Man strips at Va. airport checkpoint in protest

[IDemo]

Source: Associated Press

The Associated Press
Friday, December 31, 2010; 7:13 AM

RICHMOND, Va. -- Police say a man stripped to his underwear at a Virginia airport checkpoint in a protest against security procedures.

Airport police said the man took off his shirt and pants at Richmond International Airport on Thursday. He had scrawled across his chest a reference to the Constitution's 4th Amendment protections against unreasonable search and seizure.

Police identified the man as 21-year-old Aaron B. Tobey of Charlottesville, Va. He told police he was a student at the University of Cincinnati.

Tobey was interviewed by airport police and federal authorities, issued a citation for disorderly conduct and released. He is scheduled for arraignment on Jan. 10.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/31/AR2010123100617.html

[Name removed]

1. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[midnight]

2. Can you see a line of people protesting like this?

Traveling has gotten very interesting.

[molly77]

11. I'm surprised more people haven't done similar

FB friend didn't wear underwear. Thought she was an exhibitionist. Now I'm thinking she made a statement.

[midnight]

91. O, I'm sure of it...

[liberal N proud]

12. It is going to take a mass stripping to get any real action

Until the people demand a change, our rights will continue to erode.

[valerief]

59. Even if they do, it'll make the news like the massive antiwar protests did. Zip. Nada. Nothing.

Like it never happened.

[LibDemAlways]

22. Unfortunately most people are sheep, and some are convinced

groping and nude-o-scans are necessary for our "safety." A relative's comment when discussing this Christmas Eve: "I'm glad they do it. If it keeps me from getting blown up, it's worth it."

As long as people are willing to subject themselves to it, it will continue. Will only stop when enough people stop all discretionary flying, and the airlines start to feel the pain in the bottom line. Once the airlines start putting pressure on the government to back off, it will be scaled back. Not before.

[fatbuckel]

27. Do ya think that stripping down to your guchies in an airport might give TSA probable cause?

Idiots.

[LibDemAlways]

30. TSA is not a law enforcement agency. They can't arrest anybody. They

are only empowered to harass, intimidate, and deny people their constitutional right to privacy.

[fatbuckel]

31. Yea....thats their purpose.

[SammyWinstonJack]

79. Pretty much, that is their purpose. Deal with it.

[snot]

111. Then how is it that if you refuse both scanning and pat down, you can be detained and fined $10,000?

Do they detain you and call the cops?

Bottom line is, it's a clear and gross violation of the Fourth Amendment.

And i.m.h.o., if 10% of air travellers did something like this, it would bring the searches to a screeching halt. Because it would bring the whole security theater to a screeching halt.

If ten percent just demanded pat downs, I don't think TSA has the manpower to handle it.

I actually think this is an area where civil disobedience might work.

[LibDemAlways]

117. Dupe

[LibDemAlways]

118. Yes, if they want to take action against you,

they have to summon the cops. I think people have a lot of potential power here if they choose to exercise it. The threat of mass opt outs at Thansgiving had the TSA turning off the nude-o-scopes and foregoing the "enhanced" pat downs to keep things running smoothly. If opting out became the norm, they couldn't handle the crowds waiting to be patted down.

[snot]

120. +1!

[truedelphi]

73. Actually quite the reverse is true. The people who have been protesting, such as

The "bikini" woman in the wheelchair, reveal for everyone to see, how little "there" there is in TSA. If TSA was really about figuring out who is a terrorist and who isn't, don't you think by now, some weeks after her initial protest, they would know she is not affiliated with Al Queada? They certainly have had time to collect the data on her.

These exploits of our braver and more knowledgeable fellow citizens shed light on what a farce TSA is.

Any terrorist cell wanting to bring harm to the USA could quite easily cement some thermite into the lining of their hard luggage, put a battery activiated toy into the same suitcase, let that bundle go into the "check in luggage" cargo area of the plane, and bring along a "cell phone" that can detonate the luggage once the airplane is in flight.

As someone who has carried a device that looks for all intents and purposes like a handheld detonator, let me tell you that the TSA folks don't even notice said device.

This TSA activity is all about getting us to conform to the madness, so that when the dollar goes into free fall and the stores have no more food, they can come and take those they consider to be problematic away.

