TSA NSFW: Embarrassing, Demeaning and Inappropriate

Remember the unfortunate 5-year-old boy who was publicly strip searched at the airport this weekend? New details are beginning to emerge:

The filmer, Luke Tait, wrote that "the boy was shy so the TSA couldn’t complete" the search.

The child was physically resisting agents, Tait said.

"Twice before the video starts, his dad had to hold him and pulled his arms up in a V-shape to allow the TSA agent to continue," he told The Salt Lake Tribune.

The father pulled the boy’s shirt off "in frustration," prompting an agent to shout, "Sir, sir!" Tait said...

Tait said he walked toward the father and son to talk with them after agents sent them into the terminal, but a man in a dark suit pulled him aside. The man had just been speaking with TSA agents, Tait said, but he did not show a badge or identify himself.

"He started to question me: ‘Why was I recording the procedures of TSA?’ ‘What are your plans with this video?’ " Tait said. "I said it looked like something was going on; I never [before] saw a shirtless young boy getting patted down."

The man then told Tait to delete the video in front of him, arguing the video invaded the family’s privacy.

Oh, the ironic hypocrisy! The gropers are worried about privacy!

This morning, the TSA's official internet troll, Blogger Bob, sent me a link to an "explanation" of the strip search:

"@rightklik Response to 'Young Boy Strip Searched by TSA' → http://ow.ly/3dyJ5"

Here's the TSA's spin:

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.

Tommy Christopher makes a very important point: "TSA’s account points out that 'no complaints were filed,' but that obviously doesn’t mean no one complained."

The bottom line is that this is very cold comfort from the TSA. The new screening protocols are so invasive, people are stripping down to avoid gropes and radiation. And if you don't take off your clothes, the TSA is going in anyway. ABC News producer Carolyn Durand gives a graphic personal account:

The woman who checked me reached her hands inside my underwear and felt her way around. It was basically worse than going to the gynecologist. It was embarrassing. It was demeaning. It was inappropriate.

Video:

And via the San Francisco Examiner, here's the obligatory see-thru underwear pat down protest video [Warning: NSFW]:

Discussion: Memeorandum

X-posted

Updates:

• Rush Limbaugh: "Keep Your Hand Off My Tea Bag Mr. President!" (via BBCW)
• Pistole: You don't have a right to travel.