TSA’s suspicious-behavior checklist includes yawning and throat clearing yet only Muslims get stopped

Evidence

In 2015, the Intercept published an article about the “Spot Referral Report” that TSA agents use to determine suspicious behavior. Those listed on this document include exaggerated yawning, excessive complaining of the screening process, excessive throat clearing, widely open staring eyes, gazing down, and even a pale face from recently shaving a beard (Winter and Currier 2015). Anyone could be considered suspect based on these behaviors, yet my interviews revealed that not everyone is routinely stopped and searched in airports. — Saher Selod, Forever Suspect_ Racialized…, 151

Categorization

• CANDY: A pale face from recently shaving a beard as a ‘suspicious behavior’ is darkly absurd and quotable.
• SEED: The ‘Spot Referral Report’ checklist is a ready essay angle on how vague behavioral metrics launder racial profiling.