[smiley]

97. careful what you say

... or someone may come knocking on your door.

[truedelphi]

100. Well, if you don't

Tell them about me, I won't tell them about you!

[Gin]

122. havent heard "guchies" in a long long time.... :)

[rfranklin]

23. It's like the Alice's Restaurant Massacre!

Except butt naked!

[mopinko]

35. oh, wouldn't it be great if people sang that while stripping?

how hilarious would that be? make sure you have a friend with a good phone along so it can be the next viral youtube hit.

[laylah]

61. + a gazillion! lol! nt

[hootinholler]

68. That would be a great flash mob

:rofl:

A tad long to do the whole massacree.

-Hoot

[mopinko]

78. yes it would

just the chorus would be enough.

[butterfly77]

84. Only in America

:rofl:

[hootinholler]

98. I wonder if it would be enough for people to just start singing the refrain

In 3 part harmony of course.



And feeling.



We're just waiting for it to come around again here...

:rofl:

-Hoot

[Ken Burch]

99. It would also give the term "flash mob" a whole NEW meaning.

n/t.

[LiberalEsto]

33. A line of mooners, perchance?

After all, it's freedom of expression.

[SoapBox]

55. It would be wonderful!

...if there were hundreds, on a daily basis doing this.

What the hell is the "gestapo/TSA" going to do? Arrest and ticket
thousands and thousands?

I'm a Dem and a Progressive but this TSA garbage is out of control.

[kath]

112. They've done it already in Europe -

saw a video of a bunch of people stripped to undies and bikinis going through a checkpoint.

They're way ahead of us when it comes to protesting bullshit like this.
Remember the mass moonings of the Chimperor?

[rosesaylavee]

3. Wonderful!

Good for him!

[xchrom]

4. ...

:cry: i am never in the right place at the right time.

[Scottybeamer70]

28. Laughing......

at comment by xchrom...............:rofl:

[MattSh]

5. Freaking WP and AP.

Not a mention of anyone's reaction. Presumably only Aaron, some TSA handlers and the police were there.

Oh yeah, I forgot. It might just encourage other people to do the same thing if an article mentions people cheered, or jeered, or shuffled around like sheep.

[No Elephants]

6. Supposedly, RW wants airport security privatized.

[freshwest]

34. I guess it already is in the red states.

[harmonicon]

7. Yeah, he's the one charged with disorderly conduct...

unfuckingbelieveable. I really don't ever want to fly to the US ever again. Hell, in a few years everyone will be subjected to a strip search when flying. It wasn't so long ago that you'd think an airport employee touching your genitals would have been something they would get in trouble for... now it's us who get in trouble for not letting people grope us. This shit is completely crazy.

[sofa king]

8. I used to do that.

For a lot of the '90s and early '00s, I traveled frequently and had long hair, which meant I got randomly selected for special attention every single flight I took (and any checked-in luggage was also "lost" perhaps over half the time, just like Mo Atta's was on 9/11).

It got to the point where, in Providence, they would shoo the scary looking people into a plexiglass fish tank in the middle of a boring maze-line one at a time, so that literally hundreds of people were watching the pre-perps like me. Then an employee would yell at the subject to undo his belt, unzip his pants, lower his pants like he's a goddamned underage Jordache model, and spin around.

So I started dropping my pants before they could tell me not to. The first time, it threw them off so bad they actually took me out of the line and escorted me straight to my plane (I'd dropped trow that time because I was late and getting pissed off). A few weeks later, I did it again and it ended the procedure instantly and got me back into the regular line, and for most of that year it was good for some sort of conciliatory treatment like a quick wand-and-go.

Then they moved on to some other BS procedure, but by then I'd cut my hair and thus I'd ceased to be a terrorist threat.

Edit: It occurs to me that I flew often enough that some of you might have actually seen me do this. A cookie for the fellow flyer who remembers my underwear and can describe it.

[Evasporque]

10. Satin string bikini?...nt

[sofa king]

14. Thankfully, no.

That would have been considered a terrorist attack.

[Kolesar]

56. White boxers with red valentine hearts? eom

[awoke_in_2003]

41. "I'd cut my hair and thus I'd ceased to be a terrorist threat"...

a good shave can do that for you, too :)

[Ter]

107. That's what she said

:)

[awoke_in_2003]

109. Seriously...

I have not had a professional shave in the 18 years I have lived in Texas. I finally found someone who does a straight razor shave- hot towel, warm lather, facial massage, the whole nine yards. I don't care how grumpy you are, after a professional barber shave the world looks 1000 times better.

