Hunter’s letter alleges that a Marine, later identified as Cpl. Toran Gaal, was “humiliated” as he passed through security at Phoenix Sky Harbor International airport. Gaal, who lost both of his legs to explosive in Afghanistan, was traveling from Phoenix to San Diego with several other marines.

TSA agents allegedly asked Gaal to stand, which he cannot do on his own. They are also alleged by Hunter to have forced Gaal to remove his prosthetic legs (presumably looking for some sort of James Bond rocket launcher). This is before he was taken to a second screening area for his wheelchair to be examined.

From Hunter’s letter:

One of the Marines in particular, who lost both of his legs to an Improvised Explosive Device, was confined to a wheelchair with limited to no mobility. The individual escorting this Marine asked the TSA officer which of two checkpoints to enter and received the response, “either one,” only to be told moments later they should have entered a different way. As a result, a TSA officer asked the Marine to stand and walk to an alternate area, despite the fact that he could not stand or walk on his own. With numerous TSA officers sitting and unwilling to assist, an officer then made him remove his legs, then put them back on, only to advance to a secondary screening location where he was asked again to stand, with extraordinary difficulty, while his wheelchair was examined for explosives.

Though Hunter stated he recognizes the necessity of passenger screening, he wrote that he is “concerned by the apparent lack of situational awareness and respect among TSA officers – specifically when it comes to the treatment of war wounded.”

The TSA has responded to the allegations via a blog post. The agency claims that surveillance footage shows the Marine never removed his prosthetics and that his screening took only eight minutes.

View more videos at: http://nbcsandiego.com

When 50-year-old John E. Brennan was asked to submit to a pat-down inspection at Portland International Airport, he opted instead of shed every bit of clothing in protest of the TSA’s request. As a result of the ensuing nudity, Brennan was arrested on charges of indecent exposure. However, a judge on Wednesday ruled in favor of the naked protestor, claiming the man’s actions were a protected form of free speech.

“It is the speech itself that the state is seeking to punish, and that it cannot do,” Circuit Judge David Rees explained. Prosecutors, meanwhile, argue that Brennan did not announce his intentions to protest the TSA’s request until after his pants had hit the floor.

“I also was aware of the irony of taking off my clothes to protect my privacy,” Brennan sad. “They’re getting as close to seeing us naked as they can. And we are upping the ante. I wanted to show them it’s a two-way street. I don’t like a naked picture of me being available.”

However, before you start shedding clothes to irritate the nearest TSA agent, you should know that the court’s decision does not affect nudity laws in other jurisdictions. Although you might be able to cite this case as precedent, chances are you’re going to have a hard time getting your point across if you’re just getting naked for the sake of getting naked.

If you’re interested in reading some trivia about the Transportation Security Administration presented as an Infographic, take a look at the image embedded below.

Jonah Falcon, according to Wikipedia, is “an American actor and writer from New York City, who is known for this large penis.” You probably already know where this is going. Anyway, it seems that Falcon was due for a flight when a TSA officer stopped him due to a “massive bulge on his thigh.” Here’s how it all played out according to Falcon:

Follow @JonahFalcon

JonahFalcon
@JonahFalcon

Am 30,000 feet in the air. Flight was delayed 2 hours and had an adventure with TSA.

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7 days ago via TweetDeck · powered by @socialditto

Follow @JonahFalcon

JonahFalcon
@JonahFalcon

TSA didn’t know what to make of the massive bulge on my thigh. Even after I went through that body scanner that shows you naked…

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7 days ago via TweetDeck · powered by @socialditto

Follow @JonahFalcon

JonahFalcon
@JonahFalcon

I finally had to verbally tell them it was not a cyst or growth. IT WAS MY DICK. (face palm)

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7 days ago via TweetDeck · powered by @socialditto

It’s easy to understand the TSA agent’s initial suspicion in this case. It’s not everyday that you see a man whose penis is a reported 9.5 inches long when flaccid and 13.5 inches long when erect. I never really check the world records for this sort of thing, but it seems that Falcon has it in the bag.

So how will Falcon avoid having his penis impede his way through the airport lines next time? Speaking to the Huffington Post, he said that he’s “just gonna wear bike shorts from now on. That way, they’ll know.”

