'Upset' Stansted Security Staff reaction to Muslim quip. Careful what you say there.

Lapin · 27-10-2014 11:40AM #1

A pensioner who said ‘I’m not Muslim’ when he was asked to remove his shoes at airport security has spent more than six months facing charges for racism.

Paul Griffith, 75, set off the security scanner’s alarm at Stansted airport when travelling to Malaga for a week’s holiday.

He removed his shoes as requested, but said: ‘I am not Muslim am I?'

A security guard accused him of racism and called the police, saying he was upset by the remark.

'One minute I am queuing up to get on a plane and the next I am confronted by two armed policemen.

'They said I had used racist language and took me to an office in the terminal,' Mr Griffith said yesterday.

Mr Griffith was allowed to go on his trip but was arrested when he returned. He was charged with causing ‘racially or religiously aggravated harassment, alarm or distress’.

Article

The security guard is obviously in the wrong job. I don't deny what the pensioner said was a tad silly but it was harmless and should have been dealt with by having a quiet word in his ear rather than wasting police time simply because someone was 'upset'.

Do you go running the gardaí everytime you're 'upset?' Afterall, the only reason we have to remove our shoes at airports is due of the actions of British terrorist, radical Sunni Islam Richard Reid, AKA the 'Muslim Shoe Bomber. So the harmless but ill considered remark by Griffith at Stansted wasn't completely without foundation.

Some people are too sensitive for their jobs. Thankfully sense prevailed here and this case was thrown out before it got to court.

Greenmachine · 27-10-2014 11:43AM

Lapin wrote: »

A pensioner who said ‘I’m not Muslim’ when he was asked to remove his shoes at airport security has spent more than six months facing charges for racism.

Paul Griffith, 75, set off the security scanner’s alarm at Stansted airport when travelling to Malaga for a week’s holiday.

He removed his shoes as requested, but said: ‘I am not Muslim am I?'

A security guard accused him of racism and called the police, saying he was upset by the remark.

'One minute I am queuing up to get on a plane and the next I am confronted by two armed policemen.

'They said I had used racist language and took me to an office in the terminal,' Mr Griffith said yesterday.

Mr Griffith was allowed to go on his trip but was arrested when he returned. He was charged with causing ‘racially or religiously aggravated harassment, alarm or distress’.

Article

The security guard is obviously in the wrong job. I don't deny what the pensioner said was a tad silly but it was harmless and should have been dealt with by having a quiet word in his ear rather than wasting police time simply because someone was 'upset'.

Do you go running the gardaí everytime you're 'upset?' Afterall, the only reason we have to remove our shoes at airports is due of the actions of British terrorist, radical Sunni Islam Richard Reid, AKA the 'Muslim Shoe Bomber. So the harmless but ill considered remark by Griffith at Stansted wasn't completely without foundation.

Some people are too sensitive for their jobs. Thankfully sense prevailed here and this case was thrown out before it got to court.

OTT much.

suicide_circus · 27-10-2014 11:49AM

Stupid comment.

UK airport security people are ignorant fooks to a man though.

kneemos · 27-10-2014 11:55AM

Keep your mouth shut and your butt clenched.

Berserker · 27-10-2014 11:56AM

suicide_circus wrote: »

UK airport security people are ignorant fooks to a man though.

Ever traveled to the USA or Russia? I travel to the UK very regularly and find them very easy to deal with.

mfceiling · 27-10-2014 11:58AM

kneemos wrote: »

Keep your mouth shut and your butt clenched.

For f*cks sake...I've been doing the opposite every time I've been in the airport...

md23040 · 27-10-2014 11:58AM

Typical in the PC world we live in that a bunch of young radicals have no problem getting through airport security with the same firm at another London airport heading out to Syria to inflict abhorrent acts of violence and in less than12 months on four out of five of them are justly dead, yet airport security pick on the weak and vulnerable in society whom are meant to be protected under these same security measures - the degree of irony is totally lost on me.

Lapin · 27-10-2014 12:03PM

Greenmachine wrote: »

OTT much.

You quoted my entire post to be the first to reply and all you say is that.

Articulacy deficiency syndrome?

But yes, the security guard's reaction to a harmless comment was indeed, very OTT.

Banjoxed · 27-10-2014 12:05PM

I think the best advice to anyone flying is simply don't be a c*ck to security guards and get on with it.

timetogo · 27-10-2014 12:06PM

Police should have had a bit of cop on too.

