Yesterday, I was touched — in my opinion, inappropriately — by a TSA agent at LAX.
I'm not going to talk about it in detail until I can speak with an attorney, but I've spent much of the last 24 hours replaying it over and over in my mind, and though some of the initial outrage has faded, I still feel sick and angry when I think about it.
What I want to say today is this: I believe that the choice we are currently given by the American government when we need to fly is morally wrong, unconstitutional, and does nothing to enhance passenger safety.
I further believe that when I choose to fly, I should not be forced to choose between submitting myself to a virtually-nude scan (and exposing myself to uncertain health risks due to radiation exposure)1, or enduring an aggressive, invasive patdown where a stranger puts his hands in my pants, and makes any contact at all with my genitals.
When I left the security screening yesterday, I didn't feel safe. I felt violated, humiliated, assaulted, and angry. I felt like I never wanted to fly again. I was so furious and upset, my hands shook for quite some time after the ordeal was over. I felt sick to my stomach for hours.
This is wrong. Nobody should have to feel this way, just so we can get on an airplane. We have fundamental human and constitutional rights in America, and among those rights is a reasonable expectation of personal privacy, and freedom from unreasonable searches. I can not believe that the TSA and its supporters believe that what they are doing is reasonable and appropriate. Nobody should have to choose between a virtually-nude body scan or an aggressive, invasive patdown where a stranger puts his or her hands inside your pants and makes any contact at all with your genitals or breasts as a condition of flying.
I do not have the luxury of simply refusing to fly unless and until this policy changes. I have to travel dozens of times a year for work, and it simply isn't practical to travel any other way. Airlines know that I am not unique in this regard, so they have no incentive to take a stand on their customers' behalf. Our government also knows this, so our Congressmen and Congresswomen have no incentive to stand up for the rights and freedoms of their constituencies against powerful and politically-connected lobbyists like the former head of the TSA. This is also wrong.
I have to travel back into the USA next week, and I'll be back and forth between Los Angeles and Vancouver for much of the next several months. When I think about all this travel, I feel helpless, disempowered, and victimized by the airlines and the TSA … and I'm one of the lucky passengers who has never been sexually assaulted. I can't imagine what it must feel like for someone who has been the victim of sexual violence to know that they are faced with the same two equally-unacceptable choices that I faced yesterday, and will likely face whenever I fly in the future.
It's fundamentally wrong that any government can force its citizens to submit to totally unreasonable searches so we have the "freedom" to travel. It is fundamentally wrong that the voices of these same citizens are routinely ignored, our feelings marginalized, and our concerns mocked.
I don't know what we can do to change this, but we must do something. I'm writing letters to all of my congressional representatives, contacting an attorney, and reaching out to the ACLU when I get home. I am not optimistic that anything will change, because I feel like the system is institutionally biased against individuals like me … but maybe if tens of thousands of travelers express our outrage at this treatment, someone will be forced to listen.
Edit to add one more thing: I don't believe that all TSA officersare automatically bad people (though we've seen that at least some are.) For example, I recently flew out of Seattle, opted-out, and got a non-invasive, professional, polite patdown. It was still annoying, but at least my genitals weren't touched in any way, which was decidedly not the case yesterday. I realize that most TSA officers are doing the best they can in a job that requires them to interact with people who automatically dislike them and what they represent. It isn't the individual officer who is the problem; it's the policies he or she is instructed to carry out that need to change.
1. The TSA recently admitted that the amount of radiation passengers are exposed to in backscatter scanners was 10 times more than they originally claimed. The TSA claims that the scanners are still safe, but what else would we expect them to claim?
Amendment 4 of the US Constitution- Search and Seizure. Ratified 12/15/1791.
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
I think you were totally sexually assaulted. What you describe is pretty much textbook sexual assault.
This is a struggle for many US citizens and I think we could all use a powerful ally like yourself, Wil. Hopefully as the issue becomes more widely broadcast, people will learn to fight back.
Thank you, Wil, for shining a light on this. We should all contact our congresspeople and make them understand that we are done with this security theater.
I have a humorous yet poignant entry of my own on this, would it be rude to link it here in your comments?
Thank you for writing about this topic. The initial outrage seems to have died down due to the public’s notoriously short attention span. I hope your story moves people to action.
