Creative Uses of the War on Terror

John S. Pistole
Administrator
Transportation Security Administration
U.S. Department of Homeland Security

Dear Administrator Pistole:

I plan to purchase an airline ticket to fly to San Francisco in April 2011.  I will be boarding my flight at Washington's Reagan National Airport.

I am writing to inquire whether the following facts about me will interfere with my ability to fly.

In October 1991 I was terminated from my job as a paralegal at the Washington, DC law firm of Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld by Dennis M. Race, Esq., a senior firm attorney manager.

I later filed an unlawful job termination complaint with the D.C. Department of Human Rights.  In a sworn interrogatory Response Dennis Race advised the D.C. Department of Human Rights that he had determined, in consultation with a practicing psychiatrist, that I suffered from a severe mental "disorder" that rendered me potentially violent.  See Freedman v. D.C. Dept. Human Rights, no. 96-CV-961 (Sept. 1, 1998).

In August 1993 I qualified for Social Security Disability benefits in part based on the sworn allegations of Dennis Race that I suffered from a mental "disorder" that rendered me potentially violent, and therefore a negligence risk to an employer.  I have been continuously unemployed and disabled since October 29, 1991, when it was determined that my disorder rendered me potentially violent.  There has been no change in my mental status since October 29, 1991.

In the time period proximate to my employment, my direct supervisor determined that I was potentially homicidal and had the firm take protective measures against a homicidal assault the firm feared I might commit.

The D.C. Office of Corporation Counsel filed pleadings with the D.C. Superior Court (1996) and the D.C. Court of Appeals (1997) that my coworkers at Akin Gump had formed a genuine and credible fear that I might have been armed and extremely dangerous during my employment and that these concerns were material to Dennis Race's decision to terminate my employment.  The D.C. Superior Court and the D.C. Court of Appeals both ruled in favor of the D.C. Corporation Counsel, implicitly determining that my coworkers had a genuine and credible fear that I might have been armed and extremely dangerous.

In January 2010 the U.S. Marshals Service determined that I display intense anger of a nature that merits law enforcement scrutiny and the imposition of protective measures.  The U.S. Marshal determined that I made statements threatening to the safety of a federal judge, and banned me from visiting the D.C. District Court without the prior discretionary approval of the U.S. Marshal; the U.S. Marshal also banned me from visiting my local synagogue.

I hope the above facts will not impair my ability to fly and await your decision about my ability to board a flight at Washington's Reagan National Airport.

Sincerely,

Gary Freedman



Put my name on a no-fly list.  Make my day!