A video is being widely circulated showing a shirtless boy receiving secondary screening from a Transportation Security Officer (TSO). A passenger filmed the screening with their cell phone and posted the video on the web. Many are coming to their own conclusions about what's happening in the video which is now perched at the top of the Drudge report and being linked to in many other blogs and tweets. We looked into this to find out what happened.
On November 19, a family was traveling through a TSA checkpoint at the Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC). Their son alarmed the walk through metal detector and needed to undergo secondary screening. The boy's father removed his son's shirt in an effort to expedite the screening. After our TSO completed the screening, he helped the boy put his shirt back on. That's it. No complaints were filed and the father was standing by his son for the entire procedure.
It should be mentioned that you will not be asked to and you should not remove clothing (other than shoes, coats and jackets) at a TSA checkpoint. If you're asked to remove your clothing, you should ask for a supervisor or manager.
TSA Blog Team
281 comments:
1 – 200 of 281 Newer› Newest»You will not be asked to remove clothing (other than the clothing we have asked you to remove).
WHEW, good thing you didn't let that little boy through without a thorough patdown!! I'll bet he was just loaded down with explosives. Good thing you took the time to be EXTRA thorough with him. TSA really has this security thing down-pat.
Post THAT "Blogger Bob."
>>If you're asked to remove your clothing, you should ask for a supervisor or manager.<<
During what other instances of TSO foulups should a passenger ask for a supervisor or manager?
Where's the list of what your TSOs canNOT do to us or demand of us?
So when the officer realized that this kids father was taking off his shirt, why did your officer stop him?
If a grown man or woman removes their shirt to make the inspection go quicker would you be as non-chalant?
What if it was a father removing his young daughters shirt?
Why shouldn't we remove clothing? Wouldn't it expedite the process if we go through screening in swimwear if we're comfortable with that?
Right. We won't be asked to remove clothing - just our prosthetic breasts, our ostomy wafers, urine collection bags.
Get a grip, TSA. We're NOT the criminals.
And I bet my comment (unedited) won't see the light of day.
Will you be posting a video of this incident? I recall that you posted a video of the girl who claimed to have been handcuffed to a chair. Whether or not the child's father filed a complaint, I find the TSA's handling of this affair very unprofessional.
Hi Bob,
I'm really trying to understand this.
Please explain the difference in policy between your post here: http://blog.tsa.gov/2009/05/will-children-be-screened-by-whole-body.html?showComment=1242790343314#c7605149989831104532
where you point out that a parent can opt out of having their child backscattered or patted down, and the TSA's current policy of requiring either a patdown or exposure to radiation that has not been evaluated for long enough to truly understand the effects it has on small children.
Both my husband and I have family history of skin cancer, and both of us had to have concerning lesions removed before we even turned 40. I'm very wary to expose our children to technology that focuses radiation on the skin, despite claims that the total radiation dose is less than the whole body would be exposed to. Is it really wise to be exposing children to this sort of radiation when there are still outstanding questions about its safety?
Very timely that you post about this;
http://www.pixiq.com/article/san-diego-man-arrested-for-videotaping-tsa-officials
Expect a lot more people to protest your draconian measure in this manner. Want to avoid groping, then don't give any excuse or option.
Stop 'just following order' and start protecting our human rights. Nothing is safe and sometimes we just have to accept risk.
It doesn't matter who undressed him or why. A child was partially stripped and groped due to the policy of government agents - THIS WOULD BE ILLEGAL IF NOT FOR GOVERNMENT CERTIFICATION which means that the law is not being equally applied and even children are considered guilty until proven innocent. Nudity may be required to prove innocence. This is WRONG.
Anyway, let me tell you something.
My wife is a redhead and Im dark skin, every time I flew in one of the international airports of the USA, we get a different treatment than other passengers, even one of your own employees did not understand why were we been targeted since we were only taking a connection flight and it was getting very late, did I mention we had a tiny baby with us in that occasion?
After those experiences, we started to fly with connection flights in Paris, what a difference!!
they are much more polite and well educated, you should not have a militar style behavior, after all we are costumers!, and american airlines lost me as a costumer because of the way you treat people, there is no need for the bad attitude.
According to the witness:
"Lets get the facts straight first. Before the video started the boy went through a metal detector and didn't set it off but was selected for a pat down. The boy was shy so the TSA couldn't complete the full pat on the young boy. The father tried several times to just hold the boys arms out for the TSA agent but i guess it didn't end up being enough for the guy. I was about 30 ft away so i couldn't hear their conversation if there was any. The enraged father pulled his son shirt off and gave it to the TSA agent to search, thats when this video begins. "
Does TSA have any video to support their version of the story?
"Shoes, coats, jackets," prosthetic breasts, urine bags, etc...
I would rather have some cute beagle sniffing people as they go by the metal detector.
"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."
The US Constitution, including the Bill of Rights, takes precedence over any State or Federal Law, and/or any government agency set of rules. It is time that TSA have their wings clipped.
So what is the dress code through security?
Oh, that explained it. I thought I was watching a video of one of your employees grabbing the "no-no special place" of a shirtless child. But clearly that wasn't the case...
This is disgusting.
I was going to write that 6-year-old boys can't be trusted and that the TSA should be commended for intercepting an obvious threat to our country. Instead I'll just say, "Shame on you, TSA."
One response to one video down, and thousands upon thousands to go! Nothing like job security, eh Blogger Bob?
Can I voluntarily remove my clothes in a screened area to avoid a pat-down?
Given that I am willing to submit to AIT scanning, I obviously have no problem with nudity.
A definitive answer please.
So, in order to ensure safe travel for passengers, three uniformed TSA agents had to converge on an 8-year old boy and grope him in public without his shirt on?
I am ashamed of my government.
It should be mentioned that you will not be asked to and you should not remove clothing (other than shoes, coats and jackets)
So, you won't ask us to remove any clothing, except this list of clothing....
:sigh: Typical TSA.
I understand not wanting people stripping down in public areas. But if I don't want to be subjected to the new imaging machines and I don't want to be touched, may I request a *visual* inspection in a private room?
I am willing to wear a bikini/dance leotard/underwear/absolutely nothing - I don't care if people see me; I just don't want to go through the scanners and I don't want to be touched.
Please tell me that this would be allowed!
According to the man who shot the video you linked, the metal detector did not go off and the boy was selected for a search anyway.
I also notice that he says several TSA agents tried to intimidate him into deleting the video. Is that condoned by the TSA?
Hi, "Blogger Bob" (or whoever happens to be adopting that sock puppet name this time),
How come you don't respond to the many legitimate claims of sexual assault by the TSA? Or the production of nude child photos by the millions? Cherry-picking one incident does not get the TSA off the hook for humiliating and sexually assaulting the multitudes just because we want the right of free movement within our country without undue search and seizure in the absence of probable cause? Honestly, how can you sleep at night? The TSA official position scares me to the depths of my American soul.
Your pathetic attempts at defending a policy that is, on the face of it, an affront to all freedom loving US citizens is far worse than a parody. It is an active abuse of government power against its citizens. This blog is fooling no one except, perhaps, TSA leaders. We get it. You don't.
See you in court.
Funny, the actual text on the youtube video of your very own link contradictorily says, "Lets get the facts straight first. Before the video started the boy went through a metal detector and didn't set it off but was selected for a pat down. The boy was shy so the TSA couldn't complete the full pat on the young boy. The father tried several times to just hold the boys arms out for the TSA agent but i guess it didn't end up being enough for the guy. I was about 30 ft away so i couldn't hear their conversation if there was any. The enraged father pulled his son shirt off and gave it to the TSA agent to search, thats when this video begins.
******* THIS VIDEO OCCURRED AT SALT LAKE CITY INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT ON NOVEMBER 19TH AT AROUND THE TIME OF 12:00 PM **********
***Insertion of what happened after the video (full story)****
After I finished videotaping the incident I went through the check point myself. I collected my things and went over to talk to the father and son. Before I could get to them a man in a black suit who had been talking with the other TSA officials approached me. He asked to speak to me and I obliged, wondering what was to come. He then proceeded to interrogate me about why I was videotaping the "procedures of the TSA". I told him that I had never seen such practices before on a young child and decided to record it. The man being frustrated at this point demanded to know my plans with the video, of which I didn't respond. Repeatedly he asked me to delete the video, hoping his mere presence could intimidate me to obey, but I refused. By this point it became obvious that he felt TSA had done something wrong and that I caught it on tape. After the interview, I left for my gate. I called my brother who told me I should put the tape on YouTube because this had been a recent hot topic in the news.
