I stood there, an American citizen, sexually assaulted by a government official
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I stood there, an American citizen, sexually assaulted by a government official
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Re: I stood there, an American citizen, sexually assaulted by a government official
#2The thing that sets this post apart from others of the same category is the fact that the author was not given a choice in the search. This is exactly what a lot of discussion around here has been about (though admittedly the opposite of the expected outcome). The fact that it was a pat down, not a pat down or a scan is new. In most situations, the TSA could claim the the pat down is a choice, but here that is obviously not possible.
As for the assault claims, I am not surprised. I can't imagine TSA agents always remember to explain exactly what is going to happen. Pat downs are invasive and uncomfortable, but unexpected invasion must be much worse.
Re: I stood there, an American citizen, sexually assaulted by a government official
#3According to the TSA, http://bit.ly/b133H4 ,
"there is no fondling, squeezing, groping, or any sort of sexual assault taking place at airports. You have a professional workforce carrying out procedures they were trained to perform to keep aviation security safe."
Does this mean my government lying to me?? Well I'll be damned!
Re: I stood there, an American citizen, sexually assaulted by a government official
#4For all the understandable outrage, this seems like a genie that will be very hard to put back in the bottle.
What politician is going to risk canning a security protocol when there's a not-unreasonable chance of a civilian airplane being blown up in the next few years? Who wants to be the politician that has to explain, after several hundred people died, why they canned any device or protocol which may have helped stopped the attack, however remote the likelihood?
I'm not saying it's rational or appropriate, I'm saying it's politically untenable, regardless of the horror stories like the one posted.
Perhaps airlines should offer 'enhanced' or 'standard' security flights, and people can choose whether they fly on a plane where everyone has pat downs or scans, or whether they don't. At least that way there would be a choice...
Re: I stood there, an American citizen, sexually assaulted by a government official
#5The thing that sets this post apart from others of the same category is the fact that the author was not given a choice in the search. This is exactly what a lot of discussion around here has been about (though admittedly the opposite of the expected outcome). The fact that it was a pat down, not a pat down or a scan is new. In most situations, the TSA could claim the the pat down is a choice, but here that is obviou…
>I can't imagine TSA agents always remember to explain exactly what is going to happen.
Flight attendants are required by law to run through a pre flight safety instructional for every flight - even though we have all heard it many times. Police officers are required to read you your miranda rights.
TSA agents should be very well versed in all options afforded passengers under the law and be very well capable of relaying that information to any passenger without being prompted.
If the flying public is expected to be treated like terrorists you better believe I expect TSA agents to know exactly what they are doing.
Re: I stood there, an American citizen, sexually assaulted by a government official
#6For all the understandable outrage, this seems like a genie that will be very hard to put back in the bottle. What politician is going to risk canning a security protocol when there's a not-unreasonable chance of a civilian airplane being blown up in the next few years? Who wants to be the politician that has to explain, after several hundred people died, why they canned any device or protocol which may have helped s…
I cannot recall a similar issue sparking as much across-the-board outrage since the "war on terrorism" began. However taboo it may be to discuss relaxing security requirements, that may turn out to be the lesser of two political evils.
Re: I stood there, an American citizen, sexually assaulted by a government official
#7The thing that sets this post apart from others of the same category is the fact that the author was not given a choice in the search. This is exactly what a lot of discussion around here has been about (though admittedly the opposite of the expected outcome). The fact that it was a pat down, not a pat down or a scan is new. In most situations, the TSA could claim the the pat down is a choice, but here that is obviou…
>I can't imagine TSA agents always remember to explain exactly what is going to happen. Flight attendants are required by law to run through a pre flight safety instructional for every flight - even though we have all heard it many times. Police officers are required to read you your miranda rights. TSA agents should be very well versed in all options afforded passengers under the law and be very well capable of rela…
I'm not saying they shouldn't be expected to follow SOP, I am saying that I'm not surprised that it doesn't always happen. By no means should this be excused. People make mistakes. It just happens to be the case that this mistake is worse than others and may result in sexual assault charges.
Re: I stood there, an American citizen, sexually assaulted by a government official
#8For all the understandable outrage, this seems like a genie that will be very hard to put back in the bottle. What politician is going to risk canning a security protocol when there's a not-unreasonable chance of a civilian airplane being blown up in the next few years? Who wants to be the politician that has to explain, after several hundred people died, why they canned any device or protocol which may have helped s…
What is politically untenable are stories like these. This is an absolute nightmare.
Re: I stood there, an American citizen, sexually assaulted by a government official
#9I've argued that the correct way to do airline safety is the way ElAl does it. The most salient argument against that is that the ElAl system will not scale. So let me get this straight, privacy stripping full body scanners and an army of ill-trained TSA agents is a more scalable solution?
The current situation is untenable. I am incredibly concerned by the latest round of rights and liberty infringing actions by the government in the name of "security". If it is not "security" it is "children". What remains to be seen is whether or not the current solution is scaleable in the face of tremendous public outcry.
Re: I stood there, an American citizen, sexually assaulted by a government official
#10For all the understandable outrage, this seems like a genie that will be very hard to put back in the bottle. What politician is going to risk canning a security protocol when there's a not-unreasonable chance of a civilian airplane being blown up in the next few years? Who wants to be the politician that has to explain, after several hundred people died, why they canned any device or protocol which may have helped s…
I cannot recall a similar issue sparking as much across-the-board outrage since the "war on terrorism" began. However taboo it may be to discuss relaxing security requirements, that may turn out to be the lesser of two political evils.
I agree. I think any politician could reasonably trot out a counter to the "he took out our line of defense" with a "I stopped your kids from being x-rayed or groped by getting rid of something that would have been ineffective in stopping this attack".