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No, TSA, I will not lift my skirt for you.

By: Tabitha Hale (Diary)  |  November 8th, 2011 at 11:30 AM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

Yesterday, I arrived at the airport to head from Houston, TX (IAH) back to Washington, DC (DCA). I am a frequent flyer – I know how the system works. I took off my boots and glasses, pulled my laptop out and went to walk through the metal detector. Naturally, I’d been selected to go through the scanner.

I always opt out of the scanners. It’s sort of a form of civil protest for me. It slows the process down. They get cranky. And I always do it publicly because I want everyone to see what the pat down is actually like. I also feel like they’ll be less invasive if people are watching.

I happened to be wearing a sleeveless cotton dress, a lightweight cardigan, and tights. I stepped aside for the invasion and they ask me to spread my legs.

She started by asking me to take my cardigan off. I said I’d rather not. She seemed put out, but didn’t make me remove it and began the pat down from behind. She made me lift up my cardigan to check my back, went into my sleeves, and touched every inch of my hair.

Then she got to my waist band. I had on black tights under my dress, which I’m certain is not uncommon. She asked me to lift my dress so she could check the waistband of my tights.

I felt my stomach drop. I said “I’m not lifting my dress for you. No way.” She was obviously irritated with me now and said that she would take me to the private screening area if I would like.

I said “No, absolutely not. If you can’t do this in front of everyone, you should not be doing this to me.”

She then called a manager over. The manager approached me and explained what they were going to do and that if I failed to comply, they would escort me from the airport. I told her I saw no reason that they should have to lift my dress to clear me to get on a plane. I would have, however, allowed them to escort me out of the airport before they got me to lift my skirt and stick their hands down my tights. I was bracing myself to spend another night in Texas.

She sensed the rebellion in me, and it was almost like they were punishing me for not just lifting my dress and making their lives easier. She checked every inch of my neckline, sticking her fingers between my breasts because she needed to “clear” the (very slight) ruffle.

They cleared the waistband of my tights through my dress, then made me put one leg forward at a time so they could get better “definition of my thigh.” She then proceded to pat down every inch of me, all the way up to my crotch. And yes, she used that word. Twice.

It reminded me of the time in Columbus, Ohio last November that one of the agents told me to think of the pat down as a “free massage from TSA.” I reminded her at the time that you needed to post a license for that.

The pat down in Houston yesterday was so vigorous I had to readjust my clothes when she was finished. Even my bra straps had been pulled down my shoulders in the process. I felt completely violated, immediately called a friend to recap, and took to Twitter to draw as much attention to the incident as I could.

Here’s the thing. If anyone else had done this to me, I would have decked them and likely filed charges. The fact that the person has on a TSA uniform is supposed to make it okay? It isn’t. Why should any person be subjected to this to get on an airplane? We’re supposed to subject ourselves to inappropriate touch for teh sake of “safety”?

I fly for my job. I travel frequently. I take trains when I can, but most of the time it’s just not practical. The fact that I have to endure this type of force just to do my job is horrifying. I don’t really have another option. Most of us who travel for work don’t have a choice.

I have to get on a plane to Denver tomorrow, and am honestly dreading the idea of going through the airport. TSA needs to go. This has gone so far beyond a security precaution, and is a clear violation of the rights of travelers. Showing my business to an airport full of people is not in the interests of safety. It is wrong.

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  • autiger89

    As Evan Sayet said, to not profile is to intentionally make ourselves stupid.

    The TSA is just another symptom of the problem.

    • http://punditpawn.wordpress.com punditpawn

      Simply the Government playing pretend to create the illusion of doing something so they can’t be sued when the next terrorist strike happens.

      Kind of like Government goons sending memos to Holder that other Government goons decide never need to be read.

    • bigal1234

      We can thank Congress for refusing to reign in this problem. Until properly addressed, it will grow worse like a malignancy. Sad to watch the continuing decline of such a great nation.

      • GregInFla

        for the 9-11 hijackers.

