In the ministry for 18-years, Reverend Donald Smith, pastor of Holy Jerusalem Missionary Baptist Church has never been a target of “flying while Black,” but he now says U.S. Homeland Security has targeted him, demanding that he fork over $2,000 for a crime he never committed, a case he challenged and won in court.
“The whole thing is crazy,” 64-year-old Pastor Smith told the Chicago Crusader.
His nightmare occurred on August 11, 2022, when he went to Midway Airport to board a Southwest Airlines flight headed for Los Angeles.
It was 5 a.m. when Smith arrived at Midway Airport. Having paid for pre-TSA check-in, Smith never thought he’d have problems boarding his flight. He was wrong. That’s when his nightmare actually began.
As Smith walked up to the X-ray scanner where passengers empty their pockets into a tray that detects items that might trigger an alarm, Smith said, “I asked this (white, TSA agent) woman with blue (coloring) in her hair if I could use one (a tray), but she acted as if I said nothing to her. I felt she was profiling me. I said, ‘Excuse me, Ma’am, may I have a cup (a tray)?’ “She said, ‘I made an announcement.’ “I told her I’m sorry, but I didn’t hear your announcement.
“I waited for a few more minutes. I told her it’s five o’clock in the morning. I’m trying to get to my flight. My wife had already gone through. I said, ‘Excuse me, Ma’am.’ I asked her again. She said something out loud, and I figured somebody was going to bring me a cup, but nobody moved.
“I tried to get her attention again and told her everybody to be as nice as I am. Somebody is going to fool around and go back there and smack you and make you move. She jumped up and went in the back. I thought, well, she can move, but she came back with the police, and she told them that I said I was going to ‘f…… smack’ her.
Smith said he looked at her and said, “First of all, I am a senior citizen. I got things to do in the morning. I don’t have time to play games coming here messing around with someone who doesn’t want to be at work. The officer said, ‘Man, why don’t you just say you’re sorry.’”
The pastor stood his ground, telling the officer, “Man, I will not tell her I’m sorry for something I did not do. This is what they do to us all the time. They violate us and then want us to apologize. I didn’t say that.”
Smith told the police they had cameras and asked them to play back the video footage to prove he did not say the words the TSA agent claimed he said.
Smith told the police if the video film proves him wrong, then he’ll apologize otherwise he won’t because he never made those remarks to her. “Until then, arrest me,” he told the officer.
The police arrested Smith and took him to the 63rd Street police station and charged him with aggravated assault. However, the documents obtained by the Chicago Crusader stated he was charged with “assault, simple.”
“What? It can’t be an assault because I didn’t touch her,” Smith told the officer.
“I didn’t come through the thing (security checkpoint) because she never gave me a tray so I could empty my pockets. I did not assault her, but if that is what you all want to do, then arrest me,” he said.
Smith said when the police arrested him, the TSA agent “had a smirk on her face.” The police arrested and fingerprinted Pastor Smith. “When they did my background report, of course there was nothing there.”
The police immediately released Smith, and a former police officer who found out what happened to Smith and who was a member of his church, came to the police station and drove him back to Midway Airport. Smith did not have to pay the $1,500 bail. “I was able to walk right through the airport and get my flight,” recounted Smith who was an hour-and-a-half late getting to Los Angeles.
Smith still has questions. “How do I go to court in Illinois, and nobody there has anything to prove what this woman claims that I said. They just took her word. When I went to court, they said they did not want to press charges against me.” Smith said his accuser was in court at the time, but then came another shocker.
“Out of the clear blue sky, how does the U.S. Homeland Security get involved telling me I owe them $2,000 on a case that I have already won. How does that make sense?” he asked.
Smith said he was wrongfully arrested and charged and feels as though he was “wrongfully convicted as well as racially profiled” by the TSA agent.
“I was supposed to have a zoom court hearing with them, but of course they messed everything up.” The link they gave him never worked.
“They are acting like I did something. They are asking for $2,000. I am not the only one they are doing this to. I believe it is happening disproportionately to our people.”
When contacted, a TSA spokesperson said, “TSA does not identify passengers or confirm whether a specific passenger is subject to a civil penalty.
“There was an incident at MDW on August 11, 2022, where a passenger threatened a Transportation Security Officer at the checkpoint. TSA contacted the Chicago Police Department, who responded to the scene and arrested the passenger.
“Additionally, passengers who assault officers or interfere with screening are also subject to civil penalties from TSA.” The agent did not explain why Homeland Security is billing Smith $2,000.
However, Smith said, “I did not threaten her, and when she accused me of cursing at her, that too is not true. I am not like that.”
He said the TSA’s accusation of him threatening the TSA agent “is not going to fly” and still wants to know why and what are they charging him $2,000 for when he won the case against them.