Video Camera And Phone Used To Record The Incident Also Confiscated

Well, the theater of the absurd that TSA screening is rapidly approaching was taken a step further when a passenger in San Diego stripped to his underwear prior to and "enhanced" pat-down search on Friday at the San Diego airport.

This time, it was Samuel Wolanyk who was arrested, handcuffed, and escorted to the Harbor Police Office in no more than his underwear. MSNBC reports that, according to its San Diego affiliate, Wolanyk opted out of the full-body scan, and when told he would need the pat down, started taking off his clothes. He eventually wound up standing in the middle of the TSA screening area in just his underwear. He said Sunday in a statement that he is a frequent flyer, and he is "not willing to have images of my naked body viewed by perfect strangers, and having been felt up for the first time by TSA the week prior (I travel frequently) I was not willing to be molested again.” He reportedly refused to get dressed when asked to do so by TSA screeners so they could complete the pat-down. It was then that he was arrested.

Adding to the situation was the fact that a person apparently traveling with Wolanyk reportedly was recording the scene on a video camera, which was confiscated by police along with Wolanyk's iPhone. That person is being charged with "unlawful recording within an airport without permission." TSA's website says it is not illegal to record such images in a screening area as long as it does not interfere with the screening process, but local law does apparently prohibit such recording in the airport.

FMI: www.sandiego.gov, www.tsa.gov