I’m very sorry for what happened to you, but as always, am enormously grateful for your gift of words. I hope some good comes of this.
Amazing, I really hope you do get the chance to sue and put these idiots in their place.
I’m in total agreement with you on this. “Security theatre” has been shown to offer no benefits and NO ONE should have to go through what you did – and thousands of others do each day. I’ve read that if security has failed so much that a terrorist plot has made it to the airport, there’s little that can be useful in terms of search procedures.
You want to sue them? Go for it. It’s high time someone with a sufficiently high profile that the media will care stood up on this. I have only the rarest needs to fly, but I’m seriously encouraged to plan ahead and take the train from now on.
If you do sue them, set up someplace where we can contribute to your legal fund, though. I haven’t given to any political causes in years (cash has been tight since the economy tanked) but I’ll happily contribute to restore our 4th amendment rights.
I live in the Pacific Northwest. If I need to fly internationally, I take a train to Vancouver BC to fly out, and vice-versa on the way back in.
I’ve luckily not needed to fly domestically yet, but if/when that happens and I’m subject to this whole thing, I have no doubt they’re going to have a heaping pile of crying woman on their hands. I already have enough of a hard time with the touchy-feely from someone not very close to me.
My heart goes out to you for having to endure the personal assault in the name of “safety”. No one should be molested because they need to get somewhere.
I totally agree that this is unnecessary and I am surprised that there is not more outrage. Clearly these are serious constitutional issues and should be discussed more vociferously. Much of the scanning equipment is supplied by a company owned by Michael Chertoff, former head of “homeland security”.
Finally, who takes these jobs? The fondlers, groper, laptop droppers?
http://wp.me/pKBYM-nz
I really hope that with voices as big as yours, that changes will be made. I am thankful that I don’t have to fly for work. It makes my heart hurt to know that there are so many out there being violated like this and our government (that is supposed to protect us) allows this to happen. That it thinks this is helping America. How sad for our country.
As a person of south-asian descent, I feel like I’ve put up with the TSA’s insane policies for far too long…and they’ve only gotten worse and worse. Your story has inspired me to finally do what I can and write to my representatives as well. Hackneyed as it may sound, the TSA isn’t making us safer; its giving extremists exactly what they want – and America living in fear of itself.
I’m thankful that I rarely fly, but I have to say that yours is nowhere near the first account of this kind I’ve heard. Even setting aside the “touch my junk” guy. I also have to wonder what kind of people are filling these jobs. Certainly there are normal people just doing their best, but there have to be people that get a sick thrill out of what they do, not just sexually but the power trip of degrading people…
I sincerely hope you can get the government to make a change.
Of course we are no safer. They have not caught anyone with these new procedures otherwise it would have been all over the news. If someone wants to sneak in explosives they will find another way!
It’s all theater to make people think they are safer when in reality they aren’t.
I recently had to fly out of LAX, and was faced with the same decision: an unknown amount of radiation, or being touched in extremely uncomfortable ways.
I’m a moderately attractive female over the age of eighteen, and was traveling alone. I made the painful choice of going through the scanners.
I don’t know if it was just my imagination, or what, but my skin prickled in a horrible and chilling way, the same way my mouth feels during a dental xray or my arm felt when it was xrayed to see where the break was. (Fell off a ladder. Short and stupid story.)
The feeling washed over every part of my body, and for the next couple of days I couldn’t get it out of my head.
It makes me afraid to fly. I’ve been looking into other options, such as the Amtrack trains, but they take so very long…
Why do we as a society allow this to occur? When do we draw the line?
I wish you the best in whatever path you take to fight this, Wil. Maybe, if people see the actions you take, they’ll get the courage to do so themselves.
I’m still not sure how I feel about this issue. On the one hand, I do believe in the right to free travel, the right to privacy and the need to restrain ourselves, as a society, against overreactions to irrational fears.
But at the same time, we also need security measures that protect us from guys like the would-be underwear bomber in Detroit last year. And on the whole, Wil, I’d rather you feel violated than dismembered. (But above all, I’m holding out hope for a third option.)
Punish the TSA agents. Make them as uncomfortable as you possibly can during the process. When flying, wear a Utilikilt, regimental. Ask whether the screen involves happy endings. Ask for their phone numbers and when they get off work. Apologize for your fungal infection. Make it harder for them than it is for you.
