topher5150
Dedicated LVC Member
The controversy over 'invasive' pat-downs by Transport Security Administration officials at airports deepened today after footage of a small child being searched was placed online.
More than 650,000 have watched the 39-second clip in which the youngster can be seen shirtless and surrounded by burly TSA officers who carry out the search.
One officer examines the child's shirt before touching his lower body during the search as his helpless father watches at Salt Lake City International Airport.
Outraged passengers watch the shocking search with one asking: 'Are they arresting a kid?'
Another is heard to say: 'This is ridiculous.'
in another shocking incident, a passenger subjected to the search at Detroit Metropolitan Airport was left covered in urine after a urostomy bag was broken.
Thomas Sawyer, 61, said he was left humiliated and in tears by the incident.
The footage of the boy's search was posted on YouTube before the head of the TSA said searches would continue throughout the Thanksgiving holiday period.
STA chief John Pistole admitted that the procedure was necessarily thorough, saying: 'Clearly, it's invasive; it's not comfortable.'
But he said the hands-on approach would remain in place over a security-sensitive holiday season.
On CNN's State of the Union With Candy Crowley show today, Mr Pistole said the TSA was trying to strike the right balance between privacy and security to protect the nation from potential terrorist attacks, such as the failed one last Christmas by a man who had explosives hidden in his underwear.
Revealing that the agency would not bow to increasing public outcry, he said: 'No, we're not changing the policies … because of the risks that have been identified.
'We know through intelligence that there are determined people, terrorists who are trying to kill not only Americans but innocent people around the world.'
Mr Pistole's comments come as even the U.S. Secretary of State has called the pat-down procedure 'offensive'.
Hillary Clinton called for officials to make the new airport security measures less intrusive.
Speaking on CBS’ Face The Nation and NBC’s Meet The Press, Mrs Clinton said she recognized the need for tighter security but said there was a need to ‘strike the right balance’ and ‘get it better and less intrusive and more precise’.
When asked if she would submit to a pat-down, she replied ‘Not if I could avoid it. No. I mean, who would?’
Mrs Clinton added she understood ‘how offensive it must be’ for passengers forced to endure the measures.
It has emerged that passengers who refuse to submit to the scans and pat-downs could face a fine of up to $11,000 and arrest.
The TSA is also warning that anyone who refuses to undergo the method of inspection will not be allowed to fly, nor will they be permitted to simply leave the airport.
Instead, passengers will face questioning by the TSA and possibly local police.
A TSA spokesman told the Sun Sentinel: ‘Once a person submits to the screening process, they can not just decide to leave that process.’
He said that, if that was the case, terrorists could try time and again to breach security - opting out each time until they were successful.
He added that passengers who did refuse would be questioned ‘until it is determined that they don’t pose a threat’ to the public.
The searches are causing huge waits for passengers at airports across the country, with one YouTube user posting footage of seemingly endless lines at a Chicago airport.
Amid the growing furor that the pat-downs are over the top, President Barack Obama has defended the procedures, but admitted he does not have to submit to them himself.
Speaking at a NATO summit in Lisbon he said he understood the frustrations of passengers, adding he had asked security officials if there is a less intrusive approach.
Mr Obama said security officials had assured him that the current procedures are the only ones considered effective enough at the moment to guard against terrorist threats.
Pilots have been excluded from the scans and pat-downs – although they will have to pass through metal detectors at airport checkpoints and present photo IDs that prove their identity.
The victory for pilots followed a two-year lobbying campaign by their union leaders that reached a fever pitch in the past two weeks.
But, just days before the hectic Thanksgiving holiday travel period, Transportation Security Administration chief John Pistole offered little hope of a similar reprieve for regular passengers, who are complaining loudly about the new measures.
The TSA agreed yesterday to let uniformed airline pilots skip the body scans and aggressive pat-downs at the heart of a national uproar.
Their bid was boosted by hero pilot Chesley Sullenberger, who said pilots should be treated as 'trusted partners' in the fight against terrorism.
The complaints of pilots like Sullenberger, who successfully landed a passenger jet in the Hudson River in January 2009, gave weight to the movement to roll back the new procedures.
With pilots apparently satisfied, the TSA's most prominent critic may be a California software engineer who recorded himself threatening a TSA inspector, 'If you touch my junk, I'll have you arrested.'
