Permission given under duress does not constitute consent.
June 27, 2016
I was plucked from security line at Midway for a secondary screening…which took way over an hour. I was alone there with at least12 agents. They wouldn’t let me use the restroom after a 3 hr flight. They poked, probed and swabbed everything on me and my purse EVEN though I had TSA prepaid clearance. I stood there for 20 min while one guy was on phone resolving problems and wouldn’t tell me why I was there. He didn’t call a female screener for 15 minutes, after four calls and much later, a rude woman says”follow me”. No explanations.They were nasty, rude and I felt like it was racial discrimination…for the first time in my life. Only one nice man apologized somewhat and said the man on phone should have let me go to bathroom. They had my phone and IPad, so I couldn’t call my husband. The woman made me go through screening machines 3 times and yelled at me to go back twice. After that, I got a total body search, hands on breasts, crotch, etc.She ambled along retrieving my passport for 10 minutes, which was just feet away.i have proof that our flight arrived at 5:16, and proof that at 6:55 I messaged my husband that I was still being held. I am furious. Filed a complaint with TSA and Midway. Never, ever been treated like this. I don’t want money, but would like to know how to punish horrible employees and make TSA accountable! I learned later that by law, I was allowed to have a witness/ husband with me, but they wouldn’t answer me. What can I do? I am a 61 year old grandmother,btw.
Linda Sparrow
1009 Old Cannons Lane
Louisville, Ky 40207
502-639-6870
By: Linda Sparrow
hey,linda!I had a simmilar experience on the vaclav havel airport in prague,czech republic.i am a 17 year old italian girl and i was travelling on my own back to rome.when i left the hotel it was 3 o’clock in the morning and i was so sleepy that i didn’t took care of what i was wearing .i have to admit that it was somehow my fault because i had innapropriate clothing for going through security check.that day i was wearing a high amount of jewlery(earrings,necklace,watch,bracelet,2 rings,anckle bracelet and a nipple piercing that i have completely forgotten about).my jeans had metallic zipper and button,the collar of my shirt had some studs,i was wearing underwired bra and my shoes had a small metallic part.even my hair was in a ponytail and the hairtie had also a metallic part…
so,i arrived at the airport so early(more than 2 hours before my flight),waited for a while then went to the ckeci-in point.after that i headed to the security cheeckpoint.there were just 3 people in front of me.i started taking off my jacket,belt and everything out of my pockets.when i went through the detector the alarm started to beep.the female officer(she was so cool)smiled and told me to take off my shoes and walk through again.the machine was set off again and the woman instructed me to take off all my jewlery.i took off my rings,bracelet,anklebracelet,necklace and she helped me to remove my earrings.even this time the metal detector went off.i was desperate.the female agent didn’t get angry as most security workers do and she said calmly:m’am,your outfit requires a more thorough search that will be conducted in a private area.please take your belongings and follow me.”we went to a small room and the kind lady asked me if i want another female to assist me.i said no.she then began to search my purse and inspect my jewlerries,shoes belt and phone and swabed them with an explosive device.after that,she swabbed my hands,belt-line and hair with the same explosive device and then she instructed me to take off my socks in order to be sniffed by a drugdog.in a few minutes an agent came with a dog,sniffed me and my belongings then left.
next,the woman told me she is going to pat me down and advised me that the search is going to be more intimate and very humiliating.i assumed the position and she began patting me down from head to toe,touching every inch of my body many times,insisting in some areas.when the pat down was over she took a small metal detector and wanded me with it.it beeped in the area of my head,collar,waistband and at the nipple where my piercing was.i then rememberd and told her about my piercing.the lady touched the nipple and told me:m’am,i am going to conduct a strip search on you.”she instructed me to take off my jeans and shirt first.i did so and and she came with a small flashlight and instructed me to open my mouth real wide,stick out my tongue,say “aaa”,lower my lips and she looked inside my mouth with the flashlight.next,she checked inside my nose,then looked in my ears and behind them.after that she told me to untie my hair,tilt my head forward and shake my hair.then she came near me and ran their fingers through my hair.then she ckecked my bellybutton with the flashlight and instructed me to raise my arms in order to check my armpits.then she checked the bottom of my feet and i had to wiggle my toes.at last she said:m’am please remove your underwear and hand it to me.”she ckecked my underwear then she asked me to lift one breast at a time(when she saw the piercing she smiled) then squat down and cough 4 times at last turn around and spread my buttckeeks real wide.after waving my naked body one more time with the small metal detector,said to me very friendly:thanks for your cooperatin,m’am!you are free to go.”she helped me to get dressed and put back all my jewleries and in the end apologised for the humiliation of the process.i said it’s ok and smiled back to her.even if i felt really embarassed,the lady made me feel comfortable with the search and she treated me with respect.
What does this have to do with TSA?