When I fly, I take my shoes and belt off. I have had my face cream confiscated in the name of safety. I should count my blessings that I have never (yet) been interrogated for nothing more than following the law of the land.

The TSA appears to have gone over-board once again. Steve Bierfeldt, an American citizen,  was allegedly harassed in the Lamber-St. Louis airport for carrying $4,700.00 in cash with him. (Just in case you were wondering, it is not a crime to carry any amounts of cash within the United States.)

When the TSA agents saw the money, they took him to a windowless room for an "interrogation" for about half an hour where Mr. Bierfeldt, who is smarter than your average bear, surreptitiously tape-recorded his entire "conversation".

The officers asked Mr. Bierfeldt why he was carrying the money. He inquired as to whether he was legally obligated to answer the question. The officers then threatened him with both FBI and DEA inquiries and the possibility of handcuffs. Mr. Bierfeldt, who was carrying proceeds from t-shirt sales for a Ron Paul event, was more than a little nonplussed at the incident.

According to Mr. Bierfeldt, "You're in a locked room with no windows. You've got TSA agent. You've got police officers with loaded guns. They're in your face. A few of them were swearing at  me."

The ACLU is now suing the Department of Homeland Security, under which the TSA falls, on Mr. Bierfeldt's behalf.

I thought the purpose of the TSA was to keep Americans safe, not to harass innocent citizens. Call me naiive, but I don't think $4,700.00 in cash constitutes a threat to airline security, nor does allegiance to Ron Paul. I was also under the mistaken impression that threats and ruthless interrogation techniques were to be used for "hard-core criminals". The TSA officers did not find a weapon on Mr. Beirfeldt, he was not threatening anyone, and had, from what I understand, absolutely no reason to suspect that he was a threat to air safety or the security of any passengers.

The ACLU believes that Mr. Bierfeldt is by no means the first person to be treated in this manner by the TSA.

If this isn't enough, the TSA recently released some even more guidelines to "ensure safety" for passengers.  All passengers will have to have all of the names on their travel documents exactly matching the names on government-issued ids. This means that someone could be harassed for having a nickname on a ticket, having a middle initial on a ticket instead of a full name, or for missing a hyphen. Apparently, the TSA is operating under the mistaken impression that they are not yet harassing American citizens enough under the guise of safety.