Parents of 6-yr old girl molested by TSA speak out

[Photoguy 202]

http://news.yahoo.com/video/politics-15749652/tsa-frisks-6-year-old-parents-speak-out-24890589

 

 

According to this, the child was selected to be frisked(or molested, in my opinion, as evidenced by the manner of frisking by the TSA pervert). I say 'pervert' instead of 'agent', because I do not believe anyone but a pervert would select a child out of a crowd of adults to be fondled.

 

This is bullshit. I would have probably risked going to prison, because I would have not taken so kindly to having my child touched in that manner by any other adult.

 

I, personally, will never take my daughter flying with me until the TSA, and their state-sponsored child molestation, is dissolved and banished from the country.

[YOT 3,743]

You will never get everyone to agree on this subject matter.

 

I have personally seen drugs and weapons secreted on babies and small children for the reasons of smuggling and introduction of contraband into a correctional facility. I KNOW there are adults out there who will exploit children in this manner.

I also watched the video of this incident and did not see any form of molestation what-so-ever. The touching would have to be of a sexual nature for there to be molestation and it wasn't. A "pat frisk" is defined as the searching of a person's body and clothes, through their clothing. I saw a frisk.

[aka_mythos 35]

While I agree the TSA is going too far with many of these proven ineffective and ineffiicent measures... I need to say calling them perverts is inflamatory and not representative of their demeanor which varies little from those of police officers and other law enforcement who conduct have to pat downs. The problem with the TSA is more systemic and more a matter of their agency culture, bad leadership, and poor policy choices that are not conducive to the rest of society. I sincerely believe that most TSA agents in that position would rather just wave the kid on through, but they don't have that authority. They are security and all security services function under absolutist adherence to their policies, since thats the measure of their performance. Next their random selection is apparently done by computer, so its not as if the agent selected the child. Also, its suppose to be someone of the same gender to alleviate the possiblity of the agents sexual gratification. That said its easy to talk about this being "molestation" because the girl misunderstood the reason for it, but boys and girls are patted down by police all the time when they're arrested and are processed into juvie... and since their is a presumption of innocense till guilt is proven, in the governments eye they are no different than the girl. This is only to show the governments mindset; I don't believe this should have happened with the girl the way it did.

 

From a legal context, you voluntarily except the possibility of this type of search when you purchase your plane ticket. Getting on a plane is not as public as walking down the street. I think the rules and policies should be changed, but when you buy a ticket and show up at the airport you're accepting those policies and rules as a term and condition of travel... in the same way you accept that to drive requires you to posses a drivers license on your person and have insurance while operating the vehicle.

 

I, personally, will never take my daughter flying with me...

From the government's perspective that is the correct course of action since you object to their policy.

[mrmallek 53]

After deleting my four paragraph rant -

 

I would just like to say that I respectfully disgree with your portrayal of the situation and I appreciate the dilligence of those tasked with our protection no matter how inconvenient it may be to some.

 

Regards,

Mark

Edited April 14, 2011 by mark mallek

[mrmallek 53]

You will never get everyone to agree on this subject matter.

 

I have personally seen drugs and weapons secreted on babies and small children for the reasons of smuggling and introduction of contraband into a correctional facility. I KNOW there are adults out there who will exploit children in this manner.

I also watched the video of this incident and did not see any form of molestation what-so-ever. The touching would have to be of a sexual nature for there to be molestation and it wasn't. A "pat frisk" is defined as the searching of a person's body and clothes, through their clothing. I saw a frisk.

 

 

+1 what he ^^ said

 

Well put - Yeolde

[chevyman097 2,579]

I dont care what anyones deffinition of molestation is. THIS IS WRONG! Plain wrong.

 

 

[YOT 3,743]

I absolutely agree. Exploiting children is wrong.

 

ETA: I'm pretty sure the child will psychologically suffer longer from the stigma that that the parents and media have created over this than the actual frisk.

Edited April 14, 2011 by Yeoldetool

[mrmallek 53]

I absolutely agree. Exploiting children is wrong.