[zappaman]

124. these?

[qb]

9. I salute the protester, and curse the reporter who did not solicit any cell phone pictures

from the onlookers. :mad:

[fatbuckel]

29. Maybe nobody cared. Or can`t that possibly be a likely scenario?

Maybe,just maybe some people go to airports to travel somewhere. Maybe MOST people did`nt get "groped". Waa.Waa. Boo hoo. Don`t fly.

[patrick t. cakes]

37. look, the sheeple fight back.

your the problem. go away.

[AlbertCat]

48. your the problem. go away.

Your "what" is the problem?

Your statement would have more umph if you used the correct words.



Prudes shouldn't fly.

Stripping naked to protest having to "strip naked" seems lame to me.

No one is requiring anyone to fly. There are other transportation methods. Flying sux these day even without the security kabuki!

Of course if all this groping and x-raying actually made flying safer, it wold be different. But most of it is for "show" to make people feel safer.

And how much "right to privacy" does one have on PUBLIC transportation?

[barbtries]

69. "No one is requiring anyone to fly."

this statement while true on the face of it is so infuriating and unfair. my choices are don't fly and never see my son and grandchildren, don't fly and lose my job, or fly and sacrifice my constitutional rights of privacy in order to see my loved ones.

free choice. all mine. right.

[fatbuckel]

113. Wow...slow down there, drama queen. All I said was maybe noone cared about Mr.Stripdown,

I could care less why you fly or don't fly and how your constitutional rights are getting stomped. I fly a bazillion times a year for my job(FOH Engineer) and I carry on a laptop and various electronic kajinkeses and have NEVER been searched because I prepare ahead of time and follow the rules. I even have long hair and mostly wear Ramones T-shirts while I'm boarding. I fly out of airports all over the world and the North American airports are the most laid back I've encountered. Ever fly out of Israel? Machine guns,buddy. Go ahead, strip down to your gutchies there and see how that goes. You know, some people feel the need to argue against the current policy, no matter what it is. If tommorrow the policy was take anything on the plane you want, then the TSA are bastards for not checking people for shit. But I don't want some nutbag with explosives on a plane with ME for ten hours just because some douch thinks that by getting felt up at a checkpoint equates to the end of the known free world and all things democratic.

[barbtries]

119. drama queen?

you can make your point without insulting me. and i hear your point.

"equates to the end of the known free world and all things democratic."

i never said any such thing. but it is another chink in the armor. personal privacy is becoming a thing of the past and that is not consistent with liberty or with our rights as guaranteed by the constitution.

and no i've not been to israel and what does that have to do with the fact that my son and grandchildren and i live on opposite sides of north america?

[LisaL]

86. No one is requiring anyone to fly?

Hah? What if you have to fly for your job? Then in fact an employer is requiring an employee to fly.

[patrick t. cakes]

114. Your defending unlawful search and seizure.

Your a sheep and your also the problem. America dissolves.

[awoke_in_2003]

49. I agree 100% with your sentiments. nt

[GoneOffShore]

90. And don't take the train or the Metro or the bus or shop

The TSA smurfs will be coming soon to a shopping mall near you.

Some people are obliged to fly for business or personal reasons or compassionate reasons. Don't be a jerk.

The TSA has been known to frisk soldiers in uniform. They also frisk pilots. Think about that particular aspect of the security theatre business. These reject burger pushers frisk the people who most easily could bring the plane down.

Try thinking things thru before your fingers run away and type dumb stuff.

[LibDemAlways]

104. "these reject burger pushers"

While I happen to agree with you that the TSA employees are the lowest of the low, those can be construed as fighting words here on DU. Got into it one day with a poster when I said something similar about TSA employees and was rudely reminded that these were human beings with families to feed...yada, yada......

That said, the ones I've encountered have mostly been morons not fit to cook fries at Mickey D's.

[rhett o rick]

This is happening under a Democratic Admin. WTF. Just wait til the repukes get control. nm

[RC]

36. Is there any real difference anymore?

[SammyWinstonJack]

81. Not much.

[rhett o rick]

103. In a word........fuckno

[LisaL]

88. It actually might get better because some of them seem to oppose

the TSA methods.

