TSA Spills The Ashes of a Man's Grandfather on the Floor and Laughs at Him
A man’s attempt to bring the ashes of his grandfather home to Indianapolis ended with an angry scene in a Florida airport, with the ashes spilled on the terminal floor.
John Gross, a resident of Indianapolis’ south side, was leaving Florida with the remains of his grandfather — Mario Mark Marcaletti, a Sicilian immigrant who worked for the Penn Central Railroad in central Indiana — in a tightly sealed jar marked “Human Remains.”
Gross said he didn’t think he’d have a problem, until he ran into a TSA agent at the Orlando airport.
“They opened up my bag, and I told them, ‘Please, be careful. These are my grandpa’s ashes,’” Gross told RTV6’s Norman Cox. “She picked up the jar. She opened it up.
“I was told later on that she had no right to even open it, that they could have used other devices, like an X-ray machine. So she opened it up. She used her finger and was sifting through it. And then she accidentally spilled it.”
Gross says about a quarter to a third of the contents spilled on the floor, leaving him frantically trying to gather up as much as he could while anxious passengers waited behind him.
“She didn’t apologize. She started laughing. I was on my hands and knees picking up bone fragments. I couldn’t pick up all, everything that was lost. I mean, there was a long line behind me.”
TSA rules say a crematory container in carry-on baggage must pass through the X-ray machine at the security checkpoint.
But the agency’s own website says human remains are to be opened under, no circumstances.
“I want an apology, said Gross. I want an apology from TSA. I want an apology from the lady who opened the jar and laughed at me. I want them to help me understand where they get off treating people like this.”
Reason.com | Police Union Director Jokes on Facebook About Two Women Being Sexually Assaulted by a Police Officer
A Texas state trooper charged with sexually assaulting two women during a traffic stop was providing them with “customer service,” says Dale Roberts, the executive director of the Columbia Police Officers Association (CPOA) and a professor at the University of Missouri. (The CPOA is a part of the Fraternal Order of Police, one of the country’s largest police unions.)
“It’s called Customer Service!” Roberts wrote in a March 27 Facebook post about the indictment of Texas State Trooper Kelly Helleson, who was charged with two counts of sexual assault after conducting an illegal roadside strip search of two women. “We just did it so they wouldn’t have to make the trip all the way down to the station,” he added. A screenshot of Roberts’ post was taken by Keep Columbia Free, a civil liberties blog run by Mark Flakne.
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In addition to cracking jokes about the Dobbs’ assault (including, in the comment section of his own Facebook post, “Evidently, the [sic] searched them downtown without going downtown”), Roberts recently came under fire for a racist joke he posted last month on CPOA’s Facebook page.
“If CPD rolled up in the new Mercedes 6x16, you KNOW all the boys in the hood would come running out the house,” Roberts wrote on the CPOA Facebook page. The post was in regards to the Columbia Police Department’s campaign to get the city to buy it a Mercedes 6x16, which is an armored personnel carrier used by the military. After Columbia’s mayor called the Facebook post racist, Roberts apologized, saying it was “intended to be satirical in nature.”
While Dale Roberts is not a police officer, he is the head of the Columbia chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police, a professor of constitutional law at the University of Missouri, and an instructor at the University of Missouri’s Law Enforcement Training Institute. You’d think he’d have better judgement.
New York Police Union and NYPD Work Together To Generate Quotas
Audio obtained by The Nation confirms that New York City’s police union cooperated with the NYPD in setting arrest quotas for the department’s officers. According to some officers and critics of quotas, the practice has played a direct role in increasing the number of stop-and-frisk encounters since Mayor Michael Bloomberg came to office. Patrolmen who spoke to The Nation explained that the pressure from superiors to meet quota goals has caused some officers to seek out or even manufacture arrests to avoid department retaliation.
A uniformed NYPD sergeant was caught on video unleashing a vulgar tirade against a group of Brooklyn men — threatening them with his gun even while condoning their criminal behavior, The Post has learned.
Sgt. Lesly Charles even indicated that some criminal activity is apparently OK on his beat — as long as he’s paid proper respect.
“You guys are hustling or whatever, I ain’t got no problem with that. Listen … do your thing,” Charles barked during the April 28 diatribe, which is now being investigated by the city’s Civilian Complaint Review Board. “But when I come around and I speak, you f—king listen. Tell your boys.”
The surly sergeant apparently was angry over a car that was illegally parked on Ditmas Avenue in the Kensington section.
His rant against the men was recorded on a 20-minute cellphone video obtained exclusively by The Post.
The footage includes Charles berating a young man in the roadway near a silver BMW, telling him: “This is my street. All right? If you got to play tough, that’s your problem … I do whatever the f—k I want.”
A short time later, Charles followed the group into the nearby No. 1 Chinese Food restaurant, flanked by two plainclothes cops.
“I have the long d—k. You don’t,” the cop bragged.
“Your pretty face — I like it very much. My d—k will go in your mouth and come out your ear. Don’t f—k with me. All right?”
After the target of his tirade insisted, “I didn’t do anything,” Charles retorted, “Listen to me. When you see me, you look the other way. Tell your boys, I don’t f—k around. All right?”
“I’ll take my gun and put it up your a— and then I’ll call your mother afterwards. You understand that?”
For good measure, the sergeant added: “And I’ll put your s—t in your own mouth.”
Charles added, “I’m here every f—king day. I don’t go home. I have no life. No kids. I do what I do.’’
The 21-year-old man who shot the video — and provided it to The Post on the condition of anonymity — was arrested that night and charged with disorderly conduct, which court records show was for ignoring the cops’ orders to leave.
Police sources said he has been arrested more than 20 times, including for petit larceny and weapons and pot possession.
An NYPD spokeswoman said the department is investigating the incident.
The man’s lawyer, David Zelman, said it was troubling that “there were other cops by [Charles’] side, and they seemed to take it in stride.”
Charles, reached at home yesterday, said, “I’m just doing God’s work. You know I can’t comment … Have a blessed day.”
A source close to the sergeant said that in the past, “all efforts at civility failed’’ in dealing with the men. They are known to loiter and play loud music, prompting complaints from local businesses, law-enforcement sources said.
“The sergeant was trying to get the message across in a way they could understand,’’ the source said.
(via beatyourselfup)
Sexual harassment ongoing at Finnish parliament
Sexual harassment is still a problem at Finland’s Parliament, according to a new work satisfaction survey of parliament staffers. Eight civil servants and ten MPs’ aides say they have been the target of inappropriate emails and advances, lewd language and looks.
Pertti Rauhio, Parliament’s administration chief, responded to the results saying, “each case is one too many.”
A zero tolerance approach to sexual harassment at the country’s supreme decision-making authority has failed to wipe out inappropriate behavior—despite efforts such as sexual harassment training. In 2008, as many as one-third of women employed by parliament said they had experienced sexual harassment at their workplace. (via YLE Uutiset)
