Imagine taking your family to the airport and watching as Federal agents terrorize your 3-year-old child.
That is exactly what happened to little Mandy Simon.
She was first forced to surrender her teddy bear, and ended up getting flagged for further screening.
As the girl's mother held her, the TSA agent scanned her with a wand, and then proceeded to give the girl a more thorough search. As the screener searched her, the frightened girl screamed for the agent to stop touching her.
The girl's father, Steve Simon, works as a reporter for CW-39 from Houston, Texas, and managed to capture the encounter on his cell phone camera.
In the video, the girl is clearly traumatized as the TSA screener attempts to search her.
But the question remains - what is the TSA doing screening toddlers like this? Do they honestly think the little girl is concealing a bomb in her stuffed toy?
Terrorists have been known to use children in places like Iraq, but Houston does not have a history of bomb-wielding toddlers.
The TSA is charged with providing security on our airlines, but many are questioning their methods.
The Dallas Morning News reported last Monday that:
The TSA recently changed its hand-search policies. Before, the officers would use the back of their hand to check a person; now they are to use their open hand and fingers to go over one's body, including the genital area and breasts.
Mike Cleary, President of the US Airline Pilots Association, issued a statement which read, in part:
"Let's be perfectly clear: the TSA procedures we have outlined above are blatantly unacceptable as a long-term solution. Although an immediate solution cannot be guaranteed, I can promise you that your union will not rest until all U.S. airline pilots have a way to reach their workplace ... the aircraft ... without submitting ourselves to the will of a TSO behind closed doors.
"This situation has already produced a sexual molestation in alarmingly short order. Left unchecked, there's simply no way to predict how far the TSA will overreach in searching and frisking pilots who are, ironically, mere minutes from being in the flight deck.
"As we all know, it makes no difference what a pilot has on his or her person or in their luggage, because they have control of the aircraft throughout the entire flight. The eyewash being dribbled by the TSA in this instance is embarrassingly devoid of common sense, and we will not stand for it."
The agency is also under fire for the use of a scanner that can see through a passengers clothing. As reported by CNN Travel, passengers and pilots alike are up in arms over the scanners.
A group called National Opt Out Day is calling for travellers to opt-out of the screenings on Thanksgiving Day - traditionally the busiest flying day of the year.
After the incident with Mandy Simon, TSA officials said that screeners would undergo "sensitivity training" in order to deal with children better.
Perhaps the TSA should include a course on common sense followed by a course on the Fourth Amendment, which guards against unreasonable searches and seizures.
In the meantime, they should keep their hands off our children and our bodies and instead focus on keeping terrorists off of commercial aircraft.
Update (December 15): Woman files lawsuit over humilitating TSA pat down
Comments
I'm starting to hate flying. I know we need security... but traumatizing children? I don't have the answers though.
Little do know the Al Quida isn't against using children as little messangers - You would be surprised what they can stuff in a innocent looking Teddy Bear or child's toy.
It's funny how you all thought 911 was a tragedy, but now you feel it can't happen again, who would have thought somebody would drive a plane into a building, or blow themselves up in a crowded area.
You know nothing of being traumitized ! you could have been born 70 years earlier in a communist country where you had no rights or couldn't speak your mind. Or tell that to someone that had been through WWII. I'm sure they will sympathise with you. The TSA is is doing a job to protect your silly ass and all the other passengers on the plane with you from that one idiot that he wants to end it all, not female TSA agent getting their jollies feeling up a little girl.
TSA agents female or male should NEVER be FEELING UP children for any reason.
The founding fathers of our nation at no point in time would have approved of scanners that equate to a strip seach of every single person in the airport. I never would have thought the words "personal privacy" needed to be included in the constitution when we're given the rights of "liberty". To me that includes the liberty to fly without being harassed.
Tina,
Here is an answer for you. Contact any credit card bank headquarters that is affiliated with the airlines, such as giving points, or tickets if you sign up with or make purchases on their cards. Let them know you are canceling the credit card because you will not do business with any company that profits from aiding and abetting molestation and for exposing millions to unnecessary harmful radiation. Let them know you will also be selling their stock, and closing all bank accounts with them. Let them know you are encouraging all your friends and colleagues to follow suit. Let them know you will not be flying or buying until their lobbyist successfully call for an immediate cease and desist of the new "security" standards which are a blatant attack on civil rights, and decency.
My kids would have pitched a massive fit, and we would have stood behind them. We have taught them that they have the right to refuse physical contact to ANYONE. I don't give a rat's behind. My kids have good instincts, and they are capable of trusting them. Some bully airport cop starts groping and manhandling them, they'll bite, kick, scream, and whatever (as they have been taught). And I'd let them. :) I'd love to see them arrest my 4, 6, or 7 year old for protecting themselves against unwanted and uninvited touching. Or me, for teaching my children to protect themselves. They'd have a lawsuit on their hands faster than they knew what hit them.
