Airport pat-downs trigger alarm, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 25 Nov 04
"Screeners are supposed to pat down passengers if a metal detector goes off or if a passenger is wearing something bulky or baggy and the contours of the body are not visible. Also, some passengers are randomly selected for a 'secondary' search, which includes a scan with a hand wand, a bag search and a pat-down. About 10 percent of all passengers are selected.
"Many passengers have found the searches intrusive and unnecessary. Others said screeners used the front or side of their hands, and not the back of the hand.
"'Look at what I'm wearing,' said Snipes, as she stood up and showed off a thin, tight, stretchy, short-sleeved shirt that revealed every curve of her chest and torso. 'Does it look like I'm hiding anything?'
An 83-year-old woman, whose pacemaker had apparently triggered the metal detector, said she was embarrassed when a stranger singled her out and ran her hands up and down her body.
"'I'm an old lady,' said the California woman, who didn't want to be named. 'I thought, "For God's sake, what are you looking for?" I've never had anyone do that to me before.'
"In New York, a woman is considering filing a lawsuit after a pat-down in Florida, the Dallas Morning News reported. A Colorado woman complained to the TSA after a screener asked her to lift her shirt and expose her stomach in front of several men, while her toddler cried, the paper said.
"A woman in Florida was recently asked to strip off her belt, shoes and leather jacket -- and then her shirt. After much protest, she took off her shirt to reveal a thin, see-through camisole, which didn't stop a screener from touching her breast and groin area, The New York Times reported.
"Doug Honig, a spokesman for the ACLU in Washington state, said the agency has gotten several complaints and plans to discuss them with the TSA and the Department of Homeland Security."
As I read this I recalled Arundhati Roy's comment from her Seattle Town Hall appearance: "The USA PATRIOT Act is not meant for the terrorists. It is meant for you. It is meant to terrorize you."
GitLR's original post on this issue
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