My gate was a long way off, but about 15 minutes after arriving 2 TSA agents came and sat 15 feet or so away from me. I stood up and moved so that they were in front of me and then took a picture. A 3rd and then a 4th agent came and sat down with the others. They would occasionally glance at me and talk on their walkie-talkies. I don't know why they were there or if it was a huge coincidence but they stayed for 30-45 minutes and left just before I boarded the plan. Interesting to say the least, intimidating? Maybe a little..."
If you folks at the TSA aren't bothered by seeing this little boy strip-searched, they you are sorely out-of-touch.
And if the father were to file a complaint, he could be investigated and possibly subjected to a $10,000 (or is it $11,000 fine), right? The potential of an investigation and fine strongly deters passengers from speaking out about abuses.
And why would the little boy's shirt have to come off to expedite the screening?
And if a person is asked to remove their clothes, shouldn't they be worried about possibly being investigated and fined if they take your advice and ask for a supervisor or manager?
The text of the video link directly contradicts your above statement.
wht is this? the "ministry of information"? i hope the tsa gets shut down!
Bob,
Why did you leave out the most important parts of the story?
That the young boy did not want a stranger touching him, that he did not want to be patted down?
That the dad attempted to hold his arms out, but the boy resisted, because he did not want a stranger touching him?
That the dad attempted to prevent the agent from having to touch him by removing his shirt, so the agent could see the young boy was not a threat, so the agent could see he had no weapons, and touching him was not necessary?
That the agent patted him down anyway?
I teach my children that they are in charge of their bodies, and they have the power to decide who touches them and who doesn't.
Our government should not be touching our children - or any other law abiding American - in this way.
K Smith
Here's the account from the guy who posted the video on You Tube. How do you respond to his statement that TSA officials shadowed him after the incident?
"Lets get the facts straight first. Before the video started the boy went through a metal detector and didn't set it off but was selected for a pat down. The boy was shy so the TSA couldn't complete the full pat on the young boy. The father tried several times to just hold the boys arms out for the TSA agent but i guess it didn't end up being enough for the guy. I was about 30 ft away so i couldn't hear their conversation if there was any. The enraged father pulled his son shirt off and gave it to the TSA agent to search, thats when this video begins.
******* THIS VIDEO OCCURRED AT SALT LAKE CITY INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT ON NOVEMBER 19TH AT AROUND THE TIME OF 12:00 PM **********
***Insertion of what happened after the video (full story)****
After I finished videotaping the incident I went through the check point myself. I collected my things and went over to talk to the father and son. Before I could get to them a man in a black suit who had been talking with the other TSA officials approached me. He asked to speak to me and I obliged, wondering what was to come. He then proceeded to interrogate me about why I was videotaping the "procedures of the TSA". I told him that I had never seen such practices before on a young child and decided to record it. The man being frustrated at this point demanded to know my plans with the video, of which I didn't respond. Repeatedly he asked me to delete the video, hoping his mere presence could intimidate me to obey, but I refused. By this point it became obvious that he felt TSA had done something wrong and that I caught it on tape. After the interview, I left for my gate. I called my brother who told me I should put the tape on YouTube because this had been a recent hot topic in the news.
My gate was a long way off, but about 15 minutes after arriving 2 TSA agents came and sat 15 feet or so away from me. I stood up and moved so that they were in front of me and then took a picture. A 3rd and then a 4th agent came and sat down with the others. They would occasionally glance at me and talk on their walkie-talkies. I don't know why they were there or if it was a huge coincidence but they stayed for 30-45 minutes and left just before I boarded the plan. Interesting to say the least, intimidating? Maybe a little..."
Children are clearly the issue here. We need to thoroughly search all children because they are clearly a threat. The whole islamic thing was a blanket for the mass conspiracy brought on by the children to throw off the incredibly intelligent TSA screeners. You guys are two steps ahead of the terrorists. Always keep them on their toes. Keep up the great work. I heard a rumor that think there might be a baby smuggling some unexplained substance in their diaper. Get on that right away.
Hey Bob,
Will we "not be asked to remove clothing" just like we will not be asked to remove prosthetics, like the breast cancer survivor who TSA demanded do exactly that? Or the handful of reports of travelers being forced to remove artificial limbs and put them through the x-ray?
How about the bladder-cancer survivor with the urostomy bag who was refused a private screening and had his seal breached, with TSA's irresponsible and insensitive actions leaving him covered in urine.
You can keep posting "responses" and PR spin "myths and facts" but your agency's out-of-control power trip, total unaccountability, and police-state SOP guarantee that there will be a continuing stream of these stories that will never end.
I expect TSA's next move to be trying to enforce a ban on photography and video at airports, as you've already done by getting a passenger at SAN arrested for violation that nobody has ever heard of. But even that won't work, the stories will keep coming. Unless you plan to start suppressing the press too?
Face it, Bob, the writing is on the wall for your agency. Even if you don't change, the public now knows what you are. Even if you do change, the history books are already being written about the agency that took away American's freedoms and dignity.
You might gain a little bit of time if you implement some accountability, start apologizing for the abusive incidents that clearly go beyond SOP, and start naming and terminating the screeners responsible. But of course you'll never do that, because your management believes that closing ranks and waving the bloody-shirt of 9/11 can be used to justify any abuse and any wrongs.
Where is your video of this incident that would allow all to see that what you state in text is indeed the case?
It's good to know that the TSA didn't remove the boy's shirt. I suspected that was the case when I first saw the video.
Even so, it's extremely troubling that the situation would come to this, that the TSA would need to search a three-year-old to the point where removing the boy's shirt would even seem like it would help, however irrational the boy's father was being when he removed it. And it's equally troubling that the TSA doesn't have any better procedure for shy, reluctant children (basing this off the description on the YouTube video you linked to) than for the agent to just keep trying to search him.
Does the rule about not removing clothing apply to prosthetics as well?
once again Bob, you're lying. By the way, why no response to the TSA forcing a breast cancer survivor to remove her Prosthetic breast? Or a response to covering a cancer survivor in his own urine? Hmm? Grow a back bone Bob.
As a female American Citzen I agree the pat down is keep our citizens and country safe. Therefore their should be other measures taken. I personally will not like to be patted down by some stranger I will much prefer to be taken into a priviate room and take my clothes off in front of two female agents, which will be like being in the gym female locker room.
Hi Bob,
could you please comment on this issue:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/nov/21/gun-crusader-strips-down-shorts-hauled-out-san-die/
I don't want to go through the body scanners and was planning to strip to underwear myself to avoid the pat-downs. Will I be arrested?
Oh, Bob. I think these incidents are starting to come in faster than you can spin them. Good luck keeping up, especially with the busy week ahead.
Bob,
What caused the WMD to alarm?
Why couldn't the officer use a hand wand to determine the alarm did not occur in the upper body?
You said "you should not remove clothing". Why did the father feel he needed to remove his son's clothing to expedite the screening?
What happened that the father would feel that would be helpful?
Bob said:
you should not remove clothing (other than shoes, coats and jackets) at a TSA checkpoint. If you're asked to remove your clothing, you should ask for a supervisor or manager.
So you are saying the TSO acted inappropriately in the case of the Michigan man who left covered in his own urine.
http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/dpp/news/local/michigan-man-left-covered-in-own-urine-following-tsa-pat-down-20101122-mr
"I've got urine and two men I don't know," said Sawyer. "My underwear had been dropped to the floor and I'm standing in front of them with my underwear and had to ask them to pull them up."
Prove it.
BOB: a complaint was probably not filed BECAUSE:
1) Where exactly do you do that? no one knows.
2) I have been harrased by TSA, many times at many different airports, filing a complaint...you have to be joking.
3) If I or this father did would we really expect anything to be done. NO.
BOB, post the TSA record of complaints filed and action taken.
Filing a TSA complaint is a joke, there is nothing the average passanger can do but be harrased by the TSA.
To the TSA and all the other people who support this illogical policy of profiling grandma's, kids, handicapped people and other folks of similar background.
