Birther Leader Joseph Farah Caught with Loaded Gun at Dulles TSA Checkpoint, Faces Weapon Charge
, a leading 鈥榖irther鈥� who runs the right-wing, conspiracy website , was reportedly caught by TSA agents on Sunday with a loaded .38-caliber revolver in his carry-on bag as he passed through security at Dulles International Airport outside Washington.
Farah, who denounced TSA screening practices in a 2010 column, faces a class 1 misdemeanor charge for carrying a gun in an airport terminal, according to a spokesperson for the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority. He was released pending a summons.
The Washington Post first the incident yesterday but described the individual in question as Joseph Farah, 49, of Centreville, Va. Hatewatch confirmed with the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority today that in fact Joseph Francis Farah, who is 59, was cited for the weapon charge.
Farah founded WorldNetDaily with his wife in 1997 and serves as publisher and editor-in-chief. The site is a leading platform for , , particularly about President Obama.
Farah and arch-birther Jerome Corsi have used the site to spin wild conspiracies about the president. that Obama was born overseas but that he鈥檚 gay and Muslim and may have orchestrated the murder of his former gay lovers.
WorldNetDaily, among other things, has for the Holocaust, promoted the idea that white Americans should , predicted Obama would with Osama bin Laden if elected and said that the 鈥渁ctive recruitment of children.鈥� Notably, Farah argued last year that Obama鈥檚 proposals to fight gun violence could lead to 鈥渕ass-murdering tyranny.鈥�
And in a 2010 column entitled 鈥淢y own little TSA mini-nightmare,鈥� Farah what he described as TSA鈥檚 鈥渟ystematic violations of Americans鈥� constitutional rights.鈥� He described pat-downs as 鈥済ate rape鈥� and said the full body scanners perform 鈥渧irtual strip searches.鈥�
Farah, who said at the time that he was avoiding flying until TSA changed its procedures, had purchased a 鈥渂rand new, expensive rolling bag鈥� and was outraged when he saw that 鈥渢he zipper had been broken off.鈥� He found two TSA inspection notices inside the bag from TSA. And get this, they didn鈥檛 even sort and repack his clothes just so:
I had carefully folded my clothes before placing them in my bag. I had carefully separated the clean clothes from the dirty clothes. But what I found in my bag was that someone had pulled everything out and then stuffed it all back in with little regard for my future cleaning and laundering bills.
Farah apparently takes packing very seriously and has thought a great deal about TSA鈥檚 screening practices. One wonders then what he was doing with a loaded revolver in his carry-on luggage. Regardless, he just illustrated why we have TSA screenings in the first place.