Totally jacked up. I’ve flown recently (to Atlanta- from Vegas and back again) I never experienced such a thing (perhaps domestic isn’t as extreme?). I was very anxious that I would, however. I understand all the arguments for it, people hiding bomb materials etc behind areas that they feel confident will not be searched, but has there ever been an actual discovery made of people hiding things here (other than drugs of course). It’s a Slippery Slope rationale taken to the Parade of the Horribles extreme. It’s ridiculous.
Terrorist #1: “Here’s the plan: We act all terrorist-y, and then Americans will start grabbing each other by the balls.”
Terrorist #2: “What? That is never going to work. It doesn’t even make sense as a consequence of our actions. Let’s set different goals.”
Terrorist #1: “You underestimate them.”
This terrifies me to fly in the US. Living on a Canadian-American boarder, it is significantly more cost effective for me to fly out of Buffalo opposed to Toronto and less of a hassle as it isn’t international. I’m heading to a conference in May and it worries me that something like this will happen. I wouldn’t oppose to going through the scanner based on principle, but the amount of radiation is what scares me. It is upsetting that your choices would either be to risk being inappropriately touched or to expose yourself to potentially harmful amounts of radiation. Hopefully I won’t be put in that situation but I’m incredibly anxious about it.
Wil, I am sorry you were subjected to that and in retrospect there is nothing you can do to change what happened to you. Hopefully, however, your speaking out will help prevent it from happening to someone else.
On a side note, I hope you enjoy your time in our lovely country! Vancouver is so beautiful.
Sucks, Wil. You should read up on what Penn Gilette did in a similar situation. Its a real eye opener, and seems to parallel what you went through.
Wow. I’m going on my honeymoon in a few weeks, and I’m now very glad we’ve opted to drive rather than to fly. It’s sad when *I* don’t want to fly–I love flying.
I’m very sorry to hear this happened to you. Best of luck with the proceedings, should you choose to go that route. (And I wouldn’t blame you in the least.)
It’s been a good year or more since I last flew and the touchy feeling TSA policies were not heavily enforced, but in a month, I’ll be heading out on vacation and I can tell you that I some trepidation about going through security. I would prefer the full scan to the “hands down the pants looking for something other than my penis” approach.
I hope to read more about this incident here once you have contacted your lawyer. I think something should be done. I’ve written a few letters myself and have gotten the form letter response back from all of them, including my US Rep. jason Chaffetz who has a history with TSA policies. Maybe something will happen if all of us speak out. I’d like to think so.
From what I understand, and perhaps you can provide some independent confirmation of this, it’s not everyone going through a specific security checkpoint that has to go through this ordeal but rather passengers arbitrarily selected by TSA personnel. If it was every single person it would be more likely to pass constitutional muster. Given that these scanners and checkpoint procedures are only enforced in a few states and at a few airports it also violates the 14th amendment.
When the TSA moved to the aggressive pat downs it wasn’t for security, even though they try to sell it as that, it’s to make the pat down experience so horrible you choose the full body xray. Standard manipulation practice and they need to justify the expense they paid for the xray machines.
Good new for the famous and semi-famous, Penn (of Penn & Teller) wrote about a similar experience and was offered VIP treatment around the security on future flights out of vegas. It’s just us nobies that will get groped or have to be put up on the TSA’s version of TMV (TSV?).
I’ve been travelling for work regularly for the past five years and I’ve been lucky to avoid this kind of thing. Unfortunately, not everyone I know has been so lucky. If you get some sort of petition or action going on this, I’d be happy to join in. I know that my luck will one day run out and I’ll be just as angry as you are now. I’d like to avoid that, if possible, by having the scope/activities of TSA changed soon.
I can understand your anger, but before you ask them to remove this, do you have a replacement security measure??
Maybe it’s cause I’m european but I dont care about a nude body scan, also people say that if the terrorist get to the airport then this does nothing? really? i’m pretty sure they are all trying to get on the plane to cause damage, I come from the one city to face an attack on the building, Glasgow and while we can look after our own, if they sneak a bomb onto the plane, then can you really turn around with good mind and say oh well they died cause i didnt want to have this screening, I for one dont wish another lockerbie over scottish soil or any country
I agree with everything you said about the screenings. Give ’em hell. However your footnote link regarding the radiation output of the backscatter scanners seems not to say what you think it says. From the linked article:
“Rapiscan technicians in the field are required to test radiation levels 10 times in a row, and divide by 10 to produce an average radiation measurement. Often, the testers failed to divide results by 10, Horowitz said.”