“I was told later on that she had no right to even open it, that they could have used other devices, like an X-ray machine. So she opened it up. She used her finger and was sifting through it. And then she accidentally spilled it.,” John Gross told the ABC affiliate in Indianapolis, rtv6.

He was forced to crawl around on his hands and knees trying to pick up his grandfather’s ashes while passengers waited behind him. The TSA agent, simply stood there and laughed.

“She didn’t apologize. She started laughing. I was on my hands and knees picking up bone fragments. I couldn’t pick up all, everything that was lost. I mean, there was a long line behind me.”

According to a TSA spokesperson, under no circumstance are human remains to be opened at a security checkpoint and are instead supposed to pass through an X-ray machine. They are supposedly looking at security tapes to figure out what happened. In the meantime, Gross wants an apology for being treated so shabbily. Given TSA’s track record, an apology might be a long time coming.

“I want an apology,” Gross said. “I want an apology from TSA. I want an apology from the lady who opened the jar and laughed at me. I want them to help me understand where they get off treating people like this.”

What gives Carol Price, the passenger, extra credibility in this case is that she is a former TSA agent, herself. She claims that she knows the proper method for administering a patdown, and what she received included inappropiate groping of her genitals and breasts.

Conveniently, the area where she was searched was out of view of the cameras, and is not available in the video. All we see is the aftermath of Carol grabbing the supervisor roughly to demonstrate what was done to her. According to Price’s attorney, she wasn’t nearly as rough with the supervisor as the TSA was with her.

In the video , you can see Price gets a hug from one of the TSA agents. According to her lawyer, all of these agents knew her. Some liked her more than others, and the patdown she received was a personal vendetta.

Price missed her brother’s funeral and is now facing criminal assault charges. The TSA naturally took the side of the supervisor and pressed charges. They released this statement after the incident: “The patdown was conducted correctly and in accordance with our procedures. Violence against our officers who work every day to keep the traveling public safe is unacceptable.”

When TSA procedures include patdowns for small disabled children, the elderly, and amputees, is it really all that surprising that an excessively rough and intrusive search would be defended by them?

[source: Wired]

Well, Israeli model and former Sports Illustrated swimsuit cover girl Bar Refaeli doesn’t seem to be losing any sleep over the plight of the TSA agent.

According to Refaeli’s Twitter account, the model had an unpleasant time while traveling this week. Not only did she tweet that she received an “uncomfortable” patdown from airport security, but he gave her opinion on the reason as well. Check out the tweet below:

There’s no doubt about what she’s implying there.

At least she was able to joke about it later with gossip blogger Perez Hilton:

Just yesterday we told you about an Oregon man who stipped buck-naked in protest of what he felt was “harassment” from TSA agents. Images and video from that incident went viral, as he held up traffic in two screening lanes and forced children to avert their eyes.

If Bar Refaeli would have made a similar gesture, I doubt there would be many people averting their eyes.

[Lead Image from Facebook]

John E. Brennan was charged with disorderly conduct and indecent exposure at Portland International Airport. He was flying Alaska Airlines to San Jose, California.

According to the police report, “Mr. Brennan’s actions caused two screening lanes to be closed and while some passengers covered their eyes and their children’s eyes and moved away from the screening area, others stepped out of the screening lanes to look, laugh and take photos of Mr. Brennan.”

He is currently being held on $4,000 bond.

Brennan’s father was interviewed by Portland’s KATU News Tuesday night, saying, “This is quite a shock. He hasn’t been under any stress that I know of. He’s never really under any stress. He works for a computer company in California. He does something with the Internet, which is just kind of mystical to me. This is quite a surprise.”

The police report notes that he was not under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

In a statement the TSA said: “TSA partners with the traveling public to screen all passengers safely and efficiently. When a passenger chooses to be purposefully disruptive, we notify law enforcement.”

Brennan isn’t alone in his distaste for the TSA. People are groped and virtually disrobed by TSA officials on a daily bases, and a fed up traveler gets charged with disorderly conduct. They claim they “partner with the traveling public”. What a joke. I’m sure they would love to “partner with the traveling public”, judging by their actions.