  • Brian Darling

    This tale is all to common. The TSA needs to back off. What does it say in the Constitution?
    Amendment IV
    “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects, against unreasonable searches and siezures, shall no be violated…”

    • jakeofalltrades

      if anyone even whispers the words “national security”.

  • Menlo

    This is something a President could change and is in complete control over (thanks in part to the Orwellian “Patriot” Act). None of the Republican nominees have said a word on it, and no one seems to be demanding they do. Instead people seem more focused on things the President cannot do anything about.

    We’ve got a government that’s raping its own people. How could ANY human being be okay with that, regardless of any supposed justification?!

  • westcoastpatriette

    Thank God I don’t have to fly for a living. Not sure how I would handle the invasion of privacy on a regular basis.

    Tried to recommend, but it would not work.

  • http://www.laborunionreport.com LaborUnionReport

    Although the TSOs won’t accept the money, I think they understand the message.

  • runner12

    I cannot believe you had to go through that. This should not be going on in America. We have to find better ways to maintain security that do not trample over the Constitution in the process.

  • papabear

    At what point did “our” big government (R)inos feel so secure in their power that they helped force sexual assault on the citizenry in exchange for false security???

  • http://www.itsaboutliberty.com IronDioPriest

    Part of the strategy of controlling a population is to make the individual feel powerless. Make enough individuals feel like they are powerless even over their own bodies, and the sense of being entitled to individual liberty can be eroded and dispensed with throughout the entire society.

    Can’t we see where this is leading? Not just the TSA – that’s just a mechanism. Can’t we see tyranny when it is staring us in the face? Do we believe the American legacy so strong in our veins that it cannot be violated by tyrants?

  • wimpie

    Meanwhile, Americans who travel from one part of America to another by plane are subjected to degrading pat downs and naked body scans that by no means has been proven medically safe.

    Because some bad men attacked us ten years ago, we created a nanny security state in which poorly trained bottom rung employees of a vast security apparatus are given god-like powers over those poor schlubs who find themselves in need of a plane ride.

    Nothing degrades this nation more than the cowardly ways in which we responded to a one-day flurry of terror. Out of fear of terrorism, we opened the doors wide to fascism.

    DHS is nothing more than a conduit through which Congress shovels money to security contractors and the military-industrial complex.

    • Menlo

      I opposed all these knee-jerk reactions from the very start and continue to believe as I always have that too many people’s fears and responses have been way overblown by both parties to the extent of supporting unambiguously unconstitutional, dangerous, and Orwellian acts of government. I am not a “we.”

      Even if he doesn’t eliminate any agencies, is it too much to ask that a Republican nominee even raise the fact that the government is literally raping people or that more people demand they raise it?

  • radicalrighty

    In fact she probably looks like a feminine-version of these guys:

    http://www.bing.com/search?q=911+terriosts+photos&form=OSDSRC#/images/search?q=911+terriosts+photos&view=detail&&id=FC673796E69D17B5404A9F835A7D89BB7B5422E6&first=0&qpvt=911+terriosts+photos&FORM=IDFRIR&shash=1

    I would be all for pat-downs of grandmothers, 6 year-old kids, and American red-heads, if the TSA could find a shoe bomb, box-cutter, or pantie bomb on just one of them. Just one. Ever.

    Israel, surrounded by, and infiltrated by, sworn enemies, don’t do pat-downs, and they have the safest airlines in the world.

    Israel says to hell with PC, and embraces racial profiling.

    The US embraces PC.

    Tabbitha should try the burka on her next trip. She’d probably breeze right through TSA security . . .

    • Green_Lantern

      if you realize how brilliant your idea is RR. But it is.

      Tabitha, would you do this on your next trip? I will buy the burka for you if you’ll do it and report on your experience. If you want to do it, contact me at ak.from.wake.forest@gmail.com

  • earlgrey

    I am also a woman traveler and I try to opt out of the screening. I am uncomfortable with the safety, and I find it undignifying (like we are cattle getting weighed or something).

