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posted by takyon on Saturday October 05 2019, @04:44AM   Printer-friendly
from the papers-please dept.

US Customs Officer Harasses Defense One Journalist at Dulles Airport

A passport screening official held a Defense One journalist's passport until he received an affirmative answer to this repeated question: "You write propaganda, right?"

The incident took place about 4 p.m. on Thursday at Dulles International Airport. News Editor Ben Watson was returning from an assignment in Denmark when he entered permanent resident reentry aisle No. 17 at Dulles. After the Customs and Border Protection official asked the usual question about undeclared fruit or meat, the interaction took an unusual and unsettling turn.

CBP officer, holding Watson's passport: "What do you do?"

Watson: "Journalism."

CBP officer: "So you write propaganda, right?"

Watson: "No."

CBP officer: "You're a journalist?"

Watson: "Yes."

CBP officer: "You write propaganda, right?"

Watson: "No. I am in journalism. Covering national security. And homeland security. And with many of the same skills I used in the U.S. Army as a public affairs officer. Some would argue that's propaganda."

[...] The CBP official's behavior appeared to violate the spirit, and possibly the letter, of DHS's internal Directive 0480.1, "Ethics/Standards of Conduct"; DHS Code of Conduct ยง 102-74.445; and possibly U.S. Customs and Border Protection Directive 51735-013A, "Standards of Conduct."

Also at The Hill, Newsweek, and The Washington Post.


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  • (Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 05 2019, @06:08AM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 05 2019, @06:08AM (#902964)

    > the journalist wasn't shot, or detained, so that's a win, right?

    Or cut into pieces with a bone saw (it's been a year since Khashoggi was last seen).

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  • (Score: 3, Informative) by fustakrakich on Saturday October 05 2019, @06:40AM

    by fustakrakich (6150) on Saturday October 05 2019, @06:40AM (#902971) Journal

    it's been a year since Khashoggi was last seen

    And the killers laugh at the timid world in its face.

    --
    La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 06 2019, @03:46AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 06 2019, @03:46AM (#903280)

    > the journalist wasn't shot, or detained, so that's a win, right?

    Or cut into pieces with a bone saw (it's been a year since Khashoggi was last seen).

    Well, OK, but I think I would rather stifle the urge of these would-be demagogues long before it got to this. If those in positions of power are even contemplating such action then our civil liberties are already rapidly evaporating.