Noncompliance: Video shows two men's confrontation with NSA recruiter at UNM

9/19/2014

A UNM student claims a recruiter from the National Security Agency (NSA) assaulted him on the UNM campus Wednesday, and caught the heated confrontation on camera.

The video was posted on YouTube Wednesday, and already has thousands of views.

It all began when the student and his friend started to question the recruiter about the NSA's surveillance practices.

"If he didn't want to talk to us, that would have been fine…he just didn't have to answer," said UNM student Sean Potter, who confronted the recruiter. "Instead, he strove to silence us."

Potter shot the exchange on his cell phone, while his friend, former UNM student Andy Beale, shot video from another angle.

"I'm trying to locate my mom," Beale begins in the video. "She's been traveling cross-country for a few weeks, and I can't locate her. Do you know where she is?"

"No, NSA is not permitted to track or collect intelligence on U.S. persons," the recruiter replies. "We absolutely do not."

"You absolutely do!" Beale retorts.

The argument went on for several minutes before the NSA recruiter had enough. That's when Potter says he was assaulted.

"Okay, you're done, and you're done also," says the recruiter as he grabs at Potter's phone.

When KOB asked Potter if he felt like he was assaulted, he said, "Yes, I think he acted to intimidate me, and suppress [the] free speech of me and my friends."

After walking away, the recruiter returned minutes later with UNM officials, who asked Potter and Beale to leave.

"Why did you choose to come heckle a government agency that was honestly trying to recruit at your university?" the recruiter asks.

"I'm asking you questions; I wasn't intending to start a fight with you," Beale responds.

Beale and Potter maintain they weren't there to pick a fight.

The NSA sent KOB a statement Thursday saying it "supports a public dialogue about what measure the United State should take to protect both our national security and our civil liberties."

Potter says he is still deciding if he will press charges for assault.

source