[benEzra]

123. And if repubs were once again in charge of this crap, more progressives might grow a spine

and oppose it instead of cheering it on.

The ACLU and pro-civil-liberties Dems opposing this are only a small fraction of those who should be opposing this (and Surveillance Nation), IMO.

[VeryLibGal]

13. Good for him! The TSA should be cited with disorderly conduct.

They make people strip and it is okay.

[tabasco]

15. I bet he gets put on the sex offender registry.

This country is just that fucked up.

[prodigals0n]

16. A disorderly persons citation for what?

There is a guy in Times Square in New York City in his underwear every day. When did standing around in your underwear become disorderly? He should be given props for helping make the TSA's dirty work easier.

[WolverineDG]

42. because they had to arrest him for *something*

& since he kept his undies on, they couldn't nail him for "indecent exposure."

dg

[mbperrin]

70. I agree! He's just a very cooperative guy!

Oh, yeah, that stuff from the old antique thing called the Constitution written on his chest was the problem.

Like sunlight to vampires.

[wial]

87. that's brilliant!

Is there a way to get a bumper sticker out of it?

4th amendment is to TSA
like sunlight is to vampires

something like that

[DemoTex]

17. Civil Disobedience

"Disobedience is the true foundation of liberty. The obedient must be slaves."
Henry David Thoreau

"We should never forget that everything Adolf Hitler did in Germany was legal and everything the Hungarian freedom fighters did in Hungary was illegal."
Martin Luther King, Jr. in Letters from a Birmingham Jail


"If we desire respect for the law, we must first make the law respectable."
Louis D. Brandeis - US Supreme Court Justice (1916-1939)


"Disobedience, the rarest and most courageous of the virtues, is seldom distinguished from neglect, the laziest and commonest of the vices."
George Bernard Shaw

[dixiegrrrrl]

74. "Tyranny is defined as that which is legal for the government but illegal for the citizenry."

Thomas Jefferson

[Historic NY]

18. Boxers or briefs?

[customerserviceguy]

67. Depends.

[Mosaic]

19. Observations

The damn terrorists must be smiling. Americans gladly give up their freedom for a little security, pathetic.

[ManiacJoe]

102. When do we get the security part?

[Demeter]

20. It's Coming...

and not too soon, either.

[felix_numinous]

21. Airport streaking

is next.

[awoke_in_2003]

50. o yes they call him the streak....

fastest thing on two feet (great, that damn song is gonna be running through my head all day)

[Art_from_Ark]

116. Always making the news, wearing just his tennis shoes

Yes, you could call him unique!

[awoke_in_2003]

121. ...

watch out, our age is showing :)

[eowyn_of_rohan]

24. GOOD! Keep up the good work

and I hope this is the start of something bigger...

[harvey007]

25. A brave young man

I hope he gets a good lawyer.

Unfortunately, people who dare to question authority at the airport can be banned from flying and TSA can do this to anyone for any reason.

http://www.aclu.org/national-security/us-government-no-fly-list-unconstitutional-and-ineffective

[Warren Stupidity]

26. Bravo Aaron!

[jimlup]

32. OK, this is funny

Generally I have to agree with the security procedures but still this is :rofl:

A good protest idea

[Atypical Liberal]

38. Ridiculous

I think it is ridiculous that this guy removes his clothing, thus making the searching just the way TSA wants it, and they hit him with a disorderly conduct charge.

[LibDemAlways]

39. TSA wants to be the bully. It doesn't want its victims

engaging in any one-upsmanship that makes it look foolish.

[awoke_in_2003]

51. yep, quite common trait...

in law enforcement.

[LisaL]

76. Agreed.

Looks like TSA thinks that virtual strip search by an x-ray scanner is just fine, but an actual strip down is going to get someone arrested? What gives?

[WolverineDG]

40. For all the TSA's yelling & screaming that molesting passengers was so necessary

I have to say that at neither airport I used this Christmas season were the molestations or porno scanners being utilized. In fact, in one of them, I forgot to take out my toothpaste & lotion, but I guess it was okay because they were in that plastic baggie that keeps them from exploding.

Just further