Refused Full Body Scan, Questioned Pat-Down Search, Wound Up Handcuffed To A Chair

A contributor to the "Free Talk Left" radio show says a recent trip through Ft. Lauderdale International Airport turned into an "ordeal" when she refused a full-body scan at the airport.  And, when she questioned the techniques of the pat down search which she felt were inappropriate, she reportedly wound up handcuffed to a chair while her ticket was destroyed. She was later escorted from the the airport.

According to The Miami New Times, McLain was the only person from those in line with her selected from her group for the full body scan. But she says the pat-down procedure wasn't any better, as it involved "squeezing and twisting her breasts."

In an interview on the show posted online, McLain said she asked to speak to a supervisor when faced with a pat-down search she felt was intrusive. According to her account, the supervisor brought several police officers to  the security area. She says she was handcuffed to a chair, the TSA agent who was to have patted her down ripped her boarding pass in half, and she was "given a 30 minute lecture on terrorism" if full view of the other passengers clearing security.

McLain said her previous experiences with pat-down searches have been little more than full-palm "groping" by the agents. TSA says only the backs of the hands are used during the pat-down procedures on private areas.

McLain said during the hour she was in the "secondary screening area" no other passenger was selected for the full body scan or additional screening. She was eventually escorted out of the airport by officials.

McLain is not the only radio personality to recently have a run-in with TSA. Libertarian talker Neil Boortz recounted on his radio show last week that he had been subjected what he described as an intrusive pat-down search at Chicago's Midway airport. Boortz said he always sets off the metal detector due to a knee replacement, and that he was told that TSA no longer uses the metal-detecting wands for the secondary screeing. Midway does not yet have the full-body scanning equipment.

FMI: www.tsa.gov