Boy, 8, Makes 'Terror Watch List'

Third grader joins many others on flaw-filled 'no-fly' list
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 20, 2008 5:05 AM CDT
Boy, 8, Makes 'Terror Watch List'
"There's going to come a point in time where everybody's on the list," said pilot James Robinson, whose name remains on the government's terror watch list along with as many as a million others.   (Getty Images)

James Robinson, 8, shares more than a name with a pilot and a former assistant attorney general, CNN reports. All three have found themselves on the government's terrorist watch list and must verify they're not James Robinson, suspected terrorist, before they can fly. Little James was first held up at an airport at age 5. Asked if he's a terrorist, James replies "I don't know"—because he doesn't understand what a terrorist is.

The ACLU estimates a million names have been added to the terrorist watch list since the 9/11 attacks, although FBI officials insist there are only 400,000. Besides being unfeasibly long and crammed with incorrectly flagged names, the list may also be largely ineffective. The James Robinsons have found that flying as Jim Robinson or J. Robinson avoids check-in hassles. (More terrorist watch list stories.)

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