 

 

++1 again. Quick and on point. How much are the parents looking for this time :dollar:

[timy 1,185]

The "shoe bomber" "panty bomber" and "shampoo bombers" may indeed have been trying to take planes down with their improvised explosives, but I doubt it. Even if they were, it wasn't their main objective. I think their true intentions were to send a politically correct society into a frenzy of useless and time consuming security measures while they sit back laughing. It worked beyond their wildest intentions. All this extra "security" has of course netted zero arrests of terrorists. Imagine that.

 

It seems the majority of American citizens will willingly "bend over" for their own good as long as it's the government requiring them to do so. Not only do the terrorists have us exactly where they want us, it appears the government does too. As for myself, I'm just glad I have five weeks of vacation so I can drive wherever I want and avoid the intrusive, useless pat downs and porn pictures the TSA is so fond of these days.

 

JMO,

Tim

[physicsnerd 139]

I don't have children but I am uncomfortable having my wife fly. We talked about other options for several days before buying her ticket. We've rolled the dice and hope that she can avoid the grope-or-scan.

[YOT 3,743]

I don't have children but I am uncomfortable having my wife fly. We talked about other options for several days before buying her ticket. We've rolled the dice and hope that she can avoid the grope-or-scan.

 

As for myself, I'm just glad I have five weeks of vacation so I can drive wherever I want

 

I prefer these options myself. However, if I were planning to use some mode of public transportation, I would certainly want to know that procedures are in place to ensure my and my families safety, specifically from other passengers.

[chevyman097 2,579]

I absolutely agree. Exploiting children is wrong.

 

 

++1 again. Quick and on point. How much are the parents looking for this time :dollar:

 

 

I dont see this as the parents exploiting the child at all or looking for a settlement.

 

If this was my child i would want it revealed as well.(it would have never gone that far with my child actually, we would have canceled our flight) This is wrong, it is a violation of our rights. You cannot fight a problem without revealing it and that is was I see them doing.

 

We teach our children all their life not to let people touch them inappropriately. Teach them their rights and freedoms....then...bam one day...oh but its ok honey its the government....! wtf no we are not the criminals I will not be treated like one.

 

If this is what we have come to the terrorist have already won and people dont even see it. This is exactly what they want. Check mate.

[mrmallek 53]

Is this the first child ever frisked by a TSA?

 

If the parents were truly outraged by the so called molestation of their child, they really dropped the ball on her recovering from the event by "Speaking out"

 

Is this about the Child, the TSA, or the Parent? I ask you all to consider that before passing judgment.

 

Even the incredibly liberal AP News does not name victims of sexual issues unless the victim has expressed permission to do so.

[YOT 3,743]

I absolutely agree. Exploiting children is wrong.

 

 

++1 again. Quick and on point. How much are the parents looking for this time :dollar:

 

 

I dont see this as the parents exploiting the child at all or looking for a settlement.

 

If this was my child i would want it revealed as well.(it would have never gone that far with my child actually, we would have canceled our flight) This is wrong, it is a violation of our rights. You cannot fight a problem without revealing it and that is was I see them doing.

 

We teach our children all their life not to let people touch them inappropriately. Teach them their rights and freedoms....then...bam one day...oh but its ok honey its the government....! wtf no we are not the criminals I will not be treated like one.

 

If this is what we have come to the terrorist have already won and people dont even see it. This is exactly what they want. Check mate.

WOW! You think this was "bad touch." I get it now! If you see this as sexual, how the hell do you even let your kids watch tv?

 

Go ahead, Protect your children, guard them by any means. But dammit, this was not sexual! Those parents had all the rights in the world to protect their child against an unwanted frisk, but they chose not to! They knew exactly what was going to happen at that airport. They allowed it! They had other options but chose this one! You want to blame the government for something the parents allowed? People have to take responsibility for there own actions! Yes, it's easier for them to try to blame some government agency set up to protect public transportation passengers than to choose another mode of transportation (regardless of how ineffectual it is).

 

Un-checkmate!

Edited April 14, 2011 by Yeoldetool

[chevyman097 2,579]

I absolutely agree. Exploiting children is wrong.

