Rep. Gaetz demands answers on Chicago dad’s watchlist placement for opposing porn in schools.

Chicago Father Placed on Government Watchlist After Speaking Out Against Pornography in Schools

“It is alarming to consider that Mr. Newsome may have been placed on a terrorist watchlist for participating in 1st Amendment activities—a watchlist that circumvents due process and subjects him to dehumanizing treatment in airports.”

A Chicago father, Terry Newsome, found himself on a government watchlist after speaking out against pornographic content in his children’s school. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) is demanding answers on why Newsome was designated “quad-S,” a plane ticket classification requiring extensive additional screening, despite not being charged with any crime.

Newsome first got involved in politics in summer 2021, after learning that the school was offering students access to a sexually explicit children’s book that addressed controversial ideas of sexuality and gender. Months after beginning to speak out, Newsome learned while en route to TurningPoint USA’s AmericaFest that he had been placed on a government watchlist.

Those designated with quad-S are subject to substantially invasive screening, including the removal of all items from their bags and a thorough search. The same thing happened while Newsome was en route to CPAC in Maryland in March.

For months, Newsome tried to learn why he had been placed on the list, but he got no answers from the agencies he contacted. The FBI refused to answer a Freedom of Information Act request, saying that revealing such information could compromise the national security goal of the watchlist initiative. The TSA responded ambiguously to a request submitted on Newsome’s behalf by Rep. Troy Nehls (R-Texas). The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) didn’t reply at all.

After fighting the charges with the assistance of several members of Congress, Newsome has apparently been removed from the quad-S designation. But questions remain on why he was ever there at all.

‘Unaccountable Secret Police’

Gaetz wrote a letter to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, Attorney General Merrick Garland, and FBI Director Christopher Wray, demanding information on Newsome’s case and placing the issue into his larger concerns about the weaponization of the federal government.

Newsome is not the only person who has been on the wrong side of the federal government and found himself designated quad-S. According to investigation by the Center for Self Governance (CSG), a political nonprofit, others have faced similar treatment.

Zoe Warren, who serves as coordinator for CSG’s Political Weaponization of Labels and Government initiative, discussed cases that were similar to Newsome’s in an interview with The Epoch Times.

Closing the letter, Gaetz wrote, “The United States is not a police state. It is unconstitutional for American citizens to have their liberty infringed upon by an unaccountable secret police.”

Others Designated Quad-S

One case Warren referenced was Briana Bundy, the wife of Mel Bundy. Mel Bundy participated in a 2014 standoff with the federal government in Nevada that was ultimately resolved peacefully. After initially declining to press charges for the incident, the federal government charged Mel Bundy in 2016, but the same did not happen to his wife. Nevertheless, Briana Bundy later learned that she had been designated quad-S. Though she’s still allowed to fly, Warren reported that she has been “embarrassed” by the designation.

• Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) is demanding answers on why a Chicago father was placed on a government watchlist after he spoke out against pornographic content in his kids’ school.
• Terry Newsome first got involved in politics in summer 2021, after learning that the school was offering students access to a sexually explicit children’s book that addressed controversial ideas of sexuality and gender.
• Newsome had been designated “quad-S,” a plane ticket classification requiring one to undergo extensive additional screening, even though he had been charged with no crime in a court of law.
• Those designated with quad-S are subject to substantially invasive screening.
• After fighting the charges with the assistance of several members of Congress, Newsome has apparently been removed from the quad-S designation. But questions remain on why he was ever there at all.

It is alarming to consider that American citizens may have their liberty infringed upon by an unaccountable secret police. The United States is not a police state.