Overview

• An internal investigation says TSA authorities were misapplied to place Americans on watchlists, including some on the no‑fly list, despite no aviation security threat.
• Operation Freedom to Breathe in September–October 2021 put 19 mask‑resisters on TSA watchlists, with more than half designated no‑fly and some listings lasting until April 2022.
• Roughly 280 people linked to the Jan. 6 events were added to watchlists, including five on no‑fly lists, though many entries were removed on June 28, 2021 if no charges applied.
• Internal emails cite heavy reliance on the GWU Program on Extremism database and social media, privacy-office objections that the actions were unrelated to transportation security, and mistaken flaggings including a National Guardsman and a federal air marshal’s wife.
• DHS removed five senior TSA leaders, referred the findings to Congress and DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, and is reorganizing TSA intelligence oversight and updating watchlisting policies, following earlier Quiet Skies disclosures that included surveillance of Tulsi Gabbard.