A Personal Story – Opinion

Red flag laws are all over the news these days in the wake of the Uvalde shooting and the search for “common sense” gun laws. Red flag laws sound like an answer—simply put, somebody shows signs of erratic behavior, they get put on a list and are banned from buying guns. Simple, right?

No, because nothing in life is ever simple, as RedState’s Brandon Morse points out. For one, people could use such laws for revenge on people they don’t like. Your neighbor’s dog keeps pooping on your lawn? You can report him to the police for his erratic behaviour and get him placed on a waiting list. Hint: He probably won’t. Once you’re on a federal list, there’s a good chance you’re on it for life.

Last Friday, I was on an early morning flight and needed to wake up at 4:00 AM to drive to the airport, make it to the gate, and pass security. My family was on fumes and I felt garbage.

But, in the isn’t-it-a-small-world category, I ran into a friend, actor, and politician, Siaka Massaquoi, who looked fresh as a daisy. “Jeez,” I said to him. “This is brutal.”

“Yeah,” he replied with a smile. “I’ve been here since 3:30 am.”

Is this the end of the world? We arrived in two hours.

Turns out Siaka is on a “list.” He entered the Capitol on January 6, 2021, but has not been charged with anything. His apartment was raided by over 20 armed FBI agents on June 10, 2021, and he’s been under investigation ever since for “associating with members of a social media group.”

Massaquoi, along with friend Brian Burks who was also present for the raid, described “twenty-some FBI agents with assault rifles” in a video posted to Instagram.

“I did nothing wrong on the 6th,” Massaquoi said. “They can paint something as wrong, but I did nothing violent.”

Although he has not been charged with any crime, and has never been placed under arrest for his actions on that day, that doesn’t mean his life goes on as normal. As he shared with me this morning, and on The Hope Report podcast, it is clear that he is not treated the same as you or I at the airport.

Here’s how he describes it:

Every single time I fly I have to check in at the front, I can’t do check-in online. It takes about 45 minutes for them to do their phone calls and talk to whoever and they give me a ticket that has four S’s on it — that means you have go through security—they put that on my bag, meaning the bag i check, and I go to security. As soon as I get up there, “bing!”

They pull me to the side, and when they eventually get to me, however long that takes, they tell they’re going to pat me down. They pat me down front and back, they check my bag and all that stuff, my carry-on, then I go to the gate… and when I’m waiting at the gate, now TSA shows up to do the exact same thing they just did when they checked earlier.

It happens every time he travels. On this trip, he found out that his fiancé is subject to the same scrutiny when she travels with him. Keep in mind: They are not charged or convicted of anything.

He knows he’s been “flagged” because a friend at an airline confirmed it to him. He doesn’t know the name of this group, nor has he been provided with any written documentation. The government simply doesn’t like him. Siaka continues:

The TSA agent indicates that she won’t subject them to another search “if we escort you directly onto the plane. So now we could walk with them, but we have to go straight to the plane, can’t stop to the bathroom, can’t get food can’t even sit down and just relax.”

As I keep repeating, he has not been charged or convicted of anything – isn’t this exactly what the Fifth Amendment was designed to prevent? Namely that you can’t be punished without due process? Where’s the due process here?

Americans charged—not convicted, charged—with petty offenses related to Jan 6 are on terrorist watch list at TSA and must undergo invasive, extensive searches numerous times. Any Republican who thinks this regime won’t do the same under “red flag” laws is an idiot. Or John Cornyn https://t.co/lopacDeMsS

— Julie Kelly 🇺🇸 (@julie_kelly2) June 12, 2022

Remember this the next time a silver-tongued movie star or a long-time Republican statesman tries to sell you on “common sense” red flag laws. There is no such thing as a simple solution.