It is statistically impossible for ANY of these people to be a terror threat to our nations airlines. Someone please tell me WHY the TSA is turning our good US Citizens into suspected terrorists? This violates our 4th amendment. Why has political correctness strangled the TSA to the point where it seems that legitimate threats, people of Arab nations and known Islamic races are now being given a pass. Islamic women are now being given a pass with this new policy. The insanity of it all.
Why can't the TSA implement a Israel like El-Al policy. You MUST profile people known to be 100% behind the terror attacks. Its not racism, its common sense. Extreme Islamic muslims are behind 100% of these threats.
Why are you patting down a grandma or middlaged woman from Dallas who wants to get to Chicago to visit her family and has NEVER traveled outside the USA???
Why don't you have a database of people known to travel to facist Islamic countries and profile these people?
This is wrong TSA and is NOT keeping us safer. Please don't censor my post.
So no response to the dozens of other incidences in the past few weeks.
1) "Everyone goes through security"
1a) Except politicians with a police escort. http://blog.nj.com/njv_paul_mulshine/2010/11/imagine_in_the_tsa_had_gone_ah.html
1b) And pilots. http://www.indyposted.com/128124/tsa-decides-pilots-can-skip-full-body-scanners-pat-downs/
1c) And children will receive a modified pat-down ( we still don't have a proper accounting of what a normal pat-down is bob so we have no way of knowing what a modified pat down looks like either ).
2) No private screening areas when requested. / Letting a man with a urine bag leak all over the airport because of a botched pat down. http://www.cfnews13.com/article/news/2010/november/175586/TSA-search-leaves-man-flying-to-Orlando-soaked-in-his-own-urine
3) The fixation on intimidation and intrusive screening of passengers when the cargo holds are ripe for terrorism. http://newsok.com/fixing-cargo-security-system-would-cost-billions/article/3510266
Even if the boycott fails to gain steam the TSA is screwed. People showing up early to avoid trouble will cause havoc in the lines.
We are days away from the busiest flying days of the year with the public's attention peaked and watching you. In the age of youtube and twitter the TSA will crumble under public scrutiny.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSQTz1bccL4
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/home/50725057-76/tait-tsa-video-shirt.html.csp
The cameraman says he was approached by a man in a suit and demanded he delete the video. Later, TSA agents stalk him before he boards his flight.
The TSA website says it's perfectly legal to videotape and take pictures of TSA procedures as long it does not interfere with screenings.
http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtravel/taking_pictures.shtm
This is clear intimidation.
http://www.examiner.com/county-political-buzz-in-san-diego/tsa-airport-screeners-gone-wild-san-diego-again
Another incident at San Diego International Airport (SAN): Sam Wolanyk is arrested for taking off his clothes for a security screening. The agents wanted him to redress in order to be "properly patted down." The agents confiscated his iPhone with which he was recording the encounter with. By the way, Sam Wolanyk successfully sued San Diego for falsely arresting him for Open Carrying.
There are some reports that he was recording the San Diego Airport Authority which is separate from TSA, but that does not make this arrest just.
Blogger Bob claimed:
Their son alarmed the walk through metal detector and needed to undergo secondary screening.
******************************
Come on BB-I know you've had a rough couple of weeks, but have you even visited the link you posted &, more imporantly, read the comments from the person who took & posted the video? The ones that state:
'Before the video started the boy went through a metal detector and didn't set it off but was selected for a pat down.'
Do you really think, given the TSA's history, & quite frankly your own w/this blog, that anyone is going to believe what you claim?
Why are you patting down grandma's, kids, handicapped people and other folks of similar background? It is statistically impossible for ANY of these people to be a terror threat to our nations airlines. Someone please tell me WHY the TSA is turning our good US Citizens into suspected terrorists? Why are you patting down a grandma or middlaged woman from Dallas who wants to get to Chicago to visit her family and has NEVER traveled outside the USA???
This violates our 4th amendment.
Why didn't the TSA screeners let the father know that taking off his son's shirt was unnecessary? Why did they carry on with their search once the boy had his shirt off? Seems to me that they should have respectfully asked the father to put the shirt back on the boy.
It really is telling that TSA is constantly having to do damage control about these kinds of stories.
Even if the TSA's side is completely factual, the agent patted the boy down. Would the search have been less invasive if the boy's shirt remained on, or would the pat down have simply covered more of his body? Also, it was just plain stupid for the agent to help dress the boy again.
By the way, has the TSA ever caught a terrorist?
And did private airport security make any mistakes on 9/11?
I'd like to see an official response to this -
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=c68_1255814043
I promise two things:
ONE - When flying alone I'm going to make it absolutely as uncomfortable as possible for TSA to pat me down. I'm talking about traveling in skin tight hot pants after having taken a viagra.
Two - If a TSA agent disappears with my kid like what happened in this scenario and you better hope your agents have elephant tranquilizers to keep me from stomping a hate filled hole into everyone who stands between me and my kid.
Blogger Bob -- thanks for the explanation. (And thanks for the blog as well.)
I fully support efforts to keep dangerous stuff off planes. But I am unusually shy of being touched, and do not want to go through the AIT.
Would it be okay to come through the line, request a "pat-down" in a booth, and then take off my dress and stand there in an ordinary bathing suit? (It won't be anyone's pleasure to see; I'm a plump middle-aged woman!)
The TSA staffer could see nearly all of the body, and the rest would be outlined in stretchy nylon. Would there still be a need to touch?
Trying to find a middle ground between feeling uncomfortable and being "difficult!" Not easy.
Thanks.
This is another example of the internet taking an out of context video to create an unwarranted media explosion. With more proper explanations like this blog post we might see the vocal minority turn into the boy who cried wolf.
I wear a leg brace at all times. I have had to deal with an extra pat down even before this TSA reg came out. I've never been inappropriately touched by a TSA agent. They are decent people just trying to do their job and protect the people. Stop trying to turn them into demons.
BOB, why are you not posting comments made by others?
I just want to thank all TSA employees for keeping America safe!!! I have to go through a pat down everytime I fly due to medical reasons and have never felt violated. When I prepare for a trip I keep in mind my wardrobe due to the fact I will have to go through additional screening and all travelers should keep this in mind as well. (common sense) I would rather take 5 min of security than watching another 911 happen so thank you again for keeping America safe keep up the good work!
Bob,
I assume you will be posting the security cam footage of the child actually going through the WMD.
Bob, you're thinking like a government employee ... or being told to think like one. Which is to say, you aren't thinking.
As you know, perception is reality. Hell, the existence of your organization is testament to that cynicism. You do nothing, but [some] people "feel" safer, and so therefore they are, if only in their own mind.
The incident in the video may well have been completely innocent and innocuous, but the perception is that - once again - gestapo tactics are being played out on an undeniably inappropriate target. You don't say "No problem" to such an event. That comes across as callous and high-handed ... and you've got enough to deal with on that front already.
You apologize profusely, make vague promises to have heads roll in the training department, and give away coupons for free up-gropes to those who were affected, either directly or indirectly.
I understand the amateurish security theater; there's no excuse for the amateurish PR.
[Oh, and I'm doing a screen save as well. There's been nothing in this or my previous dozen comments that violate your rules. Yet none have been posted.]
Yeah Bob, this little boy was clearly a terrorist threat and it was imperative that TSA man-handle him as he was.
A system like this becomes worthless is if leaves any holes open. In another post, I compared this to the French Maginot line built after WWI. People are being asked to remove prosthetics, including breasts during a patdown.
What will the TSA do with a person who has a leg cast on? How about bandages on the midsection from an injury or a stomach operation? Will the TSA ask for the bandage and cast to be removed?
If not, how will they prevent some religious terrorist from wearing a bomb that looks like a cast or a bandage? They were able to get 20 people together to take down four planes. I'm sure they could recruit a sympathetic Doctor and Patient to participate in a plan like this.
A person willing to die in a murderous attack to get to heaven would probably be willing to have a REAL operation, or get a REAL broken leg in order to smuggle in a bomb.
This whold TSA business is theatre, put on to convince flyers that everything possible is being done.
Can you voluntarily remove your own clothing in the name of expedited security?
BOB, it seems you are posting only the comments that are not critical of the TSA?
you're at it again, failing to tell the truth. The man who shot the video eyewitnessed the account and nowhere are HIS words to be found. That child did not want his privates touched and you people touched him anyway. The father was so frustrated at the search, HE ripped the childs shirt off. When are you people going to stop lying to innocent travelers? When are you going to stop abusing us? All the polls this morning are showing that people are going to stop flying. Congratulations for screwing up the economy some more.
