Juggler or smuggler? TSA officer makes passenger juggle five balls at security checkpoint

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Here’s something new: A traveler was asked to prove he was not smuggling drugs by juggling. According to a post on the social networking site Threads, Bennett Santora, who goes by @flyjuggler, shared a video of himself (embedded below) with the caption: “When you have to prove your [sic] not smuggling by juggling.”

Post by @flyjuggler

View on Threads

It’s not clear which airport this happened in but according to Santora’s bio, he’s a Cornell student and a professional juggler from New York City. In the video, you can see Santora juggling five balls when a TSA agent throws another one up. In the background, you can see the TSA’s screen, which shows an x-ray of his bag with about 10 balls in it.

You can understand why the TSA officer might be suspicious but it must have been a slow time at the airport. It’s hard to tell whether the officer was just bored and messing around or if he was really just doing his job.

Here are some of the popular comments from Santora’s Threads post:

@Overfitfortruth: tsa casually bullying travellers
@scottedson1: @tsa do you have juggling and non-juggling lines?
@allie.z.827: And then one breaks on the floor spilling all the white powder.
@Brownknowsbest: Next cartel meeting is going to be crazy 😂🤣😂 tryouts for the juggling act was not on the DEA’s 2024 bingo card

Per the TSA’s website, balls are allowed in carry-on bags. It doesn’t specify juggling balls, but it does say that basketballs, baseballs, footballs and soccer balls are okay. See screenshot above.

If you’re not sure about whether you can travel with something, you can just ask the TSA. Many travelers don’t know that the TSA does a fantastic job responding to questions on social media. They will usually respond within 10 minutes during business hours. Here’s more: 10 airport security hacks every traveler needs to know post.

I did find some helpful travel advice on the International Jugglers’ Association website where they write: “When going through the X-Ray scanners you may want to empty props out into a bin to save time and make for a very transparent screening. Unfortunately, traveling on the expectation that you “might” get through security with all of these props could end with extra fees or missed flights. As a rule I recommend stowing your juggling clubs in a checked bag to lessen your airport hassle. This also goes for most other hard, stick-type objects used for object manipulation. Some TSA agents will see that juggling clubs make pretty terrible weapons and let you through a checkpoint with them, but it’s not a guarantee. SILl-X juggling balls (which have liquid Silicone inside) and similar Beto Balls are also best stowed in a checked bag because of restrictions on liquids in carry-ons. In the US liquids are limited to 3.4 ounce (100ml) containers of liquid in a 1 quart bag. That is normally referring to resealable containers like cosmetics, medicine, or alcohol.”

What do you think was going on here? Was the TSA officer just doing his job, pulling a power trip or just having fun? Funnily enough, as I was scrolling through Threads, I came across this post: “This TSA Agent said a bit ago “NOTHING SHOULD BE IN YOUR POCKET BUT LINT AND BROKEN DREAMS!” I am dying laughing ☠️”