Defense One Journalist Claims Harassment by U.S. Customs Officer at Dulles Airport
An Anonymous Coward writes:
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 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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