I'm supposing that given the delay induced by invasive TSA policies did not leave the father much time to try to find an office and official paperwork in order to lodge a complaint. I'm betting to lodge a complaint is a major paperwork hassle and not a speedy process - but please correct me if I am wrong.
So being asked to remove your clothes is wrong, but it is OK to be asked to remove your prosthesis.
Amazing, absolutely amazing
So how exactly will your strip searches find "internally concealed" bombs? Detonators can be fashioned from cell phones and can be non metallic.
This is nothing but theater to line the pockets of political friends.
http://abcnews.go.com/Travel/tsa-responds-passenger-outrages-underwear-search-happen/story?id=12208932
The beleaguered head of the Transportation Security Administration said today that at least one airport passenger screening went too far when an officer reached inside a traveler's underwear, and the agency is open to rethinking its current protocols.
---
Oops, my bad... this stuff *never* happens.
Bob,
You know its interesting, with each increasing indignity posted in video on-line you ratchet up your explanation of how "nothing happened here." At some point (I think we reached it long ago) the reality shown in these videos dispels any spin you put on them. Clearly, you're TSOs are assaulting people, humiliating them, forcing little boys to disrobe, forcing flight attendants to remove prosthetic breasts and covering another cancer survivor in his own urine. Stop defending these actions as "nothing to see here" acknowledge the violations they are and at least pay lip service to an attempt to improve! Simply stonewalling just makes you guys look more like the chumps you already appear to be.
Sorry TSA, the fact that the father even felt he had to remove the kids shirt in order to expedite this means you guys are wrong wrong wrong.
The real question that nobody (including the TSA) is answering, is whether all this making us safer. The answer is no, of course not. Essentially 65,000 people have gotten a job to make the flying public’s experience as unpleasant as possible. While little kids and grandmas are being assaulted by TSA pervs, some muslim male between the ages of 18 and 40 can easily ship something in cargo on the same play the now emotionally distressed kids and grandmas fly on.
I love it how 0bama uses the underwear bomber as evidence we all need to get groped and assaulted by TSA, because as usual Mr.0bama hasn't a clue on the facts. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab got on a plan in Nigeria, flew through Amsterdam and never got screened in the USA. However, he was on the no fly list, had his dad call our intelligence agencies on him, and happens to be a muslim male between the age of 18 and 44, all of which should have prevented him from getting on a plane. So if the TSA wants to increase the probability of stopping a terrorist attack, how about screening for people who are on no fly lists, have had their dads call on them to the CIA and/or FBI, and are muslim males between 18 and 40 years onld, and leave the rest of us to whom these criteria don't apply alone!
What is the reason we’re told the terrorists hate us? Because we have freedom. Well, the terrorists have won. We have allowed the government by way of the TSA to reduce our freedoms, take away our rights. We allow for small children to be groped, for elderly to be abused, for citizens to be treated as suspects. The terrorists never have to do anything to us, because WE ARE DOING IT TO OURSELVES ALREADY!
"Can I speak to your supervisor?"
DO YOU WANT TO FLY TODAY?
< submits to authority, gets felt up, vows to stop flying >
........
Fun flying stats:
Odds of being on a plane with a terrorist 1:30,000,000
Odds of your child being treated like a terrorist: GUARANTEED
Don't forget our nipple rings too.
If we should, God forbid, have another successful terrorist attack all of the people who are complaining about the TSA security measures will be begging for them before flying again (if they are sane and logical, that is). I just returned from flying to Dallas via Atlanta. I did NOT feel groped by the female TSA employee - she explained to me what she was going to do and I told her that I appreciate the extra security. I'd rather go through a screen and a pat down than die on a plane that some nut case has rigged up to send me plunging to my death.
Remember 9-11 folks? Hello....
Keep rearranging those deck chairs.
The TSA is just as unsinkale.
Thanks for the link to the video. The facts, as reported by the person posting the video are quite different than the "facts" claimed by TSA. Dad removed his kid's shirt in order to expedite the process after several attempts by the TSA agent to do an "enhanced patdown" on a scared little kid. TSA responded to the videographer by trying to intimidate him after he refusted to delete the video. Way to go TSA!
FRAUD!
TSA did not take the young boys shirt off his father did to try and speed up the process!
If you want to know how TSA KEEPING you safe log on to TSA.GOV and you will get a better understanding.
If you want a 911 again just let everything go and you will get it while 35000 feet in the air.
Are all you people out of your friggin minds? Do you think this little boy was the only person to be pat-down because he set off the alarm?! Have all of you forgotten 9/11 already? I bet most NY'ers haven't! The kid wasn't hurt at all and I'm sure he'll go on to have a "normal" life... I'd rather they be safe than friggin sorry because nowadays, you just NEVER FRIGGIN KNOW!!!!!!!!
You will never convince the public that you are combating terrorism by terrorizing them. It doesn't matter that the father was complacent in terrorizing his son. The father only thinks screening is a good idea because TSA tells people 24/7 that only by giving up our rights to privacy can we fly in airplanes.
All we ask is that you prove it.
How many people to you naked-scan per month? How many people "alarm you" (your term) so that they get a pat-down search? How many people do you arrest because you find some plastic explosive on them in your pat-down? Wait, the last number is zero! Amazing, but just what I'd expect. So all your other measures have a 100% failure rate (false positive).
That's not very convincing.
If the TSA isn't useful, and it certainly appears not to be useful, then it's not the fault of the officers at the screening machine. It's a failure in the leadership of TSA and the Congress. We clearly need to get Congress to change the law, return the probably cause requirement to TSA searches, and speed up airport security.
{Before you mention the "weapons" found at TSA checkpoints, make sure you don't include the ones you find with ordinary x-rays of bags. This is just the naked scanner/pat-down thread.}
I find it hard to believe that the TSO's seen in the video at no time recommended to the father to remove the boys shirt to expedite the pat down. I have no doubt that he was pressured by the TSO's to do it.
The politicians and the elite are not subjected to these harrassments , just the little people who elect them
Bob, Since Senator's Mica and Petri have condemned TSA's pat-down procedures and their to concerned for their political careers, What Changes Would They Make so that the Traveling Public would feel warm and cozy on the airplane? ASK THEM THE HARD Questions: since they are to busy throwing stones at TSA who are out there trying to protect the public.
HAVE THEM COME UP WITH A BETTER IDEA!
I assume that since it is okay to inspect a shirtless boy (even if his father removes his shirt) that it is okay for me to ask a stranger to do the same thing with their kid on the street. After all, it's in the name of my security and protection.
File a Complaint.
You ARE joking right BOB?
That is a obviously a joke.
I am curious now that you are posting TSA's clean version of the incident, DID YOU ACTUALLY TALK TO THE FATHER?
Sure - ask for a supervisor. Then be handcuffed, strip-searched, interrogated, and possibly fined. Riiiiiight... as for a supervisor.
This really is scary - disagree and be hauled off. It's not a joke anymore.
The TSA lies repeatedly- why should we believe anything said on this blog?
Everyone wants to be safe, but no one wants to do what is neccessary to be safe. The boy set the alarm and got a pat down. I travel often and the biggest problem is not the TSA it is the passangers not being prepared to go through screening. I don't have those issues because I don't give them a reason to. As for me I would rather recieve a pat down vs. being killed by a terrorist.
What has happened to our country??? We can't risk hurting the feelings of Arabs/Extremist Muslims who want to kill us all by profiling, however we can humiliate our own people touching them in places more than one person has been arrested for. If I want to fly these days my choice is a pornographic photo or being fondled?
If I recall correctly, most if not all of the 9-11 terrorists were here on expired visa's. Interesting our government can hunt me down for an unpaid parking ticket and they can't find and deport people who are in our country illegally. Oops forgot...don't want to hurt any feelings...we prefer humiliation of US Citizens.
I'd say the terrorists have already won this war. They are probably laughing at our stupidity.
You will not be asked to remove clothing at TSA checkpoints, as we can just irradiate you enough to get high-res naked pictures while you've still got your clothes on. hth.
Are you kidding? Have we completely witnessed the death of common sense?
This is why TSA is rapidly losing credibility--the outliers where the officers don't treat us with common human decency.
