Michael Yon Detained and Handcuffed at Seattle Airport: War Correspondent Michael Yon Arrested

Michael Yon says he was detained and handcuffed at the Seattle-Tacoma Airport by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) because he refused to to answer questions "that had nothing to do with national security." You'll recall the TSA could not find the bomb in the underpants of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab. Updates as available.

Michael Yon

Via Goomba News, via Hot Air:

Got arrested at the Seattle airport for refusing to say how much money I make. (The uniformed ones say I was not “arrested”, but they definitely handcuffed me.) Their videos and audios should show that I was polite, but simply refused questions that had nothing to do with national security. Port authority police eventually came — they were professionals — and rescued me from the border bullies.

When they handcuffed me, I said that no country has ever treated me so badly. Not China. Not Vietnam. Not Afghanistan. Definitely not Singapore or India or Nepal or Germany, not Brunei, not Indonesia, or Malaysia, or Kuwait or Qatar or United Arab Emirates. No county has treated me with the disrespect can that can be expected from our border bullies.

This exclusive from BigGovernment:

Yon was returning to the United States from Hong Kong to visit family when TSA officials stopped him during a routine security checkpoint.  “Officials asked me what was in my bag—nothing wrong with this question,” Yon said in an interview with BigGovernment.com.  “I told them it was normal stuff, clothes and toothbrushes.”

At this point the TSA officials escorted Yon to a designated screening area where they examined the contents of his bag.  “Then they asked me how much money I make,” Yon said.  Yon suggested to the TSA officials that the question was inappropriate and unrelated to transportation security.  The award-winning blogger noted another TSA officer approached Yon: “he asked who do I work for.”  ”I did not answer the question which clearly was upsetting to the TSA officers.”

Yon was escorted to a room elsewhere in the airport where he said he remained silent during much of the questioning.   According to Yon, “they handcuffed me for failing to cooperate.  They said I was impeding their ability to do their job.”

There's obviously more to this story, maybe this it:

In January of 2009, Yon’s article “Border Bullies” detailed a Homeland Security officer coercing a friend to give up her e-mail password so that he could read private email correspondences between her and Yon.

Regarding the incident in Seattle, Yon was adamant the TSA agents had overstepped their bounds: “If I am the guy on that passport and I don’t have any contraband in my luggage, it is a matter for the FBI, not the TSA.”

“TSA people are out of control,” he said. “They are not doing their jobs, they are harassing people, creating animosity.  They ask you ‘what time is your connective flight?’ and they bully you until you miss the flight.”

TSA - out-of-control and obviously inept, as supported by the failure to find the bomb in the underpants of Christmas Day bomber, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab. What? Maybe Yon doesn't like Seattle's famous coffees?