseeable consequence of his actions. Thus,
I believe the captain was, here, both legally, and morally
correct to refuse to carry Gilmore, given his (Gimore's) avowed intent
regarding his "political speech".
I am willing to defend the following as a positive assertion:
Resolved: It is a reasonable "time, place, and manner" restriction on
free speech rights, to refuse to allow political theatre about terrorism
on an airline flight.
- Seth Finkelstein [sethf.com]
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Seth,
I would say that Mr Gilmore's behaviour is out-of-order dogmatism and impromper. However, I find it absurd to remove him from the plane on the facts presented. I also think that Mr Gilmore might severely hurt the EFF by his recent actions.
Regards,
Mikael Pawlo
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Humanity has the stars in its future, and that future is too important to be
lost under the burden of juvenile folly and ignorant superstition.
- Isaac Asimov
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