You should be ashamed.
You present an alibi without any evidence that back up your claims, and instead say that this was the idea of the father.
Sorry, but I don't buy this. This makes me more suspicious about this incident than I was before reading this blog post.
Looks like the Terrorists have won! They have instilled enough terror in the United States that shows that The United States of America is sufficiently terrorized!
Osama ibn-Laden is saying "Mission Accomplished!"
I would urge anyone who has purchased airline tickets for for future travel to call the airline and demand a refund.
I did not sign up for a grope session, and refuse to be subject to it or the TSA's $11,000 fine for 'grope refusal'.
Apparently you deleted my previous comment which, for the record, violated none of your rules. So let me ask again. The man who shot the video in question says the boy DID NOT set off the metal detector. Is he lying?
Also, he says several TSA agents tried to verbally and physically intimidate him into deleting the recording. Does TSA support this behavior by its agents?
Bob, I have to ask you this...why do you even TRY to put information out there? Obviously, anything you say to dispel any kind of rumor, or in this case video, is going to be scoffed at by the whiners and crybabies. I watched this video, and came to the same conclusion that you have stated here. But that will not stop the idiots from mocking us.
What the TSA should be taking away from this is not "people are telling horrible lies about us," but "just look what people are now willing to believe about us." It's not good.
I was under the impression that they make you remove jackets, shoes, pull-overs, etc.
I think I'll print this blog post and when they ask me to remove any clothing I'll point them to your public statements.
Interesting take on the search. Here's what someone who was there said about what actually happened:
"Let’s get the facts straight first. Before the video started the boy went through a metal detector and didn’t set it off but was selected for a pat down. The boy was shy so the TSA couldn’t complete the full pat on the young boy. The father tried several times to just hold the boys arms out for the TSA agent but I guess it didn’t end up being enough for the guy. I was about 30 ft away so I couldn’t hear their conversation if there was any. The enraged father pulled his son shirt off and gave it to the TSA agent to search, that's when this video begins."
Long story short - the kid didn't want to be man handled, the dad had to get going, and the TSA agent showed no compassion. The result is that a child was violated by a father who was under duress from a TSA agent at a time when the government is telling people that failure to do everything possible to fly could result in a $11,000 fine....
Bob,
Can the person we elect to witness our pat down take video on a cell phone?
please let me know so I can update my blog.
http://yesididjustsaythat.blogspot.com/2010/11/compilation-of-tsa-things-going-on.html
Refuse to fly until the current requirements are lifted. Radioactive pornscanner vs sexual assault are not acceptable choices.
If enough people stop flying you can bet that things will change.
Bob, did you listen to the comments of the person who took the video wherein it was stated that the boy did NOT alarm the WTMD?
Of course, I'm certain that you were able to find a screener who insists that he did alarm.
Your description contradicts the description of the man who filmed the event. He said the metal detector did NOT go off.
You can justify all these videos all day long BB, but the videos aren't lying. I don't' care if it's your policy or not, children are being groped by your goons and if you don't think this is going to attract sexual perverts, you're absolutely insane. Keep up the good work, you're making the world such a safer place!
I had a link showing the TSA molesting a child from prison planet, but for some reason it seems to have been blocked. I would suggest you google it and come to your own conclusions instead of believing anything Brian says.
Instead of subjecting this crap to all Americans, why don't you guys focus on flights from high-risk areas into the U.S. and put stricter security there.
Who will oversee TSA's outrageous behaviors? It looks like the Bush Admin gave TSA full dictatorship.
Nothing to see here, move along folks, it's all in the interests of safety, other reassuring bullshit that crazy people would say.
I can't wait to get groped!
I got a solution to the pad-down. Why don't we just all show up at the airport naked.
They've taken away all of our dignity as human beings. Why not the clothes off our back.
This is ridiculous!
You know, issues like this would not be so difficult to take if the Obama administration and the TSA would not have outright said they will exempt Muslims from these same violations. My apologies to anyone who can't add 2 and 2 but the facts are out there. As soon as you state that no one is exempt, including those responsible and MOST LIKELY to be a threat, the public might just be more willing to bend over and take it. In fact, you make a Muslim woman remove the burka or hijab and submit to the same pat down that you would give any other woman and I would willing take a dose of radiation and allow an invasive pat down. I'm quite curious just how afraid the TSA is of Islam. Will this comment be allowed?
That is still no excuse for TSA to feel up that boy, but hey then again the kid must have be a mule.
I know this should probably be connected to the Off-Topic discussion, but I'm putting here anyway....
Blogger Bob. Thank you for all you do for the TSA and the public. Your posts here are the most entertainment I think the Government in all it's forms has ever provided to me. So many of the branches and divisions of Government are so un-funny and completely devoid of the ability to inspire even the slightest smile.
Your posts here, including, or especially, this one make me laugh uncontrollably to the point that my sides hurt. I think the kids these days say ROTFLMAO.
Thank you. And good luck this holiday season with screening all the juveniles that are just waiting to get through security and kick the back of my seat all the way to my destination.
Why do you a blog? Wasting more tax payer money as usual...
Why has my comment not been approved?
Bob, it should now be obvious that the storm of outraged backlash against your agency has reached Katrina proportions. Yet you continue to do "a heck of a job" responding to individual embarrassing media accounts in the usual fashion of denying it and repeating the official TSA position. There may be reason to compliment you on your dedication to zealously obeying your orders. But your FEMA trailer is collapsing and leaking formaldehyde fumes all over the place.
Now that the floodgates have opened, there will be all sorts of stories accusing the TSA of atrocities. Some will be true accounts of individual TSOs getting away with the abusive treatment that your leaders apparently continue to tolerate. Some of them will be exaggerations of true and plausible incidents. Some will be lies even more outrageous as the ones you repeatedly post here. But I don't think you can continue to respond to them individually. The TSA's credibility is so abysmal that even the utterly untrue fabrications are plausible. The levee is collapsing, and no matter how many fingers you have you can't plug the leaks with the standard propaganda.
There is only one thing you can do now. You must send a clear and consistent message to all TSOs, consistent with what you've been repeatedly telling us here. You need to flow down to TSOs that they shall not use the pat downs for "behavior modification" or retribution. Pat downs shall be conducted with the courtesy and respect expected of highly trained professional officers. TSOs shall not yell and make a scene or otherwise embarrass "opt outs," and they shall not use any more force to sensitive areas than is absolutely necessary for "just good security."
You also must inform supervisors of their duty to enforce the standards, and to immediately discipline any TSO who violates them. And then you must communicate to the public clearly and unambiguously what the standards are and what will not be tolerated, along with what to do when the standards are violated and how such complaints will be processed.
I know that your leaders regard the idea of holding your employees accountable for consistently following standards and telling us the truth as utterly unacceptable and even repulsive. But it's the only appropriate and effective response to the current crisis.
The TSA now has a choice to make. They can use this opportunity to correct long-standing problems and gain the public's trust. Or they can continue their ruinous approach out of a misguided arrogant belief in their own infallibility. For the sake of the country, I hope they make the right choice.
Maybe some year you could comment on why the TSA page for "Traveling with Children" says NOTHING about naked body scanners or enhanced pat downs? All it mentions are the X-Ray machines for carryons and the walk-through metal detectors. Check it out!
Why do you bother with all these lies and propaganda, when you don't even inform the public of the truth on key TSA web site pages?
This is ABSURD.
I absolutely refuse to fly and subject my children to outrageous and illegal manhandling like this. As a parent, I refuse to set an example for my child that as an American, we have to submit to whatever crazy thing you come up with. This is not security, it's tyranny. I cancelled our trip for December and I am very comfortable with my decision. My children will not be victimized by you and FYI if you think we're all idiots and this is for our own good and we're just too stupid to realize it- think again. We are taxpayers with rights and lawyers. Good luck.
It's positively interesting that the TSA says there was nothing wrong happening here...."That's it". However, the individual who took the video completely disagrees with the TSA's "spin" on the situation.
And, of course, we all know the TSA doesn't lie, cheat, steal....oh wait, yes it does!
Yes - Look into that one. I will search this website to hear what you have to say about the lady who was told to remove her prostetic breast. And what do you have to say about the poor man who had his urine bag knocked open so that urine spilled all over him. The TSA agents did nothing to help him after causing him to be covered with urine. I will quit flying. TSA has gone too far. I like the autotrain driving myself. Boycott airlines.
