According to the Transportation Security Administration, screening equipment flagged a “large organic mass” in the traveler’s carry-on on April 15. TSA spokesperson Lisa Farbstein said that can mean explosives.
“The TSA officers opened the bag, they saw the moose poop inside,” Farbstein said after talking with the local officers. “And the passenger told the TSA officers that he collects this and likes to present it, ‘For politicians and their bleep policies.’”
They sent him and his sack on their way. Farbstein said it didn’t warrant an incident report, but it was shared with the TSA social media team, which spun out pun-filled posts on Instagram and Twitter. Those posts had a few misleading details about the passenger’s motivation, in service of humor and a teachable moment.
“TSA actually will screen just about anything people bring to the checkpoint,” Farbstein said. “But it is smart — and if it’s more on the unusual side — to check with an airline to see if they have any limits or restrictions as it relates to what it is you want to bring.”
We can’t be certain, but it sounds like the same guy who was handing out baggies of moose nuggets on the steps of the Capitol building that same day. Anchorage Daily News reporter James Brooks tweeted some photos of that.
This protester is on the steps of the #akleg pic.twitter.com/s8RJFlourL
— James Brooks (@AK_OK) April 15, 2019
The man was protesting Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s proposed budget.
Jeremy Hsieh is the deputy managing editor of the KTOO newsroom in Juneau. He’s a podcast fiend who’s worked in journalism since high school as a reporter, editor and television producer. He ran Gavel Alaska for 360 North from 2011 to 2016, and is big on experimenting with novel tools and mediums (including the occasional animated gif) to tell stories and demystify the news. Jeremy’s an East Coast transplant who moved to Juneau in 2008.