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ty-pat-downs-NOT-going-away-Thanksgiving.html
More than 650,000 have watched the 39-second clip in which the youngster can be seen shirtless and surrounded by burly TSA officers who carry out the search.
One officer examines the child's shirt before touching his lower body during the search as his helpless father watches at Salt Lake City International Airport.
Outraged passengers watch the shocking search with one asking: 'Are they arresting a kid?'
Another is heard to say: 'This is ridiculous.'
in another shocking incident, a passenger subjected to the search at Detroit Metropolitan Airport was left covered in urine after a urostomy bag was broken.
Thomas Sawyer, 61, said he was left humiliated and in tears by the incident.
The footage of the boy's search was posted on YouTube before the head of the TSA said searches would continue throughout the Thanksgiving holiday period.
STA chief John Pistole admitted that the procedure was necessarily thorough, saying: 'Clearly, it's invasive; it's not comfortable.'
But he said the hands-on approach would remain in place over a security-sensitive holiday season.
On CNN's State of the Union With Candy Crowley show today, Mr Pistole said the TSA was trying to strike the right balance between privacy and security to protect the nation from potential terrorist attacks, such as the failed one last Christmas by a man who had explosives hidden in his underwear.
Revealing that the agency would not bow to increasing public outcry, he said: 'No, we're not changing the policies … because of the risks that have been identified.
'We know through intelligence that there are determined people, terrorists who are trying to kill not only Americans but innocent people around the world.'
Mr Pistole's comments come as even the U.S. Secretary of State has called the pat-down procedure 'offensive'.
Hillary Clinton called for officials to make the new airport security measures less intrusive.
Speaking on CBS’ Face The Nation and NBC’s Meet The Press, Mrs Clinton said she recognized the need for tighter security but said there was a need to ‘strike the right balance’ and ‘get it better and less intrusive and more precise’.
When asked if she would submit to a pat-down, she replied ‘Not if I could avoid it. No. I mean, who would?’
Mrs Clinton added she understood ‘how offensive it must be’ for passengers forced to endure the measures.
It has emerged that passengers who refuse to submit to the scans and pat-downs could face a fine of up to $11,000 and arrest.
The TSA is also warning that anyone who refuses to undergo the method of inspection will not be allowed to fly, nor will they be permitted to simply leave the airport.
Instead, passengers will face questioning by the TSA and possibly local police.
A TSA spokesman told the Sun Sentinel: ‘Once a person submits to the screening process, they can not just decide to leave that process.’
He said that, if that was the case, terrorists could try time and again to breach security - opting out each time until they were successful.
He added that passengers who did refuse would be questioned ‘until it is determined that they don’t pose a threat’ to the public.
The searches are causing huge waits for passengers at airports across the country, with one YouTube user posting footage of seemingly endless lines at a Chicago airport.
Amid the growing furor that the pat-downs are over the top, President Barack Obama has defended the procedures, but admitted he does not have to submit to them himself.
Speaking at a NATO summit in Lisbon he said he understood the frustrations of passengers, adding he had asked security officials if there is a less intrusive approach.
Mr Obama said security officials had assured him that the current procedures are the only ones considered effective enough at the moment to guard against terrorist threats.
Pilots have been excluded from the scans and pat-downs – although they will have to pass through metal detectors at airport checkpoints and present photo IDs that prove their identity.
The victory for pilots followed a two-year lobbying campaign by their union leaders that reached a fever pitch in the past two weeks.
But, just days before the hectic Thanksgiving holiday travel period, Transportation Security Administration chief John Pistole offered little hope of a similar reprieve for regular passengers, who are complaining loudly about the new measures.
The TSA agreed yesterday to let uniformed airline pilots skip the body scans and aggressive pat-downs at the heart of a national uproar.
Their bid was boosted by hero pilot Chesley Sullenberger, who said pilots should be treated as 'trusted partners' in the fight against terrorism.
The complaints of pilots like Sullenberger, who successfully landed a passenger jet in the Hudson River in January 2009, gave weight to the movement to roll back the new procedures.
With pilots apparently satisfied, the TSA's most prominent critic may be a California software engineer who recorded himself threatening a TSA inspector, 'If you touch my junk, I'll have you arrested.'
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ty-pat-downs-NOT-going-away-Thanksgiving.html