Exactly what on the little boy set off the alarm, or was it a false alert?
You still patted down a young boy for no reason. What is your defense for that? Are you trying to condition our children?
Exactly what on the little boy set off the alarm, or was it a false alert due to faulty equipment, etc.?
Ok, not to sound defensive for the TSA / TSO, but we just need to use common sense people. Be grateful they're at least doing something early instead of waiting until after. I bet everyone would then if something serious happened / almost happened. Like all things, they need to work out the kinks. Til then, use other transportation! Remember, like driving a car w/ a license, it's A PRIVILEDGE, NOT A RIGHT. Enjoy the benefits we have at this point unlike 150 yrs ago when a covered wagon was the only mode of travel. Geez!
RWK asked
If a grown man or woman removes their shirt to make the inspection go quicker would you be as non-chalant?
*******************************
Based on the experience of one would-be traveler @ SAN this weekend, the TSA's response would be to call the cops & have the pax arrested for 'refusing to complete the screening process' even though the TSA were the ones who kicked the pax out of the checkpoint. (Sorry, can't get the link right now, but a google search or trip to Flyertalk.com, where there is a lengthy thread in the Safety & Security Forum, will give you all the gory details).
Interesting, Bob, that you ignore the intimidation by multiple TSA agents of the guy who caught this incident on tape.
Also, the idea that a father would choose to remove his son's shirt in the middle of an airport without being asked to do so by a TSA agent is beyond laughable.
Excuse me very much, but when you remove your clothes so that a TSA scanner can inspect you, that's call a search. Doesn't matter who removed what.
Those Who Sacrifice Liberty For Security Deserve Neither
YOU DON'T TOUCH CHILDREN. Just because some idiot father let you does not make it right. It does not make it justified. You don't touch children. The new procedure is the foulest example of abuse of authority in the name of safety. You don't touch kids. There is nothing on this earth that would stop me from stopping a TSA agent from assaulting any member of my family.
When are the mandatory body cavity searches coming?
If I am wearing a sweater I am pretty much always asked to take it off...
My problem with this video is that the TSA is patting down a 6 year old child that belongs to a family that is obviously not a threat to national security... Just like the 3 year old who got the pat down.
The last time I was at the airport the only people I saw get pulled aside for secondary screenings (pat downs) were 2 old women who looked to be about 80 and 1 old women in a wheel chair who looked to be around 90!
All of those screening were a waste of time, money and resources and are making us LESS safe because time is being wasted on people who are obviously not threats.
Recently in O'Hare I was wearing an undershirt with a thin pull over turtleneck and light jacket. I removed my jacket but was told by a female TSA to remove my turtleneck, when I protested she said "you are required to remove all outerwear". I did not ask for a supervisor for fear of missing a connecting flight.
I don't think this is true, "It should be mentioned that you will not be asked to and you should not remove clothing (other than shoes, coats and jackets) at a TSA checkpoint."
I was asked to remove my belt in Baltimore on Friday before going through the full body scanner. I fly frequently and always wear the same belt because I know it doesn't set off the metal detector.
Is it policy to remove belts before going into the full body scanner, too?
You say you won't be asked to remove clothing, but that has been dis-proven over and over. I was told to take my over shirt off that was over just a light tank top in a cold airport, and when left sitting in the cold (no privacy screen and never offered) I started shivering and went to put my shirt back on, the TSA agent rushed me screaming "TAKE THAT OFF! TAKE THAT OFF! I NEVER TOLD YOU TO PUT IT ON!!!" Which of course freaked me out. I was at the beginning of a high risk pregnancy for which I had been traveling to seek medical attention. I miscarried three days later. Just saying. Most TSA I have come across have no sense or sensitivity.
If you're asked to remove your clothing, you should ask for a supervisor or manager.
What, so we can be subjected to even more embarrassing and degrading "procedures" by the TSA, in an effort to squelch any dissent among the air traveling public? It's already been admitted that the patdowns have little to do with actual detection, and are instead used as a punitive measure against travelers who object to the TSA taking naked pictures of them. When the TSA admits their invasive molestation procedures are there to punish travelers who object to being TSA porno stars, you're pretty much telling us, "If you complain, it only gets worse."
2 years back, when leaving Denver, I was told to lift my shirt all the way up. It wasn't taken off, but I clearly had to show my stomach, chest and back (I'm a male). So if they can't make you take your shirt off, how far can they go?!? I was also told to undo the top button of my pants. I was flagged as a last minute ticket purchaser. I was last minute, because my flight was cancelled last minute and I had to rebook.
With regard to the idea that a little boy wouldn't be "loaded down with explosives."
Unfortunately, it wouldn't be the first time a child was used to carry explosives, simply because they do seem like such a non-threat.
Ask some vets from Vietnam, Iraq or Afghanistan why you have to be careful in a new town when kids swarm you sometime...
I was informed that the son didn't alarm the WTMD, that he simply was one of the random selectees for additional scrutiny after going through the WTMD.
Your big point is that the father is so cowed by your unjust and borderline illegal behavior that he did not object to forcing a little kid to remove his shirt. But given the nature of law in the USA, it is likely enough that saying NO to the TSA would have him lose his kid as well as pay a fine over $10k.
Of course, I'm much less cowed than the father in that video.
Bob then what was up with the suit approaching the person taping this, pressuring him to delete it. Whats wrong got something to hide?
TSA out of control and has to be stopped. You still havent answered the question about TSA employees popping a urostomy bag. I seriously hope that more of these situations come to light and the victims take you to task in court as that seems to be the only way it learns. I also find it ironic that the interval between reports is dropping fast and that your having to spin the events more and more.
Why is the public so gullible? It seems that Americans will believe anything they see on television, the internet, or hear on the radio. This mob mentality truly frightens me. Paste the following link into your browser and read a rational and balanced opinion. It isn't sensational, just sensible.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/11/21/greene.air.security/index.html?hpt=Sbin
Man has much more to fear from the passions of his fellow creatures than from the convulsions of the elements.
--Edward Gibbon
When I flew two years ago, I was asked to remove a light scarf from around my neck each time I went through security. It seemed unreasonable to me at the time, but I didn't argue. Should I have asked for a supervisor?
At this point, attempting to defend this repressive totalitarian organization is simply useless. Whether it's feeling a young boy's butt or covering a passenger in urine, the TSA has crossed the line many times.
The only right thing to do is to disband the organization and start up the truth commission.
As a very real backlash is playing out all over the media, we get ONE after ANOTHER single post addressing things that the furor over is so great that the TSA can not feign ignorance of and ignore. It might even be the case that EACH of those issues ON IT'S OWN has a logical, rationale sounding explanation when spun appropriately by PR and thrown up on this blog.
If one were to step back and look at the DAILY barrage of incidents, you can't help but to see a different picture being painted.
It's really a shame that a single entity has decided we can live without our civil liberties in the name of security. Putting aside the fact that some of the security is clearly reactionary at best and theater at worst, this isn't even our elected Congress acting, it's an agency that really has extended itself beyond any rationale level of compromise.
Not the least of which is the very obvious concern that EVEN IF ONE were to agree to all of the indecencies being put on us, that the training is at best not-uniform, the chain of complaints does not extend past the local airport (we should have the ability to request a call into some national center where REAL management, not some local airport's hired goons) can interpret the rules and appropriately educate either the passenger OR the TSA agent as the case necessitates).
Between shirtless children ("I'm sorry sir, let's not do that here"), urine explosions, breast feelups and crotch grabs, just to pick A COUPLE of the incidents from the last week or two, it's astonishing that you can sit here and individually defend each incident, as if to say we're blowing things out of proportion.
I'm not particularly exposed to the scanners, or the policy of an alternate method of screening for those who can, but it's pretty clear that you've replaced any rationale method of screening with something designed to infuriate your employers (the American taxpayers) and coupled it with training that's so horrendous that it is compounding the issue.
I'm flying this week, and it's a huge trip, celebrating an anniversary with my wife. Her feelings necessitate me making sure we make the flight with minimal hassle, so this is not the time for my protest, but as I go through the checkpoint, it will be with sadness that my inaction might in any way continue to prop up such an anti-American process.
