I-20 in Georgia had TSA checkpoint last year

To follow up on this week's TSA highway checkpoints in Tennessee: It wasn't the first time Homeland Security has done it.

WSB-TV in Atlanta reported the TSA and Homeland Security ran a checkpoint on I-20 last year with the assistance of the Douglas County, Georgia Sheriff's Office:

A TSA spokesman told Channel 2 the event is known as Visible Inter-mobile Prevention and Response, or VIPER, an operation that is conducted with local authorities as a training exercise. The TSA spokesman said the operation is not in response to a specific threat.

Operation VIPER has struck in other places as well. Jackson, Mississippi and Tampa, Florida are among places with media reporting the operations, but in those locations, bus stations were the targets.

Operation VIPER is an interesting choice of name for a domestic homeland security operation.  A viper can be more than a snake. Webster's offers this secondary definition:  A vicious or treacherous person.