A mother filmed the very invasive TSA pat-down of her teenage son

Originally published at: http://boingboing.net/2017/03/28/a-mother-filmed-the-very-invas.html

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Terrorists have won.

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35 minutes? Christ.

That said, if he didn’t set off any alarms, what’s the deal TSA? I get pat downs when I set off the metal detector but not when I don’t.

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“Resolve an alarm of his laptop…” WTF does that even mean? I would assume it means they weren’t satisfied with the x-ray scan and needed to inspect it visually but how does that relate to the pat down?

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“I was going to go on a flight today and mind my own business, but instead I am staying here and waiting in your house. Byeeee!”

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he comes back for another rubbing.

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White privilege much?

POC are subjected to worse treatment just for walking down the street.
Ever heard of stop-and-frisk?
Far, far more invasive, and definintely more time consuming.

GTFO with this.

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OBEY! (sadly that’s the new patriotism: shut up and respect mah authoritah!!!)

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How many more years before we admit the TSA does NOTHING to keep us safe?

Considering how long the War on Drugs has been, probably a long goddamn time.

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The War on Terror is really a War on Dignity.

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Ever hear that stop and frisk was ruled unconstitutional and stopped?

How about we acknowledge that they’re both shitty and not make it a contest?

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Yeah, I’m also trying to figure out how the TSA’s concern got from his laptop to his pants.

Oh, maybe they meant, like, the top of his lap.

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The show must go on

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I bring it up because lots of people would watch this and say “so?”

Invasive policing has been normalized, especially in communities of color, so much so that it doesn’t make a BB post.

But, since this is a white kid with parents of means and agency enough to complain to the right people, it’s “viral”

How about we acknowledge that they’re both shitty and not make it a contest?

Sure, yes, they’re both shitty.
Not trying to make a contest, just watching from a different perspective.

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Uhhhh, what BB have you been reading?

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New procedures. Had that special massage a couple of times myself, like when I forget about suspicious clear liquid in an unopened commercially packaged “water” bottle.

How else can they pat you down without touching you? How else can they select the massage-ees without it being discriminatory? Just let everyone through with not even an attempt to screen? I’m having less of a problem with all this after last week’s news about exciting new almost-no-metal laptop fireworks.

http://www.timesunion.com/allwcm/article/TSA-tightens-pat-down-screening-after-checkpoint-10983355.php

The Transportation Security Administration has standardized more rigorous pat-down procedures at airport checkpoints after apparently failing several covert tests in 2015.

The procedure is reportedly more thorough and may appear to some passengers to be more intrusive, although a spokeswoman told the Times Union it “does not involve any different areas of the body than were screened in the previous standard pat-down procedure.”

People who have chosen not to go through advanced imaging technology screening or who have set off alarms or drawn the attention of a canine team will receive the newly standardized pat-down.

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two police officers who were called to mitigate the concerns of the mother

If that was really their intent, it shows how much they live in a different world that they would think any actual mitigation would take place.

If they said suppress instead of mitigate then yeah, that probably is what they were doing.

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inevitably, the ‘terrorists’ the government is fighting against are it’s own citizens

Live long enough, and you will be redefined a terrorist by someone

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I admit after reading the linked article my first reaction was that the mother was being a bit hyperbolic with her wording. Her calling the experience “horrific” and saying they were “treated like dogs” made me wonder if more of us (e.g. myself and other white folks) should be subjected to such indignities now and then to boost empathy levels overall.

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Who did they think he was? Mohamed Ali Jr.?

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