Does this look fake to you?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skkCpnCm7iM&feature=player_embedded
"...you should ask for a supervisor or manager."
yeah, sure, i'll do that, and then i'll be pulled into a room and be held for hours, missing my plane, because my "behavior escalated" and i'm obviously trying to "hide something".
who are you trying to fool with this line of hogwash Blogger Bob? the credibility of your organization makes some of the e-mails i get from Kenya look credible.
in fact, things are so bad that if Franz Kafka where alive today, he'd give up writing and just clip together news stories about your people and the ongoing security theater they are performing daily.
BTW: i fully expect that TSA will contact Google to ascertain my ID for having the temerity to post this, and that i will now be on a watch list for additional screening the next time i fly. that's just the way bullies are.
*pssst* I think you missed the point TSA.
We don't care WHO took the kids shirt off, we care WHY he had to take it off in the first place.
Yes it was voluntarily removed... but it was removed because of an INVOLUNTARY invasive offensive probing search.
"Your comment has been saved and will be visible after blog owner approval."
Guess that whole first amendment thing doesn't apply to the TSA... just like the 4th one.
Unless you're wearing nipple piercings, prosthesis, or anything else that may trigger the eyes of a TSO.
Since when are shoes, coats and jackets not clothing? TSA can't even make a simple sentence without trying to cover up the truth.
MSNBC reports that a TSA Agent caused a special needs traveler to become covered in their own urine.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40291856/ns/travel-news/from/toolbar
Who wants to bet that within 2 weeks a new TSA rule will be instituted which imposes a $10,000 fine on anyone who uses any kind of recording device in a TSA screening area? You know...for our safety.
I don't believe that the boy's father wasn't coerced into taking his shirt off. Based on the actions of TSA agents who have gone inside of passenger's underwear. Personally, I've already cancelled a planned trip. In this recession South Florida just lost about a thousand toursit dollars thanks to TSA's policies. We don't have to fly.
OK. I understand the TSA has a task. A very important and necessary task. This task is so important, it should rank higher than political correctness. The Israelis have been very successfully using profiling in their airports. Profiling doesn’t mean targeting a specific ethnicity. It is a group of trained people looking you in the eye, watching your demeanor. Wouldn’t it behoove the TSA to start working with the public and listen to them? Rather than being confrontational to the public, how about showing the public that you are interested in their safety, as well as, their civil liberties and time. Wouldn’t that make The TSA’s job easier? Now you have a public working with you, not fighting you.
What if it was a father removing his young daughters shirt?
November 22, 2010 12:54 AM
Then he would be an aweful father. Take SOME responsibility, people.
Feed me more What If's though, this is fun.
Also belts. So no clothing other than shoes, coats, jackets, and belts. And baggy sweatshirts.
And I bet my comment (unedited) won't see the light of day.
November 22, 2010 1:22 AM
Looks like youre wrong. does that mean you're going to opt out of opt-out day?
I think it's time to show us that this type of screening isn't a big deal.
Let's have Janet Napolitano & John S. Pistole (actors won't do) go through the AIT and post their images life size without fuzz-outs at every airport screening line. This will show us exactly what the TSA is viewing. Then each create a video of the pat down, with them as the subject, and explain as they receive the pat down why and what the TSA is doing. Play this video in a loop on the screening line for all passengers to view. If a passenger is patted down in any other manner, then charges can be filed.
If it's not a big deal then show us! Until then no one is going to believe anything you say!
Here is the problem - We see you doing an enhanced patdown on a kid, on a grandma, etc. Yes, they COULD be the bad guys you keep telling us are out there to get us. Which raises the question:
Have you caught any one? No, no, you don't need to tell me details if we are still after the rest of them. I just want to know if you have stopped even ONE terrorist attempt since you started worrying about our junk?
Don't mention the Stupid Shoe Bomber or Captain Underpants, or the Toner Bombs, because YOU didn't catch them or stop them - the first two were inept, and stopped by passengers, the latter was turned in before the were ever shipped.
I used to fly almost weekly, and am still a pro - I know what you want, and if you want to look at an image of my naked butt, have at it. The only thing I think is that you should be required to prove your fear mongering. If there are bad guys, and these steps save us from them, prove it with arrests.
If you can't, then there is a line of conclusion that you are overstating the threat - in order to keep your jobs, in order to keep us scared, or because it has cost so much already that to show it isn't doing anything is impossible - you have become too big to fail. Alas for our country, this is probably the truth.
When you consider the palestinian terrorist who gave his pregnant irish girlfriend a bomb to carry onboard an El Al flight, the hundreds of teen and pre-teen suicide bombers in Israel/Iraq/Afghanistan and the Yemeni terrorist who put a bomb in his brother's rectum attempting blow up a Saudi prince, it is not inconceivable or even unlikely that a terrorist might turn a small child into a living bomb on an airplane. With all angst over the barely missed underwear bomber, not quite a year ago, you'd think people would realize having their junk touched should be the least of their worries.
How many terrorists has TSA caught red handed? Defund dismantle and abolish the TSA!! Let the airports opt out and hire private companies.
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=c68_1255814043
Also, Blogger Bob, it would be nice to see you respond to some of these comments. Don't think people don't read these.
Say thanks to the TSA folks!!!
http://thankstsa.org/
"THIS WOULD BE ILLEGAL IF NOT FOR GOVERNMENT CERTIFICATION which means that the law is not being equally applied and even children are considered guilty until proven innocent. Nudity may be required to prove innocence. This is WRONG."
It's likely wrong and illegal but don't hold your breath waiting for a federal prosecutor to take this on.
I'll ask the question I keep asking: Given that TSOs have:
1. had the breast prosthesis removed,
2. fondled the child,
3. humiliated the bladder cancer survivor,
4. exposed the women's breasts,
5. etc, etc, etc
which ones have been fired or even disciplined?
Who else thinks "Bob" should be balanced by a non-TSA blog moderator. The TSA is paid for by the people. The people should be represented.
The security theater of TSA does not make us safer. The TSA needs to be dissolved.
This is all faux security. If you want real security, where you can keep your shoes on, and no one gropes your kid then just look at Israel.
Why are there 2 additional agents standing around the child in an intimidating manner?
Obama did say there would be more transparency. He just didn't say it would be the citizens and not the governemnt.
Can you talk about TSA intimidation procedures Bob? Can anyone who takes exception to the tyranny expect to be stalked?
If the TSA continues to botch these "pat-downs", then it is clear we MUST have appropriate medical personnel on hand.
Thanks to the excellent efforts of TSA to totally alienate the public my work here is done.
Have a good life Bob!
Dear TSA: You cannot win this. The harder you try to do so, the worse you will look.
It's time for some brave TSA employees to start refusing to do the pat-downs. "I was only following orders" is the defense of a scoundrel. You will be regarded as heroes by the provate sector and it will bode well for you when you look for another job.
"That's it"
Are you serious? Of course you are. TSA has lost all touch with common decency.
Who prevented United 93 from reaching its target? Not the TSA.
Who subdued the Shoe Bomber? Not the TSA.
Who beat the crap out of the Underwear Bomber? Not the TSA.
In each case it was the passengers - evryday people like you and me - who actually prevented the terrorists.
The truth is, despite all its largesse and power to search and harass, they can't compare to a few motivated priviate citizens.
TSA, you suck and it's obvious you hate the competition. We can handle terrorists a hell of a lot better than you can.
We do not need you.
So why did the dad take his kid's shirt off? To avoid you continuing to grope his kid through his clothes?
Hey, you went down the underwear of an ABC reporter, broke a man's urostomy bag onto him, rifled through a woman's purse to look at her checks and question her finances... and now we're supposed to trust you? I think that's just the rundown for the past week, not including the removal of the prosthetic breast, the forced removal of nipple rings, the handcuffing of someone asking what was going on and what would be done, the patdown of a 3-year old and a nun; the exposure of a woman's breasts by a TSA agent, etc. that you've built up over the past couple of years.
Maybe act trustworthy for a while without getting naked scans of people and groping them... then come ask for us to trust you?
Just a thought. Or you can keep presuming that you can break your rules, but people will trust you and let you go further. See how that works if you want.
I have been asked to remove a sweatshirt numerous times, even when you can't tell if I have clothing on underneath it.
In one instance I argued and pointed out the numerous women going through in sweaters and sweatshirts not being asked to remove them and was told that either I remove it or I would be asked to leave the screening area and unable to travel.
