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TSA whistleblower Andrew Rhoades accused of "going native."
, according to MPR News, and Somali leaders in the Twin Cities claim that members of their community are
subject to higher scrutiny and harassment from TSA agents. In an effort to address these concerns, Andrew Rhoades, an assistant federal security director for the TSA,
met with Somali imams and others in the local Somali community. Rhoades's good intentions, however, were being undermined by his superiors.
Testifying at Wednesday's House oversight committee hearing, Rhoades said his supervisors had
ulterior motives for the meetings. "Recently I was asked
to profile Somali imams and community members visiting my office," Rhoades said, adding, "I will not do this," City Pages
reported.
Rhoades told legislators that his TSA supervisors wanted
to screen Somali-Americans through databases to check for terrorist ties, the
Star Tribune reported. The
problem with this, Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minnesota) wrote in a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, is that
Somalis would be screened for terrorist connections "by the same office designed to address their complaints."
Rhoades went on to describe a
toxic work climate fostered by the TSA, a "culture of misconduct, retaliation, lack of trust, cover-ups, and the refusal to hold its senior leaders accountable for poor judgment and malfeasance."His testimony described
a "punitive" system of punishing employees through transfers and demotions.
Comment: Over 200 cities in North America and also cities in other countries have this arrangement. Strategic enclosure stretched to the limits of definition.