Seems to be way more than just SSSS
No one is surprised that she gets TSA's attention, ugly as this circus undoubtedly is. It does seem way beyond mere SSSS though.
I have not caused nearly as much trouble to the USofA as Laura Poitras. Strike that: I have not caused any trouble at all that I can think of. Really, none whatsoever. I am not American, I lived there for a relatively short while 20 years ago or so, since then I just visit. Always on business, but I see my friends when I am on their side of the pond.
Whenever I go to the US - not much in recent years, but I used to go there several times a year during the noughties - I visit several locations and can take several internal flights in addition to the international ones in and out. My boarding passes are marked SSSS every single time. Each time I am told, "You have been randomly selected for additional screening." I don't hold a grudge against TSA rank and file for doing what they are paid to do, but "randomly" is just a gratuitous insult to intelligence. I have never been detained, nothing has ever been confiscated, no unusually unpleasant questions have ever been asked. They just go through my luggage with their gloved hands and let me through.
I asked questions (very politely) about those SSSS marks. No one has ever given any answers beyond the script. I was once told that it is enough to buy your tickets (for internal flights?) outside of the US to get SSSSed. I have no idea if it is true, but IIRC Poitras lives in Germany.
Again, I am not surprised Poitras is on every US security black list (this is not saying she should be). But I doubt extensive "interviews" and confiscations can be attributed to SSSS which really seems rather routine to me.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