    They do punish you if you opt out I have had to wait several minutes while I watched others breeze through the normal metal dectectors. Why if they don’t have enough staff must I wait if they are letting others go through the old style ones.

    They yelled at me for edging forward from my holding area so that I could monitor my belongings. When I complained I was yelled at saying “you opted out!”, as if their incompetance is my fault It is not.

    I complained to the supervisor who was so condescening I wanted to deck him. No apologies whatsoever for the delay and letting my designer handbag (my only one — a gift from my mom) sit on the belt out of my sight while I was put in a holding area.

  • NRPax

    Is that I have seen complaints on incidents like this make their way to TSA’s blog and their answers are always the same:
    1. The complainant is lying or exaggerating what happened.
    2. We investigated the matter and found nothing wrong.
    3. This is the price we pay for being secure.
    4. Our people are professionals and would NEVER do this.
    5. The complainant is lying or exaggerating what happened. This is important enough to repeat.

  • http://UnitedConservativesofVirginia Cargosquid

    the terrorists filled skies of the 70′and 80′s without patdowns.

    Planes were coming down, but, pat downs were not considered necessary.

    TSA has got to go.

  • Finrod

    I’d say more here, but then Erick or Moe would ban me for violating the no profanity rule.

  • ATGinCT

    My wife and I traveled to Ireland, Spain, Italy and Monaco last fall. We don’t really fly much although I fly quite a bit more than she, in discussing the trip I mentioned what we might encounter here in the US at the hands of the TSA and it was almost enough to cancel the trip.

    I hope our next congress and president address the abuses against our freedoms at the hands of unelected officials.

  • texasref

    It is embarassing that this is the legacy of 9/11. Law-abiding citizens getting searched by government agents against the 4th amendment requirement of probable cause. Thank you for your bravery, Tabitha.

  • boonerdan

    Those you who who keep referencing the Constitution are naive. The Constitution is that old piece of parchment that used to mean something to a formerly free people.

    The fact that Americans accept this treatment is a bigger affront to our history and those that died for our freedoms than any invasion the tyrants could ever perpetrate. They know that the sheep will continue to accept incremental encroachment as long as it is offered under the guise of safety and security.

    “For the first time in my adult life, I am ASHAMED to be an American.” We should all be ashamed of ourselves.

  • florajo

    I’m speculating a bit here, but I think that Herman Cain could really show the TSA how it’s done.

  • jimkress999

    You were sexually assaulted. File charges and force the TSA to respond in open court. Force them to have the cretins who molested you there as witnesses so they can be exposed to public ridicule.

    Use a writ of Mandamus if you have to, on the court, but use every legal means to force these perverts into public view and be publicly identified.

    Then make sure the proceedings, with all names and relevant personal information, is made public.

    The GESTAPO would not have been so effective if their actions had been exposed to the light of the sun.

  • congressworksforus

    And I have gotten nothing but professional treatment.

    But then I fly a lot, and make a point of making sure that the TSA Droid knows that. And that I fly in/out of DC a lot, so I know what is and isn’t permitted. I make sure they know that too.

    Almost all the time, the TSA Droid is happy that I understand how it works.

    But I have also made the decision that the first time I get assaulted, I will deck the guy.

    Yes, I will be arrested, but my day in court will be the best day of my life.

    “Your honor, I was sexually assaulted in full view of anyone watching. This is the nth* pat-down I have had, and this was no pat-down. It was assault. I have a right defend myself from anyone that assaults me, even if they do work for the government.”

    *Yes, I keep count. More than three dozen so far. I avoid them as much as I can, but sometimes you cannot.

    A lot of airports have lanes without imaging systems; I’ve learned where they are. Others turn them off in peak travel periods. I’ve learned that too. When I do get a pat-down, I always chat with the agents, especially if it’s an airport I fly a lot. (I’ve had situations where I have been waved through the X-ray rather than go through the machine, because the agent recognized me.)

