Month: October 2021

The Transportation Security Administration removed Friday a Kentucky frequent flyer it had placed on a terrorist watchlist last week after he sued the agency in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit challenging the Federal Transportation Mask Mandate.

Michael Faris of Elizabethtown, Kentucky, flew Saturday without hassle and mostly mask-free from Louisville to Ontario, California, via Denver only three days after filing an emergency motion with the 6th Circuit demanding he be removed from the watchlist. TSA had placed him on it within 48 hours of his filing suit against the agency Oct. 19 along with three disabled Ohioans who also can’t wear masks due to medical conditions.

Spirit Airlines harassed and demeaned a 4-year-old autistic boy Tuesday who is part of a lawsuit against the Transportation Security Administration’s Federal Transportation Mask Mandate, demanding his parents provide a second doctor’s note that the child is mask-exempt and then illegally forcing the family to sit in the rear of both flights home from Boston to Orlando, Florida, via Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

When the Seklecki family tried to check in Tuesday morning for their flights home after Michael Jr.’s specialty medical appointment Monday at Boston Children’s Hospital, Spirit supervisor Angelie Aponte told his father, Michael Sr., that he didn’t send in paperwork to Spirit. However, Michael Sr. did submit Spirit’s illegal form and Michael Jr.’s doctor’s note the day before the flight along with four pages of notes explaining how’s Spirit’s mask policy violates the law in at least 21 ways.

A Kentucky frequent flyer filed an emergency motion for injunction this morning asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit to order the Transportation Security Administration to remove him from its terrorist watchlist, which the agency apparently placed him on after he and three Ohioans petitioned for review last week of the Federal Transportation Mask Mandate.

The Court of Appeals immediately ordered TSA to file a response no later than 10 a.m. Wednesday. Michael Faris’ next flight for his job is Saturday. His motion asks the court for a ruling by Friday.

“TSA’s action placing Mr. Faris … on its terrorist watchlist for filing this lawsuit challenging the FTMM represents the absolute worst form of vengeance against citizens exercising our First Amendment right to petition the government for a redress of grievances,” according to the court filing. “Suing TSA does not constitute a threat of terrorism nor any other risk to transportation security that warrants placement on the watchlist.”

The father of a 4-year-old autistic boy denied boarding Saturday morning by Frontier Airlines at Orlando International Airport appeared on “Fox News at Night” early today to discuss the incident and his lawsuit against the Transportation Security Administration’s Federal Transportation Mask Mandate with anchor Shannon Bream.

Frontier refused to allow the family of four to board a flight from Orlando to Hartford, Connecticut, Saturday because their autistic 4-year-old son, Michael Jr., can’t cover his face. This happened despite the fact Michael Jr. has a doctor’s note saying he’s exempt from mask mandates, which was submitted to Frontier in advance of the flight.

Frontier Airlines this morning refused to allow a family of four to board a flight from Orlando to Hartford, Connecticut, because their autistic 4-year-old son can’t cover his face. This happened despite the fact Michael Seklecki Jr. has a doctor’s note saying he’s exempt from mask mandates, which was submitted to Frontier in advance of the flight in addition to other paperwork.

The Seklecki family must fly often to New England for Michael Jr.’s specialized medical care. Today parents Michael Seklecki Sr. and Samantha Grabowski and their younger son, Noah, were booked on a Frontier flight to Hartford, were the Michael Sr.’s grandparents were going to pick them up and drive them tomorrow to Massachusetts for Michael Jr.’s appointment Monday afternoon at Boston Children’s Hospital.

American Airlines appears to have banned a Kentucky frequent traveler who attempted to check in Thursday for a flight from Ontario to Louisville via Dallas after he asked for a mask exemption and noted he had fainted earlier that morning in the airport when forced to muzzle himself.

“I warned you that putting this mask on could possibly make me faint and you’re okay with that?” Michael Faris of Elizabethtown, Kentucky, asked the American check-in agent, who refused to disclose her name. Faris captured the incident on video.

“I’m calling the police,” the American agent said in response to Faris’ mask-exemption request. “They’re going to come talk to you cause I’m done talking to you.”

The Transportation Security Administration appears to have placed a frequent flyer on its terrorist watchlist after he filed suit Tuesday in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit in Cincinnati challenging the Federal Transportation Mask Mandate.

TSA put Michael Faris of Kentucky through a lengthy process known as “Secondary Security Screening Selectee,” noted on his boarding pass by the code “SSSS.” During the extended search, he was patted down for more than five minutes and every item was removed from his carry-on bag. TSA officers even swabbed inside his wallet.

Three TSA officers walked Faris to the gate, where United was holding the airplane bound for Denver for him. A United agent told him he had to put on a mask before stepping into the jetway, ignoring his medical exemption. While walking down the jetbridge, Faris, who suffers from Generalized Anxiety Disorder, had a panic attack and fainted, collapsing to the floor. His elbow and knee were bruised.

A group of 13 flyers from nine states and the District of Columbia filed six lawsuits today charging the Transportation Security Administration with exceeding its legal authority by continuing to extend a requirement that all public-transportation passengers don face masks. The coordinated effort by a dozen disabled Americans and a former flight attendant who quit rather than enforce the Federal Transportation Mask Mandate used a special legal provision to file directly in six circuits of the U.S. Courts of Appeals.

At the direction of President Joseph Biden, TSA put the FTMM into effect Feb. 1. It was set to expire May 11, but got extended until Sept. 13. TSA then continued the requirement to Jan. 18, 2022. Petitioners ask the courts to declare the TSA orders illegal and unconstitutional to ensure they can never be extended again.

“TSA’s function is limited by law to address security threats. Congress has never given the agency power to regulate the public health and welfare,” the petitioners argue. “Wearing face masks has nothing whatsoever to do with transportation security.”

JetBlue Airways appears to have placed a disabled man suing seven airlines over their discriminatory mask policies on its no-fly list. A JetBlue supervisor said Wednesday night Lucas Wall’s ticket to fly from Orlando, Florida, home to Washington, D.C., Oct. 25 was canceled by the carrier’s “corporate security system.”

Wall, 44, has been stuck in Florida since early June, when Southwest Airlines and the Transportation Security Administration refused to grant him a mask exemption at Orlando International Airport. He sued the federal government June 7 to strike down the Federal Transportation Mask Mandate. A week later, he filed a lawsuit against Southwest, JetBlue, and five other airlines for their illegal discriminatory mask policies that prohibit those who are medically unable to cover their faces from flying.