This is the sort of real-world harm that conspiracy bullshit creates. Are children trafficked in this world? Yes. Is it likely that you’re seeing that happen in your ordinary life? Not very. But now all these morons think they have to fulfill a role in some crusade and it’s completely blown past reality.

  • InvertedParallax@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    My wife has this shit happen every time she travels with our daughter.

    We just got used to it, I wrote a letter,.we have pictures, we taught her to say who her mother is.

    Was funny, now it’s just weird.

    Nobody ever suspects me of anything, which is crazy because I’m me.

  • AutoTL;DR@lemmings.worldB
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    1 year ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:


    A white mother who was suspected of trafficking her biracial daughter in October 2021 by Southwest Airlines employees has filed a racial discrimination suit against the company.

    Mary MacCarthy was traveling to Denver from Los Angeles with her 10-year-old daughter to attend her brother’s funeral, she told NBC News nearly two years ago.

    Upon landing in Denver, MacCarthy and her daughter were confronted by police officers because a flight attendant suspected her of potential human trafficking.

    A federal lawsuit filed Thursday in the District Court of Colorado accused Southwest Airlines of racial discrimination.

    David Lane, the attorney representing MacCarthy, said that the suit is designed to bring accountability and to have the airline re-examine its own training.

    According to a police report, the flight attendant said she flagged the family as suspicious because they were the last to board the plane and asked other passengers to change seats so they could sit together.


    I’m a bot and I’m open source!

    • Designate@lemmy.letthewookiee.win
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      1 year ago

      asked other passengers to change seats so they could sit together.

      As someone who worked in aviation this happens all the time cause of the crappy booking systems airlines use. If this was a red flag then holy shit we are in trouble.

      • Ghyste
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        1 year ago

        Southwest also has no assigned seats, just priority boarding. Makes it even worse for these situations.

        • Dubious_Fart@lemmy.ml
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          1 year ago

          Yep, those that dont know, you are not assigned a seat, you are assigned a boarding group, thats determined by how quickly you log in and get your ticket like the day before the flight. Faster you do it, the higher your boarding group. Also the sooner you do it, the higher your boarding group.

          So they’ll do like, IIRC, business passengers and people with disabilities/injuries (like broken legs on crutches/wheelchair stuff) first, then group A, then Group B, etc.

          Group A is preem boarding, choom. HIgh chance of sitting in the front row with all the leg room, and if not that…at least in one of the first couple rows so you can GTFO the plan fast when it lands.

  • Jordan Lund@lemmy.one
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    1 year ago

    As a prospective grandfather of mixed race grandchildren, this sort of thing terrifies me. Bad enough being male and being thought of as a pedophile, but adding in human trafficking?

  • Whiskey Pickle@lemmy.ml
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    1 year ago

    I have a niece and nephew who are half Chinese. It just now occurred to me how racist assholes could make this a problem for me if I ever were in such a situation!

  • MrMonkey@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    Flight attendants are required to report anything they find suspicious as part of anti human trafficking efforts.

    They’re not enforcers, just reporters.

    • Whiskey Pickle@lemmy.ml
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      1 year ago

      FTA:

      “The officers began questioning Ms. MacCarthy and made it clear that they were given the racially charged information that Ms. MacCarthy’s daughter was possibly being trafficked by her simply because Ms. MacCarthy is White and her daughter is Black,” the lawsuit said.

      The crux of the alleged civil rights violation is that the report was based purely on racial profiling and nothing else, which the police made clear when they interviewed the alleged victims. so, it’s not a matter of reporting vs enforcement; it’s a matter of the basis of the report itself, which MacCarthy alleges was, as the police informed her, was in violation of her (and her daughter’s) civil rights.

    • BA834024112@lemmy.zip
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      1 year ago

      Did you read the article?

      According to a police report, the flight attendant said she flagged the family as suspicious because they were the last to board the plane and asked other passengers to change seats so they could sit together.

      Neither of those behaviors are suspicious