Tefillin Confused for Bomb Device on La Guardia Flight
A pious teenage Jew wearing tefillin during impromptu morning prayers aboard a flight from La Guardia to Louisville this morning was detained by Homeland Security after airline officials identified him as a potential security threat, and diverted the flight to Philadelphia.
Tefillin is a harmless — but uncomfortable — set of boxes (containing prayers) and straps that some Orthodox Jewish men wear as a demonstration of faith. After the plane was searched and declared clear, the teen and his sister were labeled “disruptive” and taken for questioning. Gothamist raises an excellent question after this story: Will this change outspoken Jewish Assemblyman Dov Hikind’s position on using ethnic profiling in airport security?
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