““Oftentimes, the FSE will bypass the step of dividing by 10. While the resulting entry, at a pragmatic level, is understandable on its face and usable for monitoring purposes, the value, if read literally by persons unfamiliar with our system and the survey process, would imply energy outputs that are unachievable by the Secure 1000 Single Pose,” (.pdf) Rapiscan wrote.”
Wouldn’t this mean that the scanners actually produce 10x LESS radiation than the faulty results indicated?
I’m sorry…hands INSIDE your pants? Excuse me?! That’s assault. They could argue that doing a pat-down OUTSIDE the clothes was required, but absolutely nowhere does it say they are allowed to insert their hands INSIDE the clothes. Oh no. I’d be on the phone w/my attorney in a hot second! I’d probably have yelled bloody murder at the time as well. Requested that the police arrest the person for sexual assault, made a whole big scene…but that’s just me (having been assaulted in the past, I’m extremely vocal if someone gets too touchy-feely).
Not that it isn’t still a ridiculous mistake, of course. 😛
I’m not commenting on the general contents of the post, but your summary of the Wired article is incorrect. It doesn’t say that the amount of radiation is 10 times more than was claimed before. It says that it’s actually 10 times less than tests have showed, because of the error in the report forms.
As a historian these types of situations usually end in 1 of 2 ways. Massive public outrage that causes a boycott of the product (highly unlikely as you have pointed out) or a Supreme Court case. If anybody is willing to put their public record on the line for the good of the American people they will be backed by the 1st and 4th Amendment. All it takes is one guy to insist of checking a TSA person when they are checked and a court case can unsue!
Sadly the number of genitals that will be touched as a result of TSA’s policy will be high regardless of the outcome.
Sharon Cissna – Alaska State Representative and breast cancer survivor who refused patdown, was kicked off flight and blacklisted by TSA from flying (last I heard) – Read article
What happened to you – and many other people – is totally inappropriate, and I hope that your cries of outrage are noticed. It’s ridiculous what people are being put through, and it’s completely inexcusable for someone to violate you in such a way.
Go get ’em!
I am a victims Advocate, as well as a psychologist with an expertise in sex offenders- you were sexually assaulted. I hope your lawyer is helpful because no one deserves or should be treated the way you were. I don’t have to travel often, but I dread these new laws because there isn’t a choice- unknown radiation amounts and being virtually nude versus a stranger touching me? No thanks, I’ll pass on both. I have friends who fly often for similar reasons as you, and I dread hearing negative comments from them.
Thank you for sharing your experience- you are a voice in our generation, and it is important that people who feel as you do speak up! I wish that I had some great piece of wisdom, but I think the rest of the commenters have covered that.
While I certainly don’t fly nearly as much as a lot of people, I have never been physically touched by TSA or any other type of airport security personnel. I have been, for reasons unknown, on a TSA “watchlist” for many years that precludes online check-in, and must have an agent check me in manually for every flight I take. I have filed stacks of documentation with Homeland Security, and have been issued “Redress Numbers” which I file with the carriers. The redress procedures have done nothing to resolve my admittedly merely irritating situation. It does point out another example of Homeland Security is broken and needs to be fixed. It’s what happens when the people running the show don’t know what they’re doing. They block everything and let us deal with the fallout. We need to get smarter people making the decisions.
I’ve been blogging about this for some time. It’s outrageous, it’s wrong, and it needs to stop. The more voices speaking out, the better.
“I can’t imagine what it must feel like for someone who has been the victim of sexual violence” – THIS. And it is exactly why I toe the edge of a panic attack every time I get into a security check-point line. Which, of course, makes me look ‘suspect’.
I think many of us feel like ‘the little guys’ and do not think that our voices would be heard. Maybe someone like you would be able to organize something that would have to be listened to for once. I, for one, would be completely on board.
So Wil, I must reply to this with the following:
I agree with you. That being said, much of the rest of the world goes through highly invasive security screenings to board aircraft (ask Israel about their experiences).
