Zero Intelligence - Man with picture of fake gun on T- shirt not allowed to fly

[Hazcat]

Man threatened with arrest at Heathrow for wearing Transformers T-shirt

Last updated at 14:04pm on 02.06.08
 
An airline passenger claimed that a security guard threatened to arrest him because he was wearing a T-shirt showing a cartoon robot with a gun.

Brad Jayakody, 30, from London, said he was stopped from passing through security at Heathrow's Terminal 5 after his Transformers T-shirt was deemed 'offensive.'


The IT consultant was set to fly off on a business trip to Dusseldorf in Germany when he was pulled to one side.



Brad Jayakody wearing the Transformers T-shift which caused offence at Heathrow

Mr Jayakody said the first guard started joking with him about the Transformers character depicted on his French Connection T-shirt.

'"Then he explains that since Megatron is holding a gun, I'm not allowed to fly,' he said.

'It's a 40ft tall cartoon robot with a gun as an arm. There is no way this shirt is offensive in any way, and what I'm going to use the shirt to pretend I have a gun?


He was cooperative with the supervisor and took off the the 'offensive' T-shirt, replacing it with another shirt in his carry on luggage.


A spokesman for Heathrow operator BAA said: 'If a T-shirt had a rude word or a bomb on it, for example, a passenger may be asked to remove it.

'We are investigating what happened to see if it came under this category.


'If it's offensive, we don't want other passengers upset.'


He said there was no record of the incident and the passenger 'certainly didn't make a formal complaint at the time.'


The Optimus Prime character on Mr Jayakody's T-shirt is the most well known of the series

Link: http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23489284-details/Man%20threatened%20with%20arrest%20at%20Heathrow%20for%20wearing%20Transformers%20T-shirt/article.do?expand=true#StartComments






 

[HAWKFISH]

 

[Trevor]

We may laugh or wince at the absurdity of it, but the incident is a good example of the world we live in.  Take nothing for granted when it comes to the administration of the Byzantine rules that govern our lives.

Yet, on strictly a satorial level, any adult male that wears a shirt like that one in public pretty much deserves what he gets.  He would have been better off wearing a sarong.

[gunman1911]

My Granddaughter once wore my Detroit Police Academy  T-shirt to school and was sent home to change because it was offensive

[Hazcat]

My Granddaughter once wore my Detroit Police Academy  T-shirt to school and was sent home to change because it was offensive

At times like that you just want to slap the s**t out of someone cause there ain't no way slap any sence into them!

What?  It was offensive to the little thugs?

[Sponsor]

[tombogan03884]

Welcome to the world of political correctness. 

[TAB]

I'm all for our basic rights( free speach... yadda yadda yadda)

Airlines are a business, and as a business, they can choose who they want to do business with.

Don't like that idea... I hate to pop your cherry when it comes to the real world, but that is how the world works.

[Hazcat]

Tab,

I agree on the whole 'business' thing but come on.  A friggin T-shirt??  With a picture of a cartoon robot thingy??

And it wasn't the airline that complained it was the Brit version of TSA.  You know, people with GEDs or less that are given power to decide if YOU are a threat.  Give a small mind a little authority and watch the abuse and hilarity the is SURE to occur.

[Rastus]

......With a picture of a cartoon robot thingy??

And it wasn't the airline that complained it was the Brit version of TSA.  You know, people with GEDs or less that are given power to decide if YOU are a threat.  Give a small mind a little authority and watch the abuse and hilarity the is SURE to occur.

If you are willing to miss your flight, the way to handle a bureaucracy is to say, "Sure, now show me where it is written this is the case....?"  and follow it with, "Where do I file a personel complaint for your abusive and hurtful actions?"  Yes,....you will miss your flight but these are the sorts of things I do...if we don't we get run over en masse...  It's fun to watch the rodents begin to shrink and shiver....just stay cool and speak with authority....don't get drawn into a he said she said kind of a thing just stick to your "guns" and go with the facts.  1st show me where it is written, then file the complaint and mention the ineptitude of that person to interpret the regs...

And yes...a grown man with a comic book type character needs to grow up...unless, of course, it is Underdog....

[Hazcat]

LOOK... It's a Bird!.....It's a plane....It's a frog!


No, not bird or plane or even frog, just little ol' me....Underdog.