Earlier this week, 2003 Miss USA winner Susie Castillo reported an incident involving TSA agents at Dallas-Fort Worth Airport. She was “randomly” selected by screeners to go through one of the new body scanners, to which she promptly declined for alternate screening methods.
Anyway, after “opting out,” I proceeded to follow a very nice older female TSA employee to the “pat down” area. It was an inconvenience, but I thought, “No biggie. I just went through this at LAX for the first time and it wasn’t too bad, so let’s just get it over with.”
This is where it goes from stupid to insane:
Well, this pat down was completely different. It was MUCH MORE invasive than my first one at LAX, just a week before. To say that I felt invaded is an understatement. What bothered me most was when she ran the back of her hands down my behind, felt around my breasts, and even came in contact with my vagina! Honestly, I was in shock, especially since the woman at LAX never actually touched me there. The TSA employee at DFW touched private area 4 times, going up both legs from behind and from the front, each time touching me there.
She filed a written complaint with the TSA, but the TSA again denys any wrongdoing:
Between the incidents I discussed earlier this month in New Orleans and Portland, as well as this one, enough is enough. It is long overdue for reforms to be put in place for this bloated agency.
Well, there may be good news on the horizon. Since the Federal Government has failed to reign in the Department of Homeland Insecurity, states are now using their rights to shut down these illegal sexual assaults in the name of security.
In Texas, a bill was filed in the House prior to the recent incidents, and is now pending a full vote in the House. This bill, HB 1937, would make a criminal offense for a public servant or contracted employee of a Government agency to improperly handle another person while in a public facility.
Given the incident the last few weeks, the bill has picked up a number of co-sponsors, and looks likely to make it over to the Senate. No word yet if Governor Perry will sign it.
The time for this security theatre has long passed. I travel enough as it is, do I really have to be assaulted every time I have to fly? As always, the TSA will not elaborate their reasoning for doing what they do in the name of security, and will even ignore the complaints until it has to respond.
Maybe the states will force them to respond sooner rather than later.
