TSA officer faces dismissal over 'get your freak on, girl' note

Passenger Jill Filipovic found this note in her luggage last weekend.Baggage screener found vibrator in bag, left note saying "Get Your Freak On, Girl"Passenger tweeted about note to open "a bigger conversation about privacy rights"TSA says it has "zero tolerance for inappropriate behavior," initiates removal processWoman says she does not want employee to get fired, laments "media circus"
(CNN) -- An airplane baggage screener faces dismissal for leaving a note in a passenger's bag that said "Get Your Freak On, Girl" after discovering a vibrator.
The Transportation Security Administration "has initiated action to remove the individual from federal service," an agency spokesperson said. "Like all federal employees, this individual is entitled to due process and protected by the Privacy Act. During the removal action process, the employee will not perform any screening duties."
The agency randomly selects checked baggage for screening on flights originating in the United States. Lawyer and writer Jill Filipovic tweeted a picture of the note Monday and later blogged about it on Feministe.
"This is what TSA will do when they inspect a bag you checked and find a, um, 'personal item,' " she wrote. "Total violation of privacy, wildly inappropriate and clearly not OK, but I also just died laughing in my hotel room."
The TSA identified and removed the employee from screening operations, the TSA said Wednesday on its blog. After completing an investigation, action was initiated to remove the individual from federal service.
"TSA views the handwritten note to be highly inappropriate and unprofessional and apologizes for this unfortunate incident," the spokesperson said. "TSA has zero tolerance for inappropriate behavior by our employees as occurred in this instance. When this is brought to our attention TSA takes swift and appropriate action."
An agency official reached out to Filipovic to apologize personally, the agency said. At this point, though, she said she wishes the story would go away.
"It's easy to scapegoat one individual here, but the problem with the note is that it's representative of the bigger privacy intrusions that the U.S. government, through the TSA and other sources, levels every day," she wrote Wednesday after learning of the employee's suspension.
"As much as this is a funny and titillating story, when I put the note on Twitter for what I thought was a relatively limited audience, I was hoping it would open up a bigger conversation about privacy rights (or lack thereof) in post-9/11 America. It unfortunately hasn't done that, and instead has turned into a media circus," she said.
"The note was inappropriate, the agent in question acted unprofessionally when s/he put in my bag, there should be consequences and I'm glad the TSA takes these things seriously. But I get no satisfaction in hearing that someone may be in danger of losing their job over this. I would much prefer a look at why 'security' has been used to justify so many intrusions on our civil liberties, rather than fire a person who made a mistake."
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N.Y. police officer charged with civil rights violation

Officer Michael Daragjati is accused of arresting a man without causeIn a phone call, he said he had "fried another n-----," court papers say"The defendant allegedly abused his power and responsibility," the U.S. attorney says

New York (CNN) -- A New York City police officer is being charged with violating civil rights law after allegedly arresting a black man in Staten Island without cause and later using racial slurs to describe the incident to a friend during a phone call that was intercepted by authorities, court documents say.

Officer Michael Daragjati, 32, was arrested Monday over an April 15 incident in which, investigators say, he falsely claimed the Staten Island man he collared had resisted the arrest by flailing his arms and kicking his legs, according to a criminal complaint unsealed in Brooklyn Federal Court.

In a phone conversation with a female friend the day after the arrest, Daragjati said that by making the arrest he had "fried another n-----," the complaint says.

Daragjati also accused the man, who was carrying no firearm or contraband, of disorderly conduct. Because of his false police report, the victim spent 36 hours behind bars, investigators said in a Justice Department news release.

Daragjati could face a maximum one-year prison sentence and a $100,000 fine if he is convicted on the civil rights charge, according to the release.

"The power to arrest -- to deprive a citizen of liberty -- must be used fairly, responsibly and without bias," said Loretta Lynch, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, who announced the charges against Daragjati on Monday.

"Motivated by base racial animus, the defendant allegedly abused his power and responsibility," Lynch added in a written statement.

Investigators also intercepted at least 12 phone calls between Daragjati and his friends or relatives in which he used derogatory terms to refer to black people, according to the complaint.

In one call, Daragjati was recorded telling a friend that "I could get fired tomorrow. ... I could throw somebody a beating, they catch me on camera and I'm fired," the complaint says

Daragjati, an eight-year veteran of the New York City Police Department, has since been suspended from the police force, according to department spokesman Paul Browne.

The investigation was initiated by the NYPD Internal Affairs Bureau, Browne added.

In addition to the civil rights violation, Daragjati is being charged with attempted extortion and wire fraud, the prosecutors say.

The complaint alleges that while running a construction and snow removal business, Daragjati and a group of men attacked a man whom he suspected had stolen one of his trucks. He allegedly threatened the man with a handgun and demanded he return the snow plow or turn over $5,000.

The wire fraud charge stems from an alleged plot to intentionally damage one of his trucks and commit insurance fraud, prosecutors say.

Daragjati's lawyer, Michael Martinez, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

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