MLB Prepares New DHS Screening Measures at All Ballparks
By Mikael Thalen
Major League Baseball teams began announcing new metal detection screening measures Tuesday, a mandatory league-wide policy expecting full implementation by 2015.
Using the Boston Marathon bombing as justification, all venues are now required to subject fans to hand-held metal detection sweeps or walk-through magnetometers, a result of the Department of Homeland Security’s encroaching relationship with professional sports leagues.
“This procedure, which results from MLB’s continuing work with the Department of Homeland Security to standardize security practices across the game, will be in addition to bag checks that are now uniform throughout MLB,” baseball spokesman Michael Teevan told the Associated Press.
Following a preliminary test phase at several ballparks, teams such as the Seattle Mariners have announced the implementation of walk-through detectors for the upcoming season, a policy the MLB claims no fan opposes.
“We conducted testing of these measures at the All-Star game and at both World Series venues last year, and we were pleased that it was effective and received without issue from fans,” Teevan said.
Commenting on the new policy in an official press release, Seattle Mariners Security Director Sylvester Servance reassured fans that the screening process was in their best interests.
“The Mariners and Major League Baseball are keenly aware of the current security environment at public events,” Servance said. “We believe this step is necessary, poses minimal inconvenience, and ultimately will serve the best interests of all fans.”
Despite evidence indicating clear foreknowledge, the federal government has continued to use the Boston Marathon as justification for increased police state measures across the board.
Just last year, bags and purses were banned from all National Football League stadiums at the discretion of the DHS. Claiming bombs are likely to be smuggled through items such as seat cushions, fans are now required to carry their possessions in one-gallon clear plastic freezer bags.
Just this week, the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration announced that a low flying helicopter would be used to monitor radiation levels at the upcoming Super Bowl in New Jersey, an over-the-top measure to stop potential “dirty bombs.”
During the 2012 Super Bowl, thousands of stadium vendors were taught how to spot “potential terrorist activities” during a mandated TSA training program. Fans were also subject to full body pat downs, a policy ordered by the DHS in 2011.
While strangling the public’s Fourth Amendment in the name of alleged security, a recent Freedom of Information Act request uncovered documents that confirmed the State Department’s role in allowing members of the Muslim Brotherhood, a known terrorist group, to bypass airport security while traveling through the US in 2012.
Despite bee stings being statistically more dangerous to human life than terrorism, the federal government continues in its attempts to create a paranoid society, always keeping the public’s attention away from the proven historical danger, government itself.
Read more: http://www.storyleak.com/mlb-prepares-new-dhs-screening-measures-stadiums/#ixzz2rPx349qN
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