I'd imagine 2 police officers would have to go over and respond. When asked what the pensioner did and the reply was "said he wasn't a muslim" they should have had a chat with the security guard and told him to cop the fuk on and stop wasting police time.

suicide_circus · 27-10-2014 12:09PM

Berserker wrote: »

Ever traveled to the USA or Russia? I travel to the UK very regularly and find them very easy to deal with.

Yeah the states was pretty bad alright. Luton is always a bad experience imo.

BizzyC · 27-10-2014 12:12PM

I wouldn't call it a harmless comment, if the person in question was muslim, which I'm assuming was the case, it was a very insulting and racist thing to say.

Saying that, getting charged on return is a tad harsh IMO though.
Being brought into a room and given a warning should have been sufficient to get him to cop on in future.

Also

md23040 wrote:

airport security pick on the weak and vulnerable in society

This guy who made the comment hardly constitutes the "weak and vulnerable".
It wasn't some dithery old-dear who made a comment that she didn't understand to be offensive, this guy knew what he was saying and obviously said it to the wrong person.

Lapin · 27-10-2014 12:13PM

timetogo wrote: »

Police should have had a bit of cop on too.

I'd imagine 2 police officers would have to go over and respond. When asked what the pensioner did and the reply was "said he wasn't a muslim" they should have had a chat with the security guard and told him to cop the fuk on and stop wasting police time.

Agreed, although they were compelled to at on the security guard's complaints.

I think they should have sent Griffith on his way with a verbal rap on the knuckles and had a good chat with the security guard about wasting their time.

The Backwards Man · 27-10-2014 12:13PM

There's a reason they are called airport security, not airport clowns.

Also, if I had a penny for every time someone said they were only joking when they were actually being an obnoxious, hate filled cnut, I'd be able to do a weeks shopping in Harrods.

Canis Lupus · 27-10-2014 12:15PM

suicide_circus wrote: »

Yeah the states was pretty bad alright. Luton is always a bad experience imo.

I've been through them all multiple times. No hassle.

Sir Osis of Liver. · 27-10-2014 12:19PM

According to some sh1te ad on telly now,1 in 5 of us have smuggled sausages.

27-10-2014 12:20PM

It's a fcuking religion not a race

renegademaster · 27-10-2014 12:25PM

Lapin wrote: »

Do you go running the gardaí everytime you're 'upset?' Afterall, the only reason we have to remove our shoes at airports is due of the actions of British terrorist, radical Sunni Islam Richard Reid, AKA the 'Muslim Shoe Bomber.

the more you think about the reasons behind all these ridiculous checks the more you realise we've all been had, big time!!

BlatentCheek · 27-10-2014 12:31PM

This nonsense isn't restricted to the UK.

A very old man I know was going through Dublin Airport a couple of years back when a security guard made a big deal of his crutch. When the man said "sure it's not like it's a machine gun" the security guard made a huge deal of it. He made the man feel like he was in big trouble for using the word "machine gun" in an airport and would not get on his flight. Luckily an older member of security staff came over and told the younger security guard to cop the **** on.
Personally I always find security staff grand but I believe that they're not always as well trained as you might expect.

Lapin · 27-10-2014 12:38PM

renegademaster wrote: »

the more you think about the reasons behind all these ridiculous checks the more you realise we've all been had, big time!!

And the more you see 75 year old white English people being asked to remove their shoes in an effort by security to be seen to avoid racial profiling of minorities while muslims are walking through secrity on their way out to Syria to join IS, you realise how screwed up the farcical security procedures are.

renegademaster · 27-10-2014 12:45PM

imagine their response to this in an airport eh

http://rt.com/news/199548-australia-parliament-kkk-burqa/

A trio of activists wearing a KKK outfit, a burqa and a motorcycle helmet attempted to enter Australia’s parliament house in Canberra, challenging the idea of allowing women wearing face veils in public places.
When the three approached the security, the men wearing a helmet and a Ku Klux Klan hood were immediately asked to remove their headwear, but there was a moment of hesitation concerning the Muslim veil.

"One of the requirements of coming into parliament house is that the motorcycle helmet is going to have to come off, your headdress is going to have to come off and your burqa... your identity will be checked," the security guard told the group, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

The man in a KKK hood took it off only to reveal he had a burqa underneath.

