TSA strip search little boy

trekkie · **Posted:** November 22nd, 2010, 7:08 pm

TSA also known as the transportation security agency created after 9/11

Before the video started the boy went through a metal detector and didn't set it off but was selected for a pat down. The boy was shy so the TSA couldn't complete the full pat on the young boy. The father tried several times to just hold the boys arms out for the TSA agent but i guess it didn't end up being enough for the guy. I was about 30 ft away so i couldn't hear their conversation if there was any. The enraged father pulled his son shirt off and gave it to the TSA agent to search, thats when this video begins.

******* THIS VIDEO OCCURRED AT SALT LAKE CITY INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT ON NOVEMBER 19TH AT AROUND THE TIME OF 12:00 PM **********

***Insertion of what happened after the video (full story)****

After I finished videotaping the incident I went through the check point myself. I collected my things and went over to talk to the father and son. Before I could get to them a man in a black suit who had been talking with the other TSA officials approached me. He asked to speak to me and I obliged, wondering what was to come. He then proceeded to interrogate me about why I was videotaping the "procedures of the TSA". I told him that I had never seen such practices before on a young child and decided to record it. The man being frustrated at this point demanded to know my plans with the video, of which I didn't respond. Repeatedly he asked me to delete the video, hoping his mere presence could intimidate me to obey, but I refused. By this point it became obvious that he felt TSA had done something wrong and that I caught it on tape. After the interview, I left for my gate. I called my brother who told me I should put the tape on YouTube because this had been a recent hot topic in the news.
My gate was a long way off, but about 15 minutes after arriving 2 TSA agents came and sat 15 feet or so away from me. I stood up and moved so that they were in front of me and then took a picture. A 3rd and then a 4th agent came and sat down with the others. They would occasionally glance at me and talk on their walkie-talkies. I don't know why they were there or if it was a huge coincidence but they stayed for 30-45 minutes and left just before I boarded the plan. Interesting to say the least, intimidating? Maybe a little...

Adbot · **Posted:** November 22nd, 2010, 7:08 pm

Ice · Runite: 9/30/2010

Watchlist-ed. Probably.

TSA sucks.

hummerwar921 · **Posted:** November 22nd, 2010, 7:14 pm

TSA is the ultimate job for aspiring child molesters.

And it's all legal and government-funded!

dafin0 · **Posted:** November 22nd, 2010, 8:54 pm

Nice trekkie :lol:

It would take a lot of courage to do what you did. What did they think you were, a terrorist? HA!. The government is too over cautious these days.

Correct me if i am wrong. Don't some airports have full-body scanners they could put the boy in. It might be a bit daunting but, surely it would be less mentally damaging to the boy then getting stripped searched.

Cheers, dafin0 :lol:

Ranging God · **Posted:** November 22nd, 2010, 9:33 pm

Yea I read about this in the news today. That is complete *******. I wonder how they will approach this if it were a little girl?

King Kulla · **Posted:** November 23rd, 2010, 1:51 pm

This reminded me of something kind of funny: A short film made in early 2010 about the "Future of Air Travel".

Pretty relevant, now eh?

Adbot · **Posted:** November 23rd, 2010, 1:51 pm

momsrascal93 · **Posted:** November 26th, 2010, 3:40 pm

I'm never traveling on a plane ever! They might molest me! O_O

CreepyPirate · **Posted:** November 27th, 2010, 8:51 am

Good. Little runt was probably a threat. I hope they took his shoes off him. Could of been hiding a bomb in there.

Mmmm freedom.

Pennstate315 · Runite Member 5-25-10

Let me tell you the overweight woman looked real professional chewing that gum.

Duke Juker · RSBandB Donor since 07/01/2010

Pretty ridiculous. Both the search and the questioning about the taping.

As for the search, I suppose it isn't unthinkable a child could sneak through stuff in security. It isn't a bad idea. On the same hand, it's just a kid. A pat down in front of tons of people at the airport? What about privacy? They could have easily taken him to the side to do it, but no. The search is pretty questionable, the way it was done and where.

As for the taping, it's the kind of response I would expect from officials. Ever since Rodney King and other incidents have been caught on tape, security has always been suspicious of people with cameras and recordings. On the one hand, it could be considered dangerous since a potential terrorist could video tape the methods used and find a better way to get around it. On the flip side, the manner in which they handled the video taping is suspicious as well. It supports the idea that if these methods are made known, the public will be infuriated and force the TSA to remove the procedures.

So, I could understand the reasons why the pat down happened and the man was asked to get rid of the recording. But in this case, I think the TSA is more afraid of what could come of these terrible measures they are implementing. Frankly, the guy should have not agreed to being asked questions and told them to stick it or ask for a lawyer. There's no reason for treatment like that.

Warren · **Posted:** November 29th, 2010, 10:17 pm

Oh my. What the hell is this? The searched someone who wasn't middle eastern? WHAT!?

I don't think it's ridiculous that they were going to do security procedures to a child than they do to adults but I have never been extensively searched if I didn't set off the detector.. which I think is reasonable. I don't really understand why airport security is as secure as it is (altho I've seen shows that argue they spend a lot of money to make it all appear safe but it isn't really and then they go undercover and exploit stuff so easily) because I don't really see why an airplane is so much more of a threat than anything else. Apparently there's a threat of terrorists getting "weapons of mass destruction" and if they can get those 1. what is stopping them from getting a plane 2. who cares if they have a plane

Anyways on recording I think it is really ******* how law enforcement and such despise their actions being recorded. I don't even know why they would unless they want to be able to control news stories somehow and if there is videos showing the opposite it makes them look bad for lying? Well maybe they shouldn't distort truth or something and they wouldn't need to worry about being recorded.... unless there is some other reason. Which the only one I can think of is because they want to violate rights or do things they shouldn't and just generally be corrupt. Apparently at one point the police were trying to consider cameras as weapons and would arrest people who refused to put away their cameras but Canadian courts stopped them from doing that.
I like how the police will shine flashlights into the cameras of people recording stuff they don't want them to though. If a camera was a "weapon" I'm sure shining a flashlight into one is assault.

Duke Juker · RSBandB Donor since 07/01/2010

The problem is that people expected action and ramped up security after 9/11. Now we get this. Overly invasive, these searches are testing the boundaries of privacy and rights. And quite frankly, if someone wanted to commit an act of terrorism, they will find a way. There's only so much that we can control through security and such.

As for the recording, the police and any security are always camera shy. They don't want to be caught on camera doing something they shouldn't be doing. If it isn't on camera, the event remains hearsay and can be downplayed. But with images, people visualize what is happening and are much more apt to react. Needless to say, if cameras and recordings were blocked in these kinds of situations, you hear about fewer incidents and less action taken to prevent it.