Big Bird on Secret 'No-Fly' List

Sesame Street Star Sues to Expunge Name

"Sesame Street" character Big Bird is on the federal government's secret no-fly list of terrorist suspects, his attorneys said today. The giant chicken television star, who has entertained children for more than three decades, will join a class-action lawsuit seeking to have the names of several people removed from the list.

"The first couple of times Big Bird was singled out at the airport by Transportation Security Administration screeners for extra scrutiny, he thought it was just part of being a famous television star, that they wanted his autograph or to be photographed with him," said Mark Rittenhouse, whose firm represents the avian superstar. "But after five or six times when he was not only stopped, but then taken away and interrogated and humiliated, it became clear he was being singled out as a possible terrorist."

The American Civil Liberties Union filed the its class-action lawsuit Tuesday on behalf of seven individuals who say they have been stopped on multiple occasions by airline and security personnel and singled out for extensive scrutiny because they are on the secret "no-fly" computer list the Transportation Safety Administration maintains.

The individuals on whose behalf the ACLU brought the lawsuit include a 74-year-old minister, an attorney, a political activist, an Air Force master sergeant and two ACLU employees. TSA officials say there is nothing the agency can do about the problem until a new computer system is in place. In the meantime, the agency provides letters to such people, verifying who they are.

Rittenhouse said Big Bird has been detained at least half a dozen times at various airports and taken away in handcuffs by police on two occasions. Each time, Big Bird, who is widely regarded as the world's most famous chicken, was eventually allowed to proceed, but missed his flight three times because of the delay.

"On the two times when police handcuffed Big Bird and took him away for questioning, the spectacle created a near riot among children and their parents who stood in line at the security checkpoint and witnessed it," Rittenhouse said. "Dozens of children began crying and screaming." He said that when Big Bird was stopped in the George H. W. Bush Airport in Houston, people waiting in line became so angry that extra police were called to checkpoint.

Producers at "Sesame Street" said today that Big Bird is working on a skit in which he will sing a new song, "I Am not a Terrorist." He and other Sesame Street characters will use the song to teach children to spell "terrorist." They said there are no plans to use the Oscar the Grouch character to play the role of a terrorist in the skit.

The producers also said they have no plans to teach children to spell "expunge."

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