"Bit of a loophole, eh?" he asked.

renegademaster · 27-10-2014 12:46PM

Lapin wrote: »

And the more you see 75 year old white English people being asked to remove their shoes in an effort by security to be seen to avoid racial profiling of minorities while muslims are walking through secrity on their way out to Syria to join IS, you realise how screwed up the farcical security procedures are.

and dont get me fcuking started on the 100ml limits on fluids!! :mad::mad:

dquinnan · 27-10-2014 12:51PM

Never understood how people find security / border staff at airports bad. If you aren't a complete idiot, have everything the way it's supposed to be (liquid in clear bags, no metal in pockets etc) and have your passport etc as well you'll have no need to interact with them, bar the odd random search or whatever.

I've flown all over the world including the states and Australia and never had a problem.

Lapin · 27-10-2014 01:14PM

dquinnan wrote: »

Never understood how people find security / border staff at airports bad......

Thats not the point of this thread though. Airport staff vary the world over and yes, they have to carry out their duties as laid down by the law. (Farcical laws in some cases), but they don't set them.

However, over the top overreactions by airport security because they are 'upset' by a realatively innocious remark by a pensioner does their image no favours.

Lapin · 27-10-2014 01:16PM

dquinnan wrote: »

If you aren't a complete idiot, have everything the way it's supposed to be (liquid in clear bags, no metal in pockets etc) and have your passport etc as well you'll have no need to interact with them....

Agree 100% with this.

There are few things more annoying than being stuck behind the idiot at the security queue who hasn't prepared for it.

auldgranny · 27-10-2014 01:17PM

The Backwards Man wrote: »

There's a reason they are called airport security, not airport clowns.

Also, if I had a penny for every time someone said they were only joking when they were actually being an obnoxious, hate filled cnut, I'd be able to do a weeks shopping in Harrods.

Thank this 1000 times.

suicide_circus · 27-10-2014 01:18PM

Canis Lupus wrote: »

I've been through them all multiple times. No hassle.

Yes, people may have differing experiences, funny that

P. Breathnach · 27-10-2014 01:23PM

BizzyC wrote: »

I wouldn't call it a harmless comment, if the person in question was muslim, which I'm assuming was the case, it was a very insulting and racist thing to say.

Agreed. There is also the possibility that there were Muslims in the queue and within earshot.

Saying that, getting charged on return is a tad harsh IMO though.

He was offered the option of accepting a caution, and refused it.

Being brought into a room and given a warning should have been sufficient to get him to cop on in future.

I'd be sceptical. People who make comments like that, other than those making poor attempts at being amusing, are usually slow to change their views and their behaviour.

RobYourBuilder · 27-10-2014 01:27PM

“We know that over 500 British nationals travelled to join the conflict. Many have returned and many will wish to do so in the coming months and perhaps in future years.

Five Britons are travelling to Iraq and Syria to join Islamic State (Isis) every week, the UK’s most senior police officer has revealed, after reports that a third jihadi from Portsmouth has been killed in the conflict.

The Metropolitan police commissioner, Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, said the figure was a minimum and the “drumbeat of terrorism in the UK” was now “faster and more intense”.

“Those are the ones that we believe have gone. There may be many more who set out to travel to another country and meandered over to Syria and Iraq in a way that is not always possible to spot when you have failed states and leaky borders,” Hogan-Howe said.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/21/five-britons-week-travel-iraq-syria-isis

More British muslims have joined the ISIS than the British armed forces. Many have returned from their stint abroad as Jihadis. But yeah, the 75 year old pensioner who made an un-pc quip is the real problem. Can't be hurting anyones feelings.

How did these people ever run such a large empire?

Frank Lee Midere · 27-10-2014 01:36PM

dquinnan wrote: »

Never understood how people find security / border staff at airports bad. If you aren't a complete idiot, have everything the way it's supposed to be (liquid in clear bags, no metal in pockets etc) and have your passport etc as well you'll have no need to interact with them, bar the odd random search or whatever.

I've flown all over the world including the states and Australia and never had a problem.

That's an anecdote not a statistic. Guys like you would be happy enough in totalitarian societies though. Just keep your head down. Be grand.

Frank Lee Midere · 27-10-2014 01:40PM

P. Breathnach wrote: »

Agreed. There is also the possibility that there were Muslims in the queue and within earshot.

He was offered the option of accepting a caution, and refused it.

I'd be sceptical. People who make comments like that, other than those making poor attempts at being amusing, are usually slow to change their views and their behaviour.

He's also 75. What's the charge for. The phrase "I am not a Muslim" isn't even sectarian never mind racist. It's a statement of fact. He may have believed that only Muslims were targeted. Or that only Muslims should be ( or targeted more frequently). I mean until about a decade ago Irish people were treated differently. Most people understood this.

'Upset' Stansted Security Staff reaction to Muslim quip. Careful what you say there.

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