Posted on 10/09/2012 3:37:06 PM PDT by markomalley
A dying woman says a a security pat-down at Sea-Tac Airport left her embarrassed in front of crowds of people.
Michelle Dunaj says screeners checked under bandages from recent surgeries and refused to give her a private search when she requested one.
Dunaj, who is dying of leukemia, carried a large amount of prescription drugs through Sea-Tac to head to Hawaii for what would be one of the last trips of her life.
She called Alaska Airlines ahead of time to request a wheelchair and to ask how her medicines should be separated for the security line.
"I did everything they asked me to do, so I didn't think it would be an issue," she said.
But Dunaj says nothing went right at the security checkpoint.
A machine couldn't get a reading on her saline bags, so a TSA agent forced one open, contaminating the fluid she needs to survive.
She says agents also made her lift up her shirt and pull back the bandages holding feeding tubes in place. Dunaj needs those tubes because of organ failure.
With other passengers staring, Dunaj says she asked for privacy and was turned down.
"They just said that it was fine; the location we were at was fine," she said.
TSA spokesperson Ann Davis said "Officers are trained to perform pat downs in a dignified manner and, at any point, passengers can request a private screening with a witness present."
However, Dunaj says her request for a private screening was denied, and she does not want others with special needs to run into the same problem.
"When somebody wants to take a trip, especially what I call an 'end-of-life trip' because you want to see your family and friends, then it becomes more important than just taking a trip," she said.
Davis said it is against policy for passengers to be denied privacy if they ask for it. The agency is responding to a request by KOMO News to look into the incident.
Really?
I blame capitulation to Muslims and PC insanity for all of this.
Neither of those scenarios is going to happen.
They don’t deserve our money.
Washington Times (2010): EDITORIAL: TSA comes to your bus stop
The security theater once exclusive to America’s airports is now playing at a local Metro station. Washington's Metro Transit Police Department (MTPD) on Thursday announced new search policies developed in conjunction with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). “It is important to know that implementation of random bag inspection is not a reaction to any specific threats toward the Metro system,” MTPD Chief Michael A. Taborn said in his announcement.
Officials demonstrated the use of a hand-held explosive trace detection unit called the Sabre 4000. Its manufacturer, Smiths Detection, won the contract to supply the devices last year. According to promotional material, the $25,000 unit is capable of detecting various common forms of explosive including PETN, nerve gas such as Sarin, and narcotics including cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine. That sounds promising, but as the Government Accountability Office pointed out in a July report, it doesn’t detect everything. “Details regarding the difficulty these systems face in detecting certain types of explosives were deleted because [the Department of Homeland Security] considered them to be Sensitive Security Information,” the report explained.
Forbes (2012): The TSA Is Coming To A Highway Near You
(snip)
Interestingly enough, as TSA officials like to routinely point out, their agency’s acronym stands for Transportation Security Administration, not the Airport Security Administration. This fact has extended the TSA’s reach has far beyond the confines of our nation’s airports. Many of my constituents discovered this first hand this past fall as those familiar blue uniforms and badges appeared on Tennessee highways. In October Tennessee became the first state to conduct a statewide Department of Homeland Security Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response (VIPR) team operation which randomly inspected Tennessee truck drivers and cars.
VIPR teams which count TSOs among their ranks, conduct searches and screenings at train stations, subways, ferry terminals and every other mass transit location around the country. In fact, as the Los Angeles Times has detailed, VIPR teams conducted 9,300 unannounced checkpoints and other search operations in the last year alone. The very thought of federal employees with zero law enforcement training roaming across our nation’s transportation infrastructure with the hope of randomly thwarting a domestic terrorist attack makes about as much sense as EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson’s Environmental Justice tour.
You were saying something about other forms of transportation? (I could post articles about Amtrak and Greyhound, too, if you'd like)
I sure hope that someone in the Romney administration is keeping these incidents in mind. I also hope that Romney has the cajones to do something about it.
I'll second that
A Muzzie "screener" checking out a nun. The American flag in the background is a real nice touch, dontcha think?
Think about who established TSA. Hint: TSA was established on November 19, 2001.
“starve these b@stards in the airline industry and TSA by finding other means of transportation.”
High speed rail? Greyhound bus? I just refuse to travel, but that’s not an option for everyone. Kill off the TSA!
Who started the grope program, it wasn’t Bush.
You know, talking to yourself is one thing, but posting to yourself? And responding? I gotta start to wonder.
I don't give a gold plated rat's ass about 'i need the job' or 'just doing what i'm told' or 'it's for everyone's good' ad infinitum . . . It is ALL bullsh!t !
The perverted f***s have not stopped ONE terror incident !
I've not had to yet), and REFUSE to patronize ANY airline as long as those Nazi pukes are infecting our airports !
I'll pay more for gas in the truck and time behind the wheel . . . those cretins simply CAN NOT be held in low enough esteem !
I would drive anywhere, upwards of 48 hours distance, rather than be molested by the TSA.
The TSA backscatter scan program was tested in Phoenix in 2007 and was expanded to JFK and LAX in 2008.
From a TSA blog entry, April, 2008:
For those of you who remain skeptical, you’ll be happy to know that, as we expand the use of whole body imaging to JFK and LAX, it remains an optional screening method for passengers. It’s voluntary so if you’re selected for additional screening and you prefer the physical pat-down, just let our officers know.
Having said that, it has gotten worse under Big Sis, but it's been there for a while (I remember getting an "enhanced pat down" at Denver International all the way back in 2006)
Is that the trivia upon which you base your judgmental statements? Sad.
They're getting none of mine. If I want to visit friends on the east coast, I'll rent a freaking car and drive there. (I'm in SW Colorado)
The scenery will be much nicer and I will be in control.
FMCDH(BITS)
TSA was never intended to be what it was turned into. The Democrats, I think that it was Tom Daschle, fought to make TSA a government union job. Bush wanted to them to be small units that could be moved from one airport to another, where ever the threats appeared.
That’s a big difference.
Yes, the Obama admin threw the gates open wide for what the bureaucracy had been brewing up.
I hope if/when elected, Mitt insists on being shown the justification for the gropeathon. Has one of these screenings ever caught a bomb?
Honestly, I doubt that he will. It would be nice.
Why does it matter that she’s dying? If I’m going to live for decades to come that’s only longer to live with sexual assault.
Cheap sympathy ploy.
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