I love your answer, and i 100% agree!!!!
Random screening means random choosing. It's ether everybody has a chance to be searched, or racial profiling.
If the police are looking for a suspect of a crime, and the suspect is described as a male in his 30's dark short hair and medium colored skin. The police would not be stopping people who do not fit the description. If most acts of terriorism are being committed by Young Males from 18 to 30, usually middle eastern of origin, why would be checking white females in there mid 60's. Common sense screening of passengers is not racial profiling. It is applying logic to the situation. The death of this planet will be us drowning in the insanity of political correctness and having it used as a tool againist us. (forgive the misspelling it 4:45 am where I am at and I am to tired right now to go check so the spelling
enjoy the upcoming cavity searches. By the way, have you even heard of the fourth ammendment?
How about a completely and radically different approach? Maybe try background checks prior to boarding, or increased number of visible and plainclothes air marshals?
Or, just admit this is all reactionary and is just an attempt for the TSA to justify itself. Any bureaucracy, first and foremost, exists to guarantee its own existence.
But there is still racial profiling when the gov't makes it seem like a random search
Why did the reporter take out his camera and start filming? I guess that's useful for everyone, but what does that say about him as a dad? He needed to walk over, push the TSA goon aside, and rescue his damn daughter from being sexually molestered!
And be arrested for assulting a TSO? His daughter was already clinging to her mom.
I had a horrible time at the Spokane airport with my son. Their airport set up is horrible. I went from one gate to another and bought a bottle of water for him (in the airport) and they weren't going to let me take it through because to get into that gate I had to completely go through security again. He wasn't even 2 when we went through and they told me I could carry him through the scanner myself and then the security agent told her partner that I wouldn't let him go through by himself and so they wanded him, made me remove jacket, shoes...etc. I've been through a few airports with him and never had the trouble I had at Spokane. I would put more of the blame on that individual airport than TSA as a whole.
TSA has not stopped one bomb and is a complete waste of time money and investment. Each time there is the stopping of a act of terror or planned bombing it is people on the plane or standard intelligence work.
And searching a pilot who can aim the plane at building. Um there are true inmates running the asylum.
The TSA will not back down and is only going to get worse. So write the airlines and tell them you refuse to fly while the TSA acts like this. Its going to take a while but when half the airlines are looking at bankruptcy then they'll change their tune.
No they won't, they'll just get bailed out by the government. It's never going to change because the governmentdoesn't like to lose power once they have it. If it really came down to it, the government would just have a few people get 'caught' with bombs at airport security checkpoints and word of mouth/media attention will take care of the rest.
If I were the father and I saw someone causing so much distress to my child, I don't think my first instinct would be to grab a camera and start filming.... My first instinct would probably land me in jail though.
And if a terrorist was able to get on a plane using his child and chlid's toy to hide a weapon...you'd be the first to cry fowl, because your child was put in danger
Well it was all you conservatives that pushing to have all our rights taken away, in the name of "security". Maybe now you'll wake up and see who the real terrorist are in this country.
Kind of hard to blame conservatives for this when the Democrats have been in control of the house and senate for about the past 6 years and the White House for the past 2. They could have put a stop to it if they cared.
Then you have president Clinton who said "When personal freedom's being abused, you have to move to limit it. That's what we did in the announcement I made last weekend on the Housing Projects, about how we're going to have weapon sweeps and more things like that to try to make the people feel safer in their communities"
From where I stand, there is plenty of blame to be spread around among conservatives and liberals.
I will not be visiting the US again while the TSA is so blatantly bullying and carrying out useless unpleasant security theatre. I used to be a frequent visitor.
Rgds
Damon
when you least expect it, expect it... they all you crybabies will be clammoring and wanting to know why something more wasn't done next time a casatrophic event occurs ... drive,take a boat, swim or stay home... we didn't miss you anyway
I already avoid the US due to their suspicious security. I object to being treated like a criminal without solid reasons.
They don't like to point out that fact. You know, the one that admits that not only have they yet to find any real threats despite being sued numerous times for molestation and abuse in their supposed "eagerness" to find them, but that they have fostered an even greater hatred in the States because foreigners don't like to be molested for some reason. And that kills tourism, sours international relations, and makes us even more a pariah nation. Great for them! They're making everyone hate us even more, which I'm pretty sure is their true intent. After all, security sure as hell has nothing to do it, because again, they have NEVER FOILED ANYTHING, although I'm sure they've ruined the lives of countless parents, who now have to explain to their children that they need to be sexually molested by deviants who took this job because they like to look at naked children, and that although bad touches are no good by anyone else, they can go ahead and grope you in the great charade called "security," all the while we have wide open borders and every "terror scare" emerged from international flights. All this in place, to guard the one venue not being used by anyone but fakes and frauds who are escorted past security without identification or passport. From foreign airports. That they can't check.
