Judge is informed she is on a terrorist list; was it a random selection?
A Chicago judge says a security supervisor at the Indianapolis airport informed her during a mid-October trip that she was on a known terrorist list.
Judge Yolande Bourgeois tells NBC Chicago the designation resulted in a full patdown, a search of her suitcase, and a demand that she turn on all her electronic devices.
Bourgeois said her flight was diverted to Indianapolis because of weather as she was returning from a vacation in Cancun to celebrate her 65th birthday. When she received her boarding pass in Indianapolis the next day, it had the designation “SSSS” on it.
A Transportation Security Administration agent saw the designation and called over the supervisor, who told Bourgeois she was on a known terrorist list.
“I want my name off that list,” Bourgeois told NBC Chicago.
SSSS means Secondary Security Screening Selection, and it doesn’t necessarily mean you are on a terrorist list, TSA spokersperson Michael McCarthy told NBC Chicago. Some receive the designation because of certain triggers, and some are assigned the designation at random.
McCarthy said Bourgeois could apply for redress from the TSA. Travelers who receive a Redress Control Number have a lesser chance of landing the SSS designation in the future.
