Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) demanded answers on why a Chicago father was placed on a government watchlist after he spoke out against pornographic content in his kids’ school.
Terry Newsome first got involved in politics in summer 2021, after learning that the school was offering students access to a sexually explicit children’s book that addressed controversial ideas of sexuality and gender.
Those designated with quad-S—an acronym standing for Secondary Security Screening Selection (SSSS)—are subject to substantially invasive screening.
Quad-S boarding pass holders are traditionally removed from the line and brought elsewhere for additional screening. This screening is nothing if not thorough—passengers are asked to remove all items from their bags, which are then examined individually while the bag is thoroughly searched. The designation is just a rank removed from the no-fly list.
For months, Newsome—who has been flying regularly since 2000 and has been Transportation Security Administration pre-check approved for over 10 years—tried to learn why he had been placed on the list. But he got no answers from the agencies he contacted.
The FBI refused to answer a Freedom of Information Act request, saying that revealing such information could compromise the national security goal of the watchlist initiative. The TSA responded ambiguously to a request submitted on Newsome’s behalf by Rep. Troy Nehls (R-Texas). The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) didn’t reply at all.
When he reached out to Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), whose constituency he is in, Newsome said he received little assistance.
Durbin did not reply to a query on the matter from The Epoch Times.
‘Unaccountable Secret Police’
In a letter to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, Attorney General Merrick Garland, and FBI Director Christopher Wray obtained by The Epoch Times, Gaetz wrote: “It has come to my attention that Mr. Terrence Newsome, among other individuals, has been labeled ‘Secondary Security Screening Selection’ (SSSS) while traveling by air.“Mr. Newsome is an American citizen who has not been charged with and should not be under investigation for any crimes, especially those relating to national security.”
Gaetz acknowledged, as does Newsome, that Newsome was in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, 2021.
However, Newsome, who was substantially weakened by treatment for stage 4 cancer at the time, left the protest prior to the U.S. Capitol breach and has been charged with no crimes in connection to the events of the day.
“Like millions of Americans, he was present in Washington, D.C., on January 6, 2021, but has not so much as been accused of violating any laws that day,” Gaetz wrote. “It is alarming to consider that Mr. Newsome may have been placed on a terrorist watchlist for participating in 1st Amendment activities—a watchlist that circumvents due process and subjects him to dehumanizing treatment in airports.”
Gaetz continued: “Despite the United States’ commitment to due process and liberty, many of our citizens are facing discrimination from our own government, akin to what some political dissidents face in third world, authoritarian countries. The United States is not a police state. It is unconstitutional for American citizens to have their liberty infringed upon by an unaccountable secret police.”
After fighting the charges with the assistance of several members of Congress, Newsome has apparently been removed from the quad-S designation. But questions remain on why he was ever there at all.
“I didn’t know what else to do, so I started reaching out to members of Congress for help,” Newsome wrote in a statement on the matter. “Congressman Matt Gaetz stepped up and sent a letter on my behalf to the DOJ, FBI, and DHS asking why I was being treated this way despite never having committed a crime.
“I guess they didn’t have an answer, because the next thing I knew I was off the ‘SSSS’ list and back to flying without any trouble, with one exception—they still kept my TSA Pre Check privileges.”
Newsome still doesn’t have an explanation why he ended up on the list. “I never got an explanation, and from what I’ve been told, it isn’t easy to get off these lists—few do, and even fewer know why they are on it in the first place.”
Others Designated Quad-S
Newsome is not the only person who has been on the wrong side of the federal government and found himself designated quad-S, according to investigation by the Center for Self Governance (CSG), a political nonprofit.Zoe Warren, who serves as coordinator for CSG’s Political Weaponization of Labels and Government initiative, discussed cases that were similar to Newsome’s in an interview with The Epoch Times.
One he referenced was Briana Bundy, the wife of Mel Bundy. Mel Bundy participated in a 2014 standoff with the federal government in Nevada that was ultimately resolved peacefully.
After initially declining to press charges for the incident, the federal government charged Mel Bundy in 2016, but the same did not happen to his wife.
Jan. 6 Connection
Warren said that the protocol has also been used against others like Newsome who were present on Jan. 6 but committed no crime. He reported that CSG has discovered at least a dozen cases of Jan. 6 defendants placed on quad-S designation.Gaetz, who is aware of these and other cases, directed several questions about the matter to federal law enforcement officials.
“Is the DOJ, FBI, or DHS maintaining a watchlist of anyone present in Washington, D.C., or near the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021?” Gaetz asked.
After undertaking the largest manhunt in DOJ history to round up Jan. 6 defendants, federal law enforcement has been charged with a series of civil liberties violations of Jan. 6 defendants, both before and after finding them.
The FBI has been accused of wrongfully using Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, a tool intended for purely foreign threats, against Jan. 6 participants.
School Board Meetings
It’s also unclear whether Newsome’s activism against sexually explicit content in his kids’ school led to his placement on the list.Since October 2021, the Biden administration has been under fire for allegedly targeting parents like Newsome who spoke out against left-wing initiatives and content at their children’s schools.
After the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, when many students across the country began learning remotely, parents got a window into their children’s education. Several discovered that controversial, disputed ideas about sexuality, gender, and race were being taught as fact, leading to a spurt of parents showing up at school board meetings to protest the content.
On Oct. 4, 2021, the attorney general directed the FBI to partner with local law enforcement and U.S. attorneys to identify parental threats at school board meetings against faculty and “prosecute them when appropriate.”
The FBI responded to the memo by allegedly placing “threat tags,” indicating the possibility of a terror or violent crime incident, on parents who attended school board meetings, leading to concerns that the FBI was cracking down on First Amendment-protected speech.
In his letter, Gaetz connected the issues, asking whether the FBI, DOJ, or DHS is keeping a watchlist of any parents who spoke at their children’s school board meetings.
Gaetz’s letter comes amid a GOP-led investigation into the weaponization of the federal government through the House Judiciary Committee, as Republicans claim that federal law enforcement has been “weaponized” against the political rivals of President Joe Biden.