 

 

++1 again. Quick and on point. How much are the parents looking for this time :dollar:

 

 

I dont see this as the parents exploiting the child at all or looking for a settlement.

 

If this was my child i would want it revealed as well.(it would have never gone that far with my child actually, we would have canceled our flight) This is wrong, it is a violation of our rights. You cannot fight a problem without revealing it and that is was I see them doing.

 

We teach our children all their life not to let people touch them inappropriately. Teach them their rights and freedoms....then...bam one day...oh but its ok honey its the government....! wtf no we are not the criminals I will not be treated like one.

 

If this is what we have come to the terrorist have already won and people dont even see it. This is exactly what they want. Check mate.

WOW! You think this was "bad touch." I get it now! If you see this as sexual, how the hell do you even let your kids watch tv?

 

Go ahead, Protect your children, guard them by any means. But dammit, this was not sexual! Those parents had all the rights in the world to protect their child against an unwanted frisk, but they chose not to! They knew exactly what was going to happen at that airport. They allowed it! They had other options but chose this one! You want to blame the government for something the parents allowed? People have to take responsibility for there own actions! Yes, it's easier for them to try to blame some government agency set up to protect public transportation passengers than to choose another mode of transportation (regardless of how ineffectual it is).

 

Un-checkmate!

 

 

Im not saying this its anything but wrong. A child a this age does not understand it and could likely see it as anything. An adult shouldnt even have to go through this much less a child. Im saying it is a violation of our rights and freedoms.

 

'The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.'

 

 

[dobravery 49]

What is scary to the child is that they are picking up that the parent has surrendered control of what the TSA agent is going to do to them.

 

They should give parents the choice of removing their child's cloths behind a curtain. This way the child knows the parent is always in control.

[MT Predator 2,294]

Wow, there is going to be a shortage of Reynolds Wrap! Molestation, exploitation, and terrorist conspiracy theories to put us in a frenzy!

Molestation, no. You should see the way I was taught to frisk by the military. You did grope and squeeze to make sure their body parts were really theirs hard enough to make them jump and wince.

As far as a terrorist plan to panic us? I don't think that was the plan. I do believe they tried to bring down aircraft with something small enough to get past security but it didn't work. The end result was panic of course.

I'm all for TSA taking measures to keep planes from dropping out of the sky because of a terrorist act. That's their damn duty! People will always find something to bitch about even if it involves their own safety.

[inzami 36]

TSA is tasked with securing transportation and they operate based on certain information regarding potential threats. Criminals are always looking for weakness in the security system and will exploit them without reservation. Media provide and public in general crave salacious and sensational material anywhere.

[BpS12 512]

During my MP training, I was(up to that point) the only cadet to get the "Desk Sergent" at knife point. Twice. The first time was by carrying the knife in my pants at crotch level. The other cadet playing the on duty roll didn't frisk me well enough. The second time, it was in my boot. And this time the DS screamed "Just shoot him!!!!" 2-3 times.

 

Security is a shit job, only because you HAVE to be the bad guy. If you don't, people can die.

 

I saw nothing lewd or lucsivious about the girls search. I do blame the parents since if they found it so appalling they should have declined to travel or request another method. But there are some people that will willfully subject their own children to the humiliation that the media storm has inflicted, merely to make a point.

 

Sometimes I wonder who the real terrorist are, those that blow themselves up, or those that cry havoc for every little thing that offends them.

[BpS12 512]

Oh ya, The poor girl was most likely to be made upset more by the fact that her parents were upset than the actual pat down. Simply put to the child....

 

"You've done nothing wrong and this is just something that we must do to keep bad people from doing bad things to us all. And you are not the bad person."

 

I've found that small children and animals have similar perceptions, ie, If you're freaking out, so are they, but they have NO idea as to why. Which is FAR scaryier to them than us.

[Photoguy 202]

Agree to disagree. I see one thing, others see another.

[dobravery 49]

It is kind of ridiculous in that unless the child has a prosthetic leg or something, where do you hide explosives? That child wasn't wearing baggy clothing. A parent could smuggle more explosives up their own asses than under a 6 year old's shirt.