That being said, the amount of radiation you receive from those scanners is actually not all that bad. Everyone is scared of Radiation, but did you realize that as Americans we receive 8 times as much background radiation as some other locations on this planet? Everything is radioactive to a degree, we just don’t measure some of the tiniest levels.
Keep in mind that a lot of times when you hear how horrible radiation is from something, a lot of times that’s people who don’t know how much radiation their own body is giving them. (hint, there’s an element in your body that is 1000x more radioactive than Uranium – but it’s in such a small quantity that it’s not even noticeable.)
So I suggest if you’re significantly concerned about the government’s claims of safety, do a bit more research on the actual REM count of an X-Ray and post your findings here. The link you posted indicated a dose REM of 0.72.
I travel in and around America fairly often, and have first hand experience of what you talk about, when I last visited I went to see Penn and Teller in Vegas and they spoke, also very passionately, about the subject. In the lobby afterwards I bought one of these – http://securityedition.com/ I encourage everyone to carry one!
You are in the same situation as tens of millions of fellow travellers. We all should continue to write letters and contact our representatives to stop this unconstitutional practice. Please use your voice to add to the growing resistance to this violation. We don’t have to just accept this – please practice civil disobedience and make it as difficult as possible for the TSA thugs to perform their ‘duties’. The airlines will only respond to the bottom line, but when flights start getting slowed due to noncompliance at the TSA checkpoint they will respond. In addition, write to and call the airlines to let them know your thoughts on the matter, not just once, but every time you fly.
On a side note, police officers are allowed to carried a loaded firearm on the plane. Even if they are retired. Even in states that don’t have concealed carry (Such as a WI police officer carrying his gun on a plane).
Wil,
While it’s not necessarily great that you had to undergo this experience, I am glad to have another voice join in protest. If enough of us speak up, maybe eventually they powers that be will listen.
I honestly think the only way to make them take note is to hit them where it hurts – financially. If enough of us refused to fly and made it cost prohibitive for TSA agencies to operate, they’d scale it back. But will that happen? No. We rely on airlines too much.
Incidentally, I heard some noise a few months ago about TSA installing scanners and checkpoints for trains, bus stations and international shipping ports. This, if implemented, limits alternatives for those of us who can and do choose to travel via alternative modes. Whether they follow through on this plan remains to be seen.
The problem is not the “nudity”, it’s the radiation you’re exposed to in that scan.
Also, the TSA have already admitted the “underwear bomber”‘s gear would not have been discovered during the scan so it’s pointless.
This is part of why I don’t fly anymore. Used to be I’d be on a plane 3-4 times a month, not now. Between the greed of the airlines and the blatant invasiveness of TSA I prefer to drive…or even walk, if need be.
Wil, I have been reading your blog for about 6 months, and many of your entry’s have connected with me emotionally. After reading about your excitement to go to Vancouver to keep working on that amazing show, and then to read your TSA tweet was heart breaking. I don’t fly often, but the very idea of the security options to get into the US is enough to kill any idea’s for me to fly there. I applaud your choice to be so vocal about the disgusting nature of it all. I wish you all the luck in the world and anyone else that has gone through it to speak up and say no more. Keep doing what you do, cause its all amazing!
I too have been assulted in the past.. and I have been avoiding flying at all costs. I’m Canadian – flying to/from Toronto isn’t too painful. WestJet actually makes flying fun. However, I have scheduled to go from Vancouver to Pittsburgh at the end of May. I *seriously* considered flying into Toronto and driving, but nine hour drive..
Wil, please, raise hell. Its SCARY how much power these people have. We need someone we love and respect to stand behind. Someone who is as well spoken as yourself, an accomplished public speaker, and well known without being one of the Hollywood freak shows.
The state of being in the States reminds me of stories of McCartyism.. but I’m on the outside looking in.
Absolutely true, even though they claim they trump that right with their “administrative search”. Somebody needs to get this high enough in the courts that the Constitution is re-applied to the situation.
I was on my way into the magnetometer, literally walking into it, when I was pulled out by a TSA guy in a different lane for the backscatter scanner.
You have a lot more faith in SCotUS than I do. See the recent border search ruling. What Fourth Amendment?