Mind Scalpel

Well, thank heavens for the crack training we’ve given to some Transportation Security Agency employees. As reported by local6.com, the agents were able to infer that someone might be a threat at the Orlando airport, working only from incredibly subtle cues that passengers characterized as the guy “acting crazy.”

At first, the portrait the reporter paints sounds as if we’ve really got some mind-reading/body language experts really checking out people’s skin tone, eye movements, subtle gestures, etc.:

Officials said federal behavior identification agents noticed something about the man’s body language that prompted officers to move in near the Virgin Atlantic and Jamaica Airlines ticket counters Tuesday afternoon.

The passenger, who the FBI identified as Kevin Brown, 32, was immediately taken into custody and a portion of the Terminal A in front of Virgin Atlantic was closed to passengers.

They’re on the job! Man, they’re practically psychic! And bonus — the guy really did have bomb-related stuff:

During a search of Brown’s luggage, airport authorities found two galvanized pipes, end caps, two small containers containing BBs, batteries, two containers with an unknown liquid and bombing making literature, FBI officials said.

Then we find out the subtleties the agents picked up on:

Tuesday night, an FBI official said Brown was apparently living on the streets in Orlando.

…

Passengers waiting to board flights at Orlando International Airport Tuesday said they noticed Brown acting suspiciously before agents moved in.

“He looked rather crazy,” a passenger said. “He was rocking left and right and up and down. He looked a little wacko.”

Um, okay. Well, good result anyway, I guess. But I’d kind of prefer that a homeless guy who’s acting wacko be tackled as soon as he sets foot inside the terminal, instead of being able to walk in, wander around, stand in line, have a snack, etc. I get the feeling that maybe Al Qaeda reads these news reports and has their little preparation checklist, to which they’ve now added “note to future terrorists — minimize obviously deranged behavior while in the process of boarding your airplane.”

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