 

It is about people in power subjugating others unreasonably. If you've seen enough TSA agents, you'd hardly compare them to police officers or military personnel. Their last jobs were probably serving fast food.

 

Maybe they should wear a clown outfit for the kids. Clowns are really what TSA agents are anyways.

[physicsnerd 139]

Truthfully I am surprised by the reaction on this forum. With so many threads about the ATF and a possible negative ruling (import ban, DD declaration, etc.) I figured there would be more of a consensus on this issue as one could make the argument that the ATF is just trying to protect us and keep us safe. Most generally recognize that as pure malarkey.

 

At what point does TSA policy go too far for those who see nothing wrong with either "frisking" or naked scans? If we're talking about modes of transportation then would concern be raised if you couldn't ride a bus or train without this form of screening? The same argument could be made that if you object to being treated in this fashion then you could still walk or drive. But the roads are public so roaming random checkpoints could be effective as well. Stop everyone going southbound on I-95 south of Savannah and search them and their cars. The drivers can't complain because they made an implicit agreement with the government when they got in the car that they are not secure in their person, places or effects simply because they chose to go from point A to point B.

 

If we're concerned about soft targets then there are numerous others that would be effective if all a terrorist wants to do is have a high body count. Malls, security checkpoints, schools, sporting events, large lecture halls and even crowded streets during rush hour are quite soft. Should we live in solitary confinement at the behest of our government? As a reductio ad absurdum to this line of thinking that would be the end goal. We'd all be perfectly safe and perfectly without freedom.

 

The absence of daily bomb attacks around the country should indicate that this threat is largely overstated. These new procedures are simply a trial balloon to see how much "free Americans" are willing to endure in their efforts to simply go about their daily lives.

 

These procedures are analogous to me walking down the street, being passed by a cop car, stopped by them while they frisk me and search my belongings all because there might be gang bangers in the neighborhood and their computer told them to search me. Now this has never happened but I don't see how this is that different from the anxiety producing ordeal of dealing with the TSA. If everyone is a suspect until proven otherwise is there a line to be drawn?

[volkov 318]

Think we're getting into extremes for the sake of safety..

 

You know what would be safe? Chipping all of us and monitoring to make sure we didn't go anywhere dangerous or go anywhere above the speed limit, monitor our blood alchohal content while your at it just to make sure we don't get into a circumstance where we might make an unsafe decision. Or just keep us all on house arrest... When do we ban cars? They cause tons of death.

 

 

I'm getting tired of safety being used as a tool for tyranny. I'd rather be free and in danger than a slave in safety.

[chevyman097 2,579]

Those who would give up freedom for safety, deserver neither...

 

Something along those lines.

 

Thankyou Benjamin Franklin.

[G O B 3,516]

While I agree the TSA is going too far with many of these proven ineffective and ineffiicent measures... I need to say calling them perverts is inflamatory and not representative of their demeanor which varies little from those of police officers and other law enforcement who conduct have to pat downs. The problem with the TSA is more systemic and more a matter of their agency culture, bad leadership, and poor policy choices that are not conducive to the rest of society. I sincerely believe that most TSA agents in that position would rather just wave the kid on through, but they don't have that authority. They are security and all security services function under absolutist adherence to their policies, since thats the measure of their performance. Next their random selection is apparently done by computer, so its not as if the agent selected the child. Also, its suppose to be someone of the same gender to alleviate the possiblity of the agents sexual gratification. That said its easy to talk about this being "molestation" because the girl misunderstood the reason for it, but boys and girls are patted down by police all the time when they're arrested and are processed into juvie... and since their is a presumption of innocense till guilt is proven, in the governments eye they are no different than the girl. This is only to show the governments mindset; I don't believe this should have happened with the girl the way it did.

 

From a legal context, you voluntarily except the possibility of this type of search when you purchase your plane ticket. Getting on a plane is not as public as walking down the street. I think the rules and policies should be changed, but when you buy a ticket and show up at the airport you're accepting those policies and rules as a term and condition of travel... in the same way you accept that to drive requires you to posses a drivers license on your person and have insurance while operating the vehicle.