Unfortunately TSA agents don't all follow the same rules and there is no discussing with them. It is their way or the highway, even when they are wrong.
How can you say on the one hand "you will not be asked to and you should not remove clothing" and then immediately follow that with "If you're asked to remove your clothing, you should ask for a supervisor or manager"?
How poorly-run is your agency that you feel compelled to put those two diametrically opposed concepts right next to each other?
Does TSA and DHS not care that airlines may begin to lose money from less travelers? There's no doubt, there are going to be less fliers with these illegal security procedures. Or maybe they aren't worried because the airlines are "too big to fail"??
Agree we talk to our children about touching especiall by strangers. Like I said is better to into a room and strip butt naked.LOL
Good afternoon.
If I have to wear a lead covering over my reproductive area during a x-ray for a broken arm..why is it that I cant protect my reproductive area walking through this machine. What if down the line, it is found that it is actually dangerous. I know that I can opt out of this. But as a sexual abuse survivor, the intense pats downs are so awful and so degrading, I would be feeling less than a human. Is this ok with you?
I'm going through security today. Maybe I ought to show up in my boxers. Either that, or give the bird to the TSA thats running the scanner.
Anybody who thinks these measures will safe guard planes is a fool. This only means the terrorists have won (in causing Americans to terrorized).
What happened to the 4th amendment? Oh yea, Chenney and Bush stomped all over that and now Obama is following their lead.
I'm surprised the employees of TSA are so brain and soul dead. Apparently your philosophy is that citizens are pieces of meat who pay taxes. Hasn't ever occurred to you that no salary, no benefit, no federal holiday is worth violating the dignity of human beings.
The kid didn't want to be touched where his parents had told him nobody should touch him, that's what set this thing off, not that he was being "shy." You say you want to be our partners in security? We have been your partners for 9 years, and you have pushed us and pushed us, and caught nothing but fingernail clippers and shampoo. The public is not your partner anymore.
I found that episode appalling, and that's why I posted the embedded video on my blog. I can think of no reason--no reason--to humiliate a young person like that, save for the incompetence of the screeners and the incredibly broken and badly applied process that has brought us to this moment in "Security Theater 3000."
This farce does not make anyone safer, and that young person should never have been manhandled and humiliated, shirtless or not, like that.
-Norman Rogers
Anybody want to bet the next regulation makes it a crime to video a TSA agent just like they made it a crime to video a cop beating up somebody?
Gosh, I'd love to see the CCTV footage of this one.
One of the biggest problems I see here is that someone has videotaped a child (with or without the child's "consent") and posted it online to share with the masses.
I don't blame the TSA agents a bit for asking that the tape be deleted.
Release the video Bob.
When is the TSA going to publish a clear statement on where and how we can be touched in these airport screenings? Clearly, there is fear at the top that TSA is breaching policy and there is NO accoutability for these actions. TSA is going to put more airlines out of business than a recession.
What the hell is wrong with all you people? Just got through the stupid scanner and you don't have to be touched. And all that is only if you fail a metal detector if i am not mistaken.
Whats the big deal? Get over it. You get touched far more just standing on a subway in rush-hour and in a much more unprofessional way.
Sure incidents like this are going to happen but 99.999999% of people are going to have no problem and have a nice trip.
So stop whining and just suck it up. It is part of the sad reality we live in now that you cant tell the good guys from the bad guys and we all have to have this done. If you dont like feeling safe on the plane take the train.
Nick J said...
This is another example of the internet taking an out of context video to create an unwarranted media explosion. With more proper explanations like this blog post we might see the vocal minority turn into the boy who cried wolf.
I wear a leg brace at all times. I have had to deal with an extra pat down even before this TSA reg came out. I've never been inappropriately touched by a TSA agent. They are decent people just trying to do their job and protect the people. Stop trying to turn them into demons.
November 22, 2010 9:12 AM
***********************************
Thank you Nick
What about the allegations of the man who MADE this video being harassed by TSA....Would you like to address those BOB?!
What about TSA/TSO "demanding" he delete the video?
What about TSA/TSO harassing him all the way to his gate and UNTIL he boarded his plane? What about those allegations BOB?
What about the Congressional investigation into this incident did you fail to post BOB?
So after all that effort with the little boy, just why was he so suspicious anyway? Really, if the TSA used their brains instead of their brawn, they would be profiling (ooh, scary word) passengers who were most likely to be a threat.
Good luck trying to get my shirt off in a public place in front of my husband.
anon said:
"It doesn't matter who undressed him or why"
REALLY????? so if man goes through and starts stripping and a video is started after hes done, im sure that everyone will know what happened right? of course, the tsa made him do it...
lets get real! especially when it comes to children!
dave said:
"Why shouldn't we remove clothing?"
so you have a problem with passengers being seen by tsa people naked but its ok if the whole airport including children sees you naked.
makes perfect sense.
trust me this is a lose/lose situation for everyone that sees most people naked...
anon said:
"One response to one video down, and thousands upon thousands to go! Nothing like job security, eh Blogger Bob?"
its a no win situation for the tsa people will see what they want to see.
anon said:
"Or the production of nude child photos by the millions?"
HUH? what does this have to do with tsa?
anon said:
You MUST profile people known to be 100% behind the terror attacks.
so you are talking about persons rights and you want the tsa to profile? that makes no sense what so ever. how does timothy mcveigh or terry nichols or ecic rupolph, look when profiling? get real, when you stand in line to go through security you are accepting the search that is chosen for you, its an administrative search.
alex said:
"Why are you patting down grandma's, kids, handicapped people and other folks of similar background? It is statistically impossible for ANY of these people to be a terror threat to our nations airlines. Someone please tell me WHY the TSA is turning our good US Citizens into suspected terrorists? Why are you patting down a grandma or middlaged woman from Dallas who wants to get to Chicago to visit her family and has NEVER traveled outside the USA???
This violates our 4th amendment."
again any passenger that gets in line, no matter age, race, gender, etc is giving consent to the search end of story. why dont you go on line and search out videos of suicide bombers and tell me if you find any children, crippled, or elderly people to bomb places. the people that we are fighting have no morals or issues with using whatever means necessary to get the job done.
anon said:
"Sorry TSA, the fact that the father even felt he had to remove the kids shirt in order to expedite this means you guys are wrong wrong wrong."
so the fathers actions are now the problem of the tsa too? c'mon so if the dad stripped the kid naked then the dad would be seen as a sane man cause the tsa caused him to do it. when will it end!
anon said:
"I find it hard to believe that the TSO's seen in the video at no time recommended to the father to remove the boys shirt to expedite the pat down. I have no doubt that he was pressured by the TSO's to do it."
are you kidding me? this blog is going down hill fast, all this attention is starting to ruin this place.
I live overseas. My family and I were planning to ski in Colorado in February. If TSA does not withdraw the porno-scanners and the grope-searchers by the beginning of January, I will cancel our flights. We will stop travelling to the US until sanity is restored.
Some shout that I need to "get used to it" and if I don't like it, I don't have to fly. Others justify the measures saying "this is the age in which we live".
Wrong.
This is the age which the total-security-freaks are TRYING to impose on us. We don't have to accept it.
And surely it is those too nervous to board a flight with unmolested grannies and kiddies who need to catch the bus.
Enough is enough.
I ask everyone to boycott airtravel until passengers have recovered their elemental human rights.
I am just about tired of people complaining about everything. I think it is time for a lesson on right vs responsibility for the American people whom I believe has become spoiled. We want the government to maintain security but we don't want to be inconvenienced even a little bit.
We want the economy to get better but we refuse to pay taxes. We want to be top - noch in education but our children have too many rights to follow the lead of the teachers that teach them.
I travel often. Because of my last name or maybe because I always buy my ticket last minute, the computer always chooses me to go through extra secutity. I take my shoes off(cold floor), I go through the detector etc. Never do I even think of complaining. My mind goes to 911 and I think: better a pat-down than a shut down or worst yet a blow-up. Somehow, I think we forgot that we are in this together and one cannot have one's cake and eat it too! Either we are adults and we come out of our comfort zone to make sure we are all protected or we play games and all of us pay for it. Which is it going to be? By the way, the reason the TSA has not caught any wrong doers could be they know they are going to be patted-down and detected.
love how the posts get cut off at 11:14 AM . Whats wrong TSA I thought the majority support your police state?
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