http://cbs2chicago.com/investigations/xrat...s.2.777423.html

Fliers Complain About X-Rated Security Screenings
TSA Agents Forced Woman To Remove Nipple Rings, Pulled Pants Off Disabled Man
When travelers go to the airport, they know what kind of security to expect: luggage searches, metal detectors and shoe inspections.

It's all part of our post 9-11 reality enforced by the Transportation Security Adminstration. But as CBS 2 Investigator Pam Zekman reports, thousands of travelers have complained that some of these screenings can become abusive and even x-rated.

For arguing with a TSA agent, Robin Kassner wound up being slammed to the floor. She's filed a lawsuit.

"I kept begging them over and over again get off of me ... and they wouldn't stop," Kassner said.

And it wasn't enough for another woman to show TSA agents nipple rings that set off a metal detector. The agents forced her to take them out.

Mandi Hamlin said, "I had to get pliers and pull it apart."

In Chicago, people like Robert Perry are subjected to exhaustive security checks. He was patted down, his wheel chair was examined and his hands were swabbed, all in public view in a see-through room at the security checkpoint. Perry, 71, is not alone

"It's humiliation," Perry said.

Perry was also taken to a see-through room by a TSA agent when his artificial knee set off the metal detector.

"He yelled at me to get the belt off. 'I told you to get the belt off.' So I took the belt off. He ran his hands down over and pulled the pants down, they went down around my ankle," Perry said.

At that point, Perry was standing in his underwear in public view. He asked to see a supervisor. That made things worse.

"She was yelling 'I have power, I have power, I have power," Perry said. The power to stop him from flying to Florida with his wife that day to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary.

"It makes you feel like you have no rights," Perry said.

Perry said he always alerts TSA agents about his metal knee and wonders why they can't just check his leg.

"If somebody told me that I would save the people on the airplane by taking my pants off out in public out there, I wouldn't mind doing it, but this was not necessary," Perry said.

TSA officials said that when the metal detectors go off, their agents must resolve what caused the alarm. But experts have said it's important to use common sense when balancing security and customer service.

Carlos Villarreal, former director of security for the Sears Tower, said proper training is crucial. "When you're wanding somebody and you can identify which part of the body set of the alarm, that should be sufficient to clear a person," Villarreal said.

But all too often, it's not enough for 16-year old Michael Angone. She frequently flies as a member of the Chicago Children's Choir.

"I've had to completely take my pants off and show them like my entire leg," Angone said.

As a baby, Angone was diagnosed with cancer. Her parents, both Chicago police officers, had to have her leg amputated. She said she always warns TSA security agents that her prosthetic leg will set off the metal detector, but many insist on doing an embarrassing full body pat-down.

"I feel like I'm being felt up in public," Angone said.

Her father Bob Angone wanted to know, "What's the reason for all the feeling up, you know the groping at the back of the neck, the chest, underneath the bra, all the groping on her body, her buttocks?"

CBS 2 News asked the TSA those questions, but got no answers.

"The key word here is reasonable, and they have gone off the track. They are not reasonable," Bob Angone said.

The TSA declined to comment on the Angone and Perry cases, but the agency has announced that soon, passengers who set off an alarm that cannot be resolved will have a choice: Agree to a physical pat-down or what some believe is an even worse invasion of privacy.

This fall, O'Hare International Airport will get its first advanced digital x-ray machine. It allows TSA agents to see through clothes and discover any hidden weapons. Critics have likened it to a virtual strip search.

A spokesman said that out of 2 billion passengers screened nationwide since 9-11, there have been only 110,000 abuse complaints.

As for the nipple ring case, TSA did change its procedures regarding body piercings.




This post has been edited by Everyday Cherry: Jul 23 2008, 09:47 AM

Didn't you post this once before?

Oh is that all?

This post has been edited by AtomicTommy: Jul 23 2008, 10:22 AM

"Gosh, guys, our screeners have only sodomized a few dozen travelers. That's less than .01%. Stop acting like we are abusing our powers."

Yes I did. But that article only addressed the woman and her nipple rings.

This article details other people being "abused".

From what I have read elsewhere, it seems that only the passengers, flight attendents and pilots have to go thru security. The others who work on the planes, like the baggage handlers, cleaners, mechanics, people who load the food/drinks, don't go thru security. So they have access to planes without having to go thru security.

So it's only for a great big show that the passengers, flight attendents and pilots have to go thru security, making us feel like we're safe when in reality, we really aren't.

We all know that you don't mind pulling your pants down and bending over to take it up the ass. That doesn't mean the rest of us like to.

Yeah, well everyone needs a hobby. Some like collecting stamps. Some like bird watching. I prefer strangers ramming me from behind. Potato/patato.

I prefer strangers ramming me from behind

Part of me wants to call bullshit on some of this stuff.

The guy standing in his underwear, in full view of the public sounds a little extreme to me. I travel all the time and have been in just about every airport
across the country and have never once seen anything that outrageous. I've seen people mauled by drug dogs and get shifted to some back room. I've seen drunks get taken away by security. I've seen people fist fighting and get taken away. But to see someone literally standing IN PUBLIC VIEW in their underwear? And not taken to a back room as in these other instances? C'mon. That's a bit far-fetched to me.

And did this Perry guy that this happened to file a lawsuit? I didn't see that mentioned. If he didn't, then I REALLY find it hard to believe it happened.
Because if that happened to me, NO ONE would come out of that situation unscathed and I'd make sure the whole damn world knew about it via my multi-million dollar lawsuit.

I'm pretty much with Chica on this... I think a lot of the 110,000 complaints are probably BS.

But still, something is wrong if there are 110,000 "abuse" complaints. If only 1 out of every 10 accusations are legit, thats still a shitload of "abuse" allegations.

I am sure a LOT of those "abuse" allegations are passengers angry because they missed their flight and got yelled at when they gave the TSA shit during a screening or something.

Ron Paul weighs in on this subject.....and I have to agree with him.

http://www.antiwar.com/paul/?articleid=4079

Just because a person hasn't personally witnessed this happening at the airport when they travel, doesn't mean it hasn't happened. Do you only believe something when it finally happens to you?

they wont listen to ron paul.

I'm with Chica... and in that direction... please Please PLEASE let one of these asshats with the TSA shirt try and slam me to the ground. I'd gladly miss my flight for the chance to sue the living shit out of him and his employer.

Along these lines, on the way to Denver a few days ago, one of the girls in front of me had those jeans with the little metal grommets all over the legs in some design. Even though she set the alarm off, they let her go without taking her to the side or anything. Some 500 lb "hunk of love" in a TSA hat looked her over, waved the wand around her body, and then let her go.

Nor does an article prove anything.

No, it doesn't. The article was about people making claims against the TSA. And I'm inclined to believe that many of them are truthful.

What's the saying? Absolute power corrupts and Power corrupts absolutely. I think it's the Barney Fife syndrome in play. Little nobodies in a job that can screw with people.

This post has been edited by Everyday Cherry: Jul 23 2008, 01:04 PM

lol........nice

Or on the flip side, its the I am special, disrespectful, impatient, and think my shit doesn’t stink syndrome in play…in my experience, most people who get screwed with by “little nobodies” bring a lot of it on themselves…

cherry is that you?