 

I, personally, will never take my daughter flying with me...

From the government's perspective that is the correct course of action since you object to their policy.

This child was subjected to the all to happy attention of that perv. The child could have been searched in a couple seconds. We are not talking of a lot of territory here. This is NOT acceptable. I had the same thing happed to me in Atlanta. The metal in my leg sets off the detector. The wand alerts on the anckle only. After 5 minuits I told the asshat perv that no matter HOW long he fondled my cock he was not going to get wood. Get rid of the whole TSA they are ineffective and an affront to liberty. The Israelies have much BETTER security, and they don't hire pervs!

[rob-cubed 74]

So it's been a decade since 9/11 and the TSA has caught not one single terrorist in that time? Hmm. So either it's working, or we're just putting up with all the additional security for no reason. I vote the later. Either way the recent investment in backscatter x-rays was unnecessary a complete waste of taxpayer's money. What problem did it solve, exactly?

 

Other countries that have a much higher probability of terrorist attacks--Israel, for example, handle their security in layers. Stop a suspicious car on the way into the airport. Ask a few questions. Easy and low-tech. By the time you get to the gate there's no need to take your shoes off and get groped, they can assume with fairly high probability you are no longer a threat. TSA, start taking notes...

[Kliegl 304]

You don't catch terrorists with random screenings. They should not have a computer doing a

random selection. You catch people with profiling, and those 11 signs of terrorism the Israelis

use.

 

The Israelis have got it figured out. They say "The Muslims want to kill us" and they have good

security. Here, we are hampered by political correctness and liberals who fall for Muslims being

"offended" as they try to take down our society, so we have to put up with bullshit like frisking/

groping a child.

 

You should not have to pat down a white, American child, or black, or whatever. While all terrorists,

or all people they use, might not be Arab Muslims, that's still the way to bet. You choose to examine

my kid, I'm videotaping it, and I am going to inform you, your shift supervisor, and all passengers

in range that this is stupid and pointless, as is the TSA, because they can't figure out that Islamic

terrorism is done by.......muslims.

[volkov 318]

Seems like the terrorists won this fight. Now all they have to do is blow up a few busses, cars, supermarkets, offices and we'll have be to frisked everytime we move. Who's gonna be laughing then? At least we'll all be safe!

 

Or maybe someone will realize that while a deterrent, nothing the TSA can do is foolproof. If someone wanted to take a plane down I'm sure they could. The bigger deterent is the way our foreign policy reacts.

 

Having said that I REALLY doubt a plane will be used as a missile again, passengers know whats up now, the worst that could happen is they manage to blow one up, and even if they did I reckon we all take more risks every day to live a comfortable life then even that would prove to be.

[BuzzNectar 35]

You don't catch terrorists with random screenings. They should not have a computer doing a

random selection. You catch people with profiling, and those 11 signs of terrorism the Israelis

use.

 

The Israelis have got it figured out. They say "The Muslims want to kill us" and they have good

security. Here, we are hampered by political correctness and liberals who fall for Muslims being

"offended" as they try to take down our society, so we have to put up with bullshit like frisking/

groping a child.

 

You should not have to pat down a white, American child, or black, or whatever. While all terrorists,

or all people they use, might not be Arab Muslims, that's still the way to bet. You choose to examine

my kid, I'm videotaping it, and I am going to inform you, your shift supervisor, and all passengers

in range that this is stupid and pointless, as is the TSA, because they can't figure out that Islamic

terrorism is done by.......muslims.

i somewhat agree with this.while its not politically correct,there is a reason why there is a such a thing as sterio typing and profiling....its because in reality it works.its not like someone is trying to be racist or discriminating,its that 9 out of 10 times its the way to go.no need in subjecting the other 9 when its #10 you need to worry about.when we go to the airport(rarely fly)and there is arabs dressed like they typically dress getting on the same plane as me and my wife,and she gets a little nervous.....well is she a racist or oppressing thoes individuals because she feels uneasy...hell no and far from it.its called reality and its something this country needs to get back to.