See these articles for more TSA lunacy:

TSA Agent Steals Money From Passenger at JFK International Airport

Let’s just take a trip back in time to some of the most recent stories of dustups between the TSA and travelers:

Last year, a blog post from a woman crying “TSA rape” prompted legal considerations. In February, a TSA agent was accused of stealing money from someone during a patdown. Just a week later, a Denver woman made news when she refused a patdown.

Hell, even a U.S. Senator was reported to have a dustup with the TSA.

We’ve also seen video of old ladies, young children, and even people in wheelchairs going through the TSA checkpoints. The TSA has a knack for hitting on issues of privacy, personal liberties, and saftey & security like almost no other entity in modern American culture. Just this week, a video went viral of a woman sobbing uncontrollably while being frisked by agents.

That’s why I can’t say I’m surprised that an Oregon man stripped buck-naked at the Portland National Airport on Tuesday in protest.

Google+Reader”>According to CNN, 50-year-old John E. Brennan was charged with disorderly conduct and indecent exposure after walking through a TSA security screening area in the buff. His reason? He said that he’s a frequent flyer and he took off his clothes to protest what he felt was harassment by the TSA officials.

His actions caused a couple of screening lanes to be shut down for a little bit.

While nude protests might not always be the best way to go about this (there are kids around, man), it’s pretty clear that people are becoming more and more fed up with the recent complications of flying.

What do you think? Let us know in the comments.

[Lead image courtesy reddit]

The video was captured by blogger Jim Hoft of the Gateway Pundit. Hoft isn’t fond of Barrack Obama and apparently the TSA is all his fault, even though the organization was signed into law by George W. Bush as part of the Aviation and Transportation Security Act. The organization became a part of Department of Homeland Security in 2003. “It’s an Obama world”, the blogger writes.

Though no history about this particular woman has been released, 1 out of 6 American women have been the victim of sexual violence in their lifetime. Post-traumatic stress disorder is a common diagnosis among victims of sexual abuse, causing victims to relive the experience in situations that may induce these flashbacks.

Whether or not this woman falls into this category is unclear, but 1 in 6 is a hard figure to ignore when you consider the amount of women being groped daily by the TSA. What better way to fly than to relive a past traumatic experience? Thank you TSA.

See Also:

Many screeners lack training in how to use the machines, with some directed to operate the scanners without any training at all. These untrained screeners do not even have access to the operating procedures manual which is supposed to be located at each scanner.

Jennifer wrote to her congressional representative to complain, but was immediately fired for her troubles.

Jon Corbett includes a full transcript of the interview on his blog “TSA Out of Our Pants“. Here are some of the most shocking excerpts from the interview.

Jon: What would you test it with when you were testing the machines?
Jennifer: There were different props: guns, knives, bags of powder that were supposed to resemble explosive material.
Jon: Sometimes these would just go through completely undetected?
Jennifer: Absolutely.
——————————
Jon: So they didn’t care if you were certified or not?
Jennifer: No, I actually went to my supervisor — or a supervisor — the first day. I and another officer had this concern, that, you know, ‘Look, we’ve never worked on this particular machine, we don’t know what to do’ and his answer was, ‘Sorry, we don’t have enough staffing, you’re going to have to work on it.’
——————————
Jon: You wrote to Congress about the problems you saw in the TSA.
Jennifer: I did.
Jon: What happened?
Jennifer: I sent my letter on Jan. 1, and I came back from sick leave about a week later, and I was immediately removed from screening duties.
Jon: So you sent a letter to a Congressman — or to several — saying ‘Hey, there’s a problem with the TSA,’ and the TSA’s response was… retaliatory would you say?
Jennifer: Yes.
——————————
Jennifer: Supposedly there is an SOP manual at every checkpoint. I’ve never seen it.
Jon: So you wouldn’t know where to go to find this book?
Jennifer: No, no.
——————————

About a month ago, Jon posted this video, testing the scanners for himself. According to the video, the scanners will not pick up metal if it is carried on a person’s side.

For more TSA lunacy, see:

Student’s Science Project Shuts Down Dallas Airport

TSA Searches Wheelchair Bound Child