    Oh… yes… that means the bad guys have all this available to them too of course.

    Which goes to show how worthless the whole process is.

    And, we’ve not even gotten to the part about how the machine operators miss the majority of test “passengers” that go through. (I’ve seen that number as high as 75% in some reports, and I’ve had TSA Droids admit it to me too.)

    TSA is a joke, and everyone knows it.

    But someone is profiting from the sale of these machines, so don’t expect them to go away anytime soon…

  • buddyp

    When I get on a plane I have this strange concern about the possibility that someone getting on the plane will try to blow it up or hijack it or in some other way commit a terrorist act against passengers. A very low probability for my particular flight, but nevertheless a possibility.

    So we have scanners to reduce this risk, to make it harder and less likely that someone can smuggle an explosive or other weapon aboard.

    I would assume that someone trying to commit such a terrorist act would prefer not to go through the scanners.

    People have the option to avoid the scanners, so in those cases we naturally need some other means of checking them for explosives/weapons.

    I’d also assume that a person concealing explosives or a weapon would not want to be patted down everywhere an explosive or other weapon could be concealed.

    And I assume that, if some areas where explosives/weapons can be concealed are known to be off-limits for pat downs, it’s a fairly simple matter for a terrorist to conceal the explosives/weapon there, then opt out of the scanner and get patted down in other areas.

    So I ask you: Is that what you would like? Should we make it that much easier for a terrorist just so you can opt out of a scanner to make some statement you want to make, and then avoid being thoroughly patted down?

    • congressworksforus

      Read my comment above; the machines don’t work. They fail to detect as much as a quarter of the things “test passengers” go through with.

      Oh, and I didn’t even get to the fact they aren’t safe for someone that travels on a weekly basis. (Which, btw, is the real reason they’re introducing the trusted traveler program; they don’t want sued down the road.)

      • buddyp

        ok, certainly the stuff you mention should be considered as part of the cost-benefit analysis of using the scanners, but Tabitha’s diatribe is predicated on her unwillingness to go through the scanners as “sort of a form of civil protest”, which I assume is based on her sense that it is an invasion of privacy, and she makes no cost-benefit point regarding efficacy or safety, so let me ask you this: If — just hypothetically — changes were made such that you felt the machines were safe and effective, would you then share my perspective and ask Tabitha, as I did, somewhat rhetorically if she is suggesting we, in effect, give terrorists the opportunity to opt out of scanners and to know where they can conceal explosives or a weapon without it being found in a pat-down due to publicly-known, off-limits areas such as the one’s Tabitha mentions?

        And please don’t say you don’t deal with hypotheticals. It’s a legitimate hypothetical question to focus on the principles involved in my objection to Tabitha’s position. I want to see if you’d see things my way if (hypothetically) you felt the safety and efficacy were satisfactory.

    • deVere

      http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/explainer/2011/01/whats_so_great_about_israeli_security.html

      http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/forget_the_porn_machines_NQAJ5DOzf187gdRQnLURlO

      It’s really hard to find a decent job with a B.A. in psychology. Airport profiler would be a great career niche for our psych grads.

      I haven’t flown since the porn scanners came into service. If I was forced to fly I think I’d take the scan over the grope. But I still have fond memories of being profiled by a cute young thing at Ben Gurion Airport.

  • brojohn2

    of course it means I have to leave a day or two early for my trip, but I don’t have to put up with some perverted person grabbing what I consider my private parts. I do believe it was Benjamin Franklin that made the observation that; when we give up our personal freedom for security, we are no longer free.

    I think we need to begin to send messages to our Representatives in the House and Senators in the Senate (who do not have to suffer this injustice), and let them know that it is time for them to either end this miscarriage of justice, or find another job.

  • http://www.800cart.com Ron Robinson

    I try to do the same thing, but I know I don’t appear as ‘fun’ to pat down as you do.

    When you stand up for your rights, Tabitha, you are standing up for the rights of all of us.

    I for one am grateful. Thanks, Tabitha.

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