When will this country stop with this political correct crap and do what needs to be done: profiling. I can't remember the last time a blonde haired, blue eyed woman attempted to hijack a plane. If you're middle eastern, you will be subjected to further investigation.
If the American public is faced with Body Scans and Pat Downs, then it is only fair to implement monitoring measures of all of the male and female TSA officers performing the monitoring to ensure acceptable behavior during pat down and privacy controls of the confidential Body Scan viewing. I think this is the only way Homeland Defense policies should have been implemented. Otherwise, we will see so many lawsuits on molestation and leaking of Body Scans on you tube like never before and then the Real Terrorist gains against another well intentioned Homeland Security measure, but very very poorly implemented for the American Public. There are security measures the Government security agencies do that we the American Public is unaware of, but these kinds of public security measures should have rolled been rolled out without this public spectacle of invasion of privacy.
CNN reports "Airport screeners find loaded gun in teddy bear"
All you poeple bitch and complain about being screened, they have a display in a sealed case of things that have been removed from would be passengers possesion
They include a gernade, a 3 foot sword, guns, toy guns etc... Not to mention some trying to smuggle snakes, reptiles, how would you like one of those poeple sitting next to your three year old on a plane "Hey little girl wanna pet my snake ?"
I'll bet you if the the passengers on United flight 93 had a second chance, how do you they think they would vote on the idea of additional screening. If you don't want to get searched you have other options, pick one and get out of line.
I've been through the scanners. What the hell is everybody griping about? It takes a total of five seconds. If you don't want to be groped (which I agree is totally unnecessary) or you don't want your child to be groped, go through the damned scanners. And let the parent take care of getting the kid to give up her teddy bear. Don't let the TSA to yank it out of her hands; that only causes a screaming fit. See? Problem solved.
Have you all forgotten what happen on 911 or all the other terrorist attacks that have happened before and after that 911. How do we know if TSA hasn’t prevented another attack on American soil or anywhere else? We don’t have any way of knowing this. Should I remind you of what happen in Spain, March 11 2004 or in London, July 7 2007? That was not that long ago and they were after September 11 2001. I haven’t!! I don’t travel much but when I do I don’t care what they do to protect us from ourselves and people that want to harm us. In my honest opinion all those that are crying and talking crap about TSA and how the government is doing this and that there taking this too far you’re acting like little spoil brats. Are you grownups or children? If you were grownups you would understand why this is done and not complain and b**** about it. I know for sure you’re the same people that would complaint if something was not done if something like 911 would happen again. Or any of the other attacks like the Spain train terrorist attack or the London bus station attacks. Sit and think before you go out and complain about some stupid search that they do on the airport for your own safety.
P.S
Sit and think before you go out and complain about some stupid search that they do on the airport for your own safety. Freedom of personal space went out the window when we realize that the ones that want to harm our nation will stop at nothing to do so. Haven’t you realized that from 911? I did and I was still in high school when it happened. They just don’t want to harm us because we’re Americans they want to harm us because they don’t agree or tolerate or way of life. That is in our constitution those that are always quoting it. Why don’t you want to defend our “First Amendment: addresses the rights of freedom of religion (prohibiting Congress from establishing a religion and protecting the right to free exercise of religion), freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, and freedom of petition.” (The Bill of Rights (Amendments 1 to 10)) in many other countries there no right to any of these plain and simple example Cuba that it’s not that far from America soil or Venezuela that its becoming another Cuba. And many other countries around the world wake up and smell the coffee. Americans are not made out of gold for everyone to like us. And want good things for us. If we go even farther we’re not that powerful any more so yea we have to do everything in our power to protect ourselves.
Spokane Tsa personnel were very rude to me and took sooo long checking out each Scentsy Wax containers I purchased like they were ticking time bombs. They individually handled all 10 seperately and took so much time doing it(at the time,my name was being called by the airlines as last call) that I missed my flight. I asked 3 different agents if I could go to the ticket counter to let them know what was goin on,and they said:"NO!" you must stay with your luggage. I fly alot,and have never, never encountered such ruddness and unprofessionalism,you feel like you've done something wrong and didn't!!!
Its getting so i hate flying.. Though i do have to say i remember taking my baby to disney and TSA was good
and didn;t do any of this. Some of the TSA works are good. And others go to far. There has to be a better way
to train TSA workers. One would think there is a law to protect the kids from TSA workers from scaring the kids.
If a kid is scared and can not be comfort by their parents though this ordeal then something must be wrong.
TSA needs to be overhauled again!
TSA needs to be train to use common sense!
TSA working needs to be more professional and more common sense!
Kids get scared very easy and i cannoy see how TSA can get away with making
a 3 yr old scared!
This is just wrong!
I wonder what kind of training the TSA goes through.. And what is consider reasonable!
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