TSA Pat-down traumatizes and humiliates Elderly Woman

Posted: June 26, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Human Rights | Tags: | 8 Comments

Just after the TSA announces that it will be more sensitive about its searches on very young children, we get yet another appalling story.  This time, TSA authorities asked an elderly women with terminal leukemia to remove her adult diaper so she could be searched.  How far will we let our government go just to give us a false sense of security?

A woman has filed a complaint with federal authorities over how her elderly mother was treated at Northwest Florida Regional Airport last weekend.

Jean Weber of Destin filed a complaint with the Department of Homeland Security after her 95-year-old mother was detained and extensively searched last Saturday while trying to board a plane to fly to Michigan to be with family members during the final stages of her battle with leukemia.

Her mother, who was in a wheelchair, was asked to remove an adult diaper in order to complete a pat-down search.

“It’s something I couldn’t imagine happening on American soil,” Weber said Friday. “Here is my mother, 95 years old, 105 pounds, barely able to stand, and then this.”

The ACLU has reported getting an increased number of complaints involving the TSA pat down procedures.

The American Civil Liberties Union received over 900 complaints in November 2010 alone from travelers subjected to the new screening procedures of the TSA.

Airports across the nation have put backscatter x-ray machines that can see beneath passengers’ clothing into use. If the ticket-holder refuses the scan due to health or privacy concerns, they’re subjected to an invasive physical pat down. The new body scanners and pat down procedure have received intense scrutiny amid reports of travelers feeling humiliated and traumatized.

My elderly father no longer travels by plane because of the last adventure he had with the TSA.  He’s a world war 2 veteran who sets off their alarms because of metal peg in one of his legs.  Is all this really necessary?

Groping for fun and profit

Posted: November 21, 2010 | Author: | Filed under: just because | Tags: , | 21 Comments

Politico reports that the TSA and the Homeland Security Secretary are just fine with these procedures.

John Pistole, administrator of the Transportation Security Administration, said several times Sunday that no changes are planned in airport screening procedures, despite an online backlash.

“Do I understand the sensitivities of people? Yes,” Pistole said to CNN’s Candy Crowley on “State of the Union.” “If you’re asking, am I going to change the policies? No.”

His boss, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, was asked on Bloomberg TV’s “Political Capital With Al Hunt” if the pat-down procedures are working.

“Yes,” she replied. “And I think it is objectively better at helping us find the liquids, the powders, the gels that could be smuggled onto a plane and used to explode it. … Remember, the walkthrough metal detector was hugely controversial when it began, and now, of course, we don’t even think about it.”

Meanwhile, the ACLU is actively looking for TSA Pat-Down Abuse.

The ACLU is interested in obtaining information about the conduct of these searches. If you are denied the right to opt out of the body scanner machines or believe you have suffered from rough, rude, and humiliating manhandling and groping of breasts and crotch areas, sexual comments, and a lack of privacy, please contact us by using the complaint form linked below.

REPORT YOUR EXPERIENCE
File a complaint with the ACLU

More and more outrageous stories are coming out in the press every day.

Here are some links to a view of these:

From the San Diego Examiner:

This time the defendant, Sam Wolanyk says he was asked to pass through the 3-D x-ray machine. When Wolanyk refused, Transportation Security Administration (TSA) personnel told him he would have to be patted down before he could pass through and board his airplane.

Wolanyk said he knew what was coming and took off his pants and shirt, leaving him in Calvin Klein bike undergarments.

“It was obvious that my underwear left nothing to the imagination,” he explained. “But that wasn’t enough for the TSA supervisor who was called to the scene and asked me to put my clothes on so I could be properly patted down.”

It was clear to Wolanyk that TSA only wanted him to submit to a pat-down and if they were interested in ensuring the safety of all passengers they would have rifled through his clothes, carryon baggage and acknowledged that he was not carrying any illegal paraphernalia on his person.

ABC Action News; Tampa Florida:

Antonia Riggs Miernik reluctantly rolls up her left pant leg, revealing a scar that runs down her knee. When Miernik was 27 years old, she was injured in a car crash, and “basically destroyed the knee.” Now, she has a metal knee implant.One of the effects of the implant is that whenever the New Port Richey woman flies, she triggers the metal detectors at airport security. She says the normal procedure is that she is then subjected to a TSA pat down. She has experienced multiple pat downs since Sept. 11.

“I feel molested. I’d like to go take a shower with Lysol (afterwards),” Miernik said, describing the pat downs, which she said includes being “touched all over.”

Miernik said the worst experience she had came when her 7-year-old granddaughter was at the airport with her. When her granddaughter saw the pat down, “She went ‘Grandmama, they touched you on your special girl spots.’”

Is this really necessary?

UPDATE: Bostonboomer has found this at Politico that says Pistole may be open to some changes.