Warning: This Bookmark is Registered as a Lethal Weapon
Another great link from the Interesting People mailing list: Katheryn Harrington is a 52 year old teacher from Florida who flies on a regular basis. On her last trip, she was stoped by TSA employees, handcuffed, and charged with carrying a concealed weapon: her leather bookmark. (They claimed it resembled a sap) The charges have been droped, but she still faces up to $10,000 in civil fines.
Here’s the part everyone should read and think about fully:
According to the TSA’s official prohibited items list, anyone who brings any banned item to a screening checkpoint, even accidentally, may be criminally or civilly prosecuted. Even items that are not specifically listed, but could be considered dangerous, are illegal.
So it’s not enoough that you have to surrender your knitting needles and nail clippers — you can be criminally charged for bringing any item, listed or otherwise, into an airport if someone in the TSA happens to be having a bad day and decides it might be dangerous.
