USSA watch: Biden TSA & DHS targeted mask-mandate & J6 opponents; wildly abusive
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"Biden admin put some Americans who resisted mask mandates...: TSA"
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) uncovered that the Biden administration placed some Americans who resisted the COVID-19 mask mandate or were involved in the events of Jan 6, 2021, on prolonged TSA watchlists, including some on a no-fly list typically reserved for suspected terrorists.
Biden’s TSA initiated "Operation Freedom to Breathe" in September 2021, roughly six months after the CDC relaxed the COVID-19 mask mandate, which targeted Americans who previously resisted mask mandates set forth by the Biden Administration.
The initiative placed 19 Americans on various levels of intensive watchlists, with more than half added to the highest severity no-fly list, preventing them from boarding a flight in the U.S. entirely. Eleven of the individuals remained on watchlists until April 2022, when the national mask mandate was lifted by the Biden administration.
At no point did mask-mandate opponents pose any air-flight risk.
Few ever resisted mask on airplane, & if they did, airline & LE dealt with incident right then. No biggie.
Biden TSA targeted human rights activists for -outside, non-airline, protected speech-.
"Biden’s TSA Administrator [David] Pekoske and his cronies abused their authority and weaponized the federal government against the very people they were charged with protecting," Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told Fox News Digital.
Likewise for -non-criminal-, uncharged J6 citizens.
Biden’s TSA placed roughly 280 individuals allegedly involved in the Capitol protests on Jan 6, 2021, on watchlists, including five on a no-fly list.
Biden’s TSA ignored internal concerns raised by career intelligence officials and TSA’s Chief Privacy Officer that placing individuals on the list "is clearly unrelated to transportation security," and that "TSA is punishing people for the expression of their ideas when -they haven’t been charged, let alone convicted-
Internal emails said that TSA mainly relied on the [ultra-political] George Washington University Program of Extremism academic database and social media, rather than traditional sources like the FBI and local police, to determine which individuals should be placed on watchlists.
Sources at TSA say the Biden administration's targeting of Americans is the most expansive use of putting U.S. citizens on a no-fly list in history.
Noem told Fox News Digital that the agency will be "referring this case to the Department of Justice and for Congressional investigation."