Rep says he was assaulted by TSA and then punished for complaining
Francisco Canseco
A US Congressman has claimed that he was assaulted during a TSA pat-down and was then targeted for future pat-downs by the TSA after complaining about the incident.
Texas Rep. Francisco Canseco says he was inappropriately touched in private areas during a run in with the TSA earlier this month at San Antonio International Airport.
“The agent was very aggressive in his pat-down, and he was patting me down where no one is supposed to go,” Canseco, who describes himself as a “limited-government conservative”, told KENS 5 news.
“It got very uncomfortable so I moved his hand away. That stopped everything and brought in supervisors and everyone else.” Canseco added.
When the Congressman said he’d been assaulted, the TSA agent claimed that Canseco had actually assaulted him. The TSA says that neither man was cited in the incident.
One week later Canseco was again singled out by the TSA in the same airport and selected for a pat-down.
“I did not see it as a coincidence,” he said. “I asked them why are you going to pat me down again, so we discussed it further and after discussing it further, they patted me down.”
When Canseco refused to allow the agent to touch his private areas a second time, police officers were called to the scene.
The TSA released the following generic statement regarding the incident:
Wheelchair-bound 95-year-old veteran Omer Petti and his 85-year-old partner Madge Woodward were treated like terrorists by TSA agents at San Diego International airport, ostensibly so TSA workers could separate them from $300 dollars in cash which subsequently went missing.
“Can you imagine an 85-year-old lady and 95-year-old retired Air Force Major in wheelchairs being treated like terrorists?” Petti asked the Detroit News’ Marney Keenan.
Given the TSA’s recent history – yes – veterans and old people are two of the federal agency’s primary targets and are routinely subjected to intense harassment and abuse.
After Petti had removed his shoes, belt, clothing and other accessories he was ordered by a TSA agent to place a money clip containing $300 in folded bills into its own separate bin.
After walking through a metal detector, both Petti and Woodward were patted down, with Woodward being taken to a separate room for extra “screening” due to the fact that residue from her nitroglycerin heart pills had set off an alarm.
“When I was patted down, I’ve never before been touched in every part of my body before,” Woodward said.
After TSA workers had routed through their personal belongings and fondled their every body part , the two were allowed to leave but Petti noticed the $300 was missing.
“When I told him we were going to miss our flight he asked me if I was objecting or refusing his request.” Petti says. “I said: ‘No, I’d do anything I was asked, I would just like to know where my $300 went.’ ”
Fearing they would miss their flight, Petti and Woodward had to settle for filling out a “Tort Claim Package,” and were subsequently rushed to the departure point at a dangerously high speed by a wheel chair attendant.
After analyzing security tapes of the incident, San Diego Harbor Police said the footage was “too blurry,” and the TSA seemingly just wants Petti to forget about his missing $300.
Without writing an article of book-length proportions it is impossible to list all the examples of TSA agents having been caught in criminal acts. It comes to the point where simply regurgitating prior incidents serves no purpose. There can no longer be any doubt that the Transportation Security Administration has become a beacon for perverts and criminals who take a TSA job because it gives them free reign to abuse, sexually harass and steal from the public – often targeting the weakest members of society.
Danny Schechter (Al Jazeera) | RS_News | February 10 2012
TSA's body scanners allow security personnel to view people naked 'for security reasons.' (photo: Gallo/Getty Images)
OPINION | I had been debating with myself, and a few friends, about whether or not to accept an invitation to attend a film conference in Iran. The argument against going is that by travelling there, you validate a dictatorial police state.
But with so few American journalists going to Tehran these days, I felt a higher duty to attend.
The first step in the long trip from New York was getting in line for an inspection by that uniformed Army called the Transportation Safety Administration (TSA), a $5bn agency that insists it is only there to keep us safe.
Talk about a police state.
There is no question that one consequence of its rigorous procedures is to teach the public how to be compliant and follow orders. It’s a manifestation of a certain “friendly fascism” ushered in by 9/11, what the Right denounces in other areas as a nanny state.
Never mind that on that day of infamy in 2001, Boston’s airport was run by an Israeli expert known for the highest security standards, or that security detectors at Newark found knives on hijackers, but they gave them back because they were legal at the time.
George W Bush’s decision to establish the TSA was about visibly reassuring the public to keep them flying. It was also a way to create lots of jobs without his own party objecting. It was justified as “at least we are doing something!”
This Big Government hiring programme was driven by fear – but rarely criticised.
Back in the line at JFK airport, I noticed that in this class society of ours, the TSA permits shorter lines for First Class and Business Class passengers, ensuring that the 99 per cent/1 per cent divide is alive and well in our airports.
A very sweet black woman helped me schlep my plastic containers overflowing with a bulky winter coat, a sweatshirt with a zipper, belt, coins, pens, sneakers, iPad and computer.
I surprised the officer by telling her that in England they don’t take computers out of bags anymore, and that Germany doesn’t require belts and shoes to be taken off.
Her response: “I hope someday soon that we can end all this. It is a big drag for everyone.”
Amen, sister.
I am sure she wouldn’t want to be quoted by name because, as I soon found out, the TSA does not like people who are “negative”.
Yet there have been many “negative” incidents – like old women being strip-searched, TSA agents asleep on the job and even reports of luggage being stolen.
Humiliation or Retaliation?
While all my stuff was going through one machine, I was steered to another, one of those supposedly safe body scanners where I was supposed to stand, hands up, as if I were being busted or guilty of something.
A group that makes Pinocchio look honest. TSA officials are seemingly unable to the tell the truth. The lies against Rand Paul following his most recent encounter with TSA goons only serves as yet another example of blatant lies and rampant corruption from the Homeland Security-branch agency dedicated to disavowing the Bill of Rights and dismantling the economy and spirit of America– all under the pretext of fighting a foreign enemy.
From lies about the harmful radiation of the body scanners, to the dishonesty about groping children and the elderly, to lies about the false flags that dictate future policy, to the disregard for employee and passenger safety and much more, TSA has used deception at every turn to undermine travel, tourism and the American way.
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TSA Hassling Drivers On America’s Highways: Mission Leap, Not Mission Creep (shiftfrequency.com)
Today Rand Paul, speaking to the Daily Caller, described his detention by TSA agents yesterday in what many believe amounted to a clear cut violation of the Constitution.
Paul described his detention as a big ordeal that highlights the growing problems with the Transportation Security Agency and their police state actions.
For their part, the White House came out in defense of the TSA thugs who detained a sitting Senator as a possible terrorist, with Whit House spokesman James Carney attempting to change the narrative and reality of the story by claiming Rand wasn’t actually detained.
“Let’s be clear,” Carney said. “The passenger was not detained. He was escorted out of the area by local law-enforcement.”
This statement is such a blatant lie that its actually hard to believe it was said.
