Handcuffed, Jailed and Fined $500 — for Crossing the Street
With the increase in border patrols along the border between the United States and Canada, living in a town on the border where there are apparently no barriers on small side streets that cross the border lead to a seemingly ludicrous incident where Homeland Security jails man for crossing the street to buy a pizza.
The man admittedly taunted authorities by purposely crossing the street more than once after being warned, but does that really warrant being handcuffed, jailed and fined $500 for something he reportedly has done all of his life — and in the quest to simply satisfy his hunger with a pizza?
This may not nearly be as bad as the farmer who owned a piece of land that straddled the American-Canadian border and was reportedly caught and fined for illegal importation of wheat because he moved it on his own land from one country to another. The harvest was allegedly confiscated as well.
These stories and others border on lunacy. Should a line be drawn somewhere to reduce or eliminate this nonsense?
Category Airports
Tags Security
Booked with British Airways, fly with Ryanair
FT in the news - 12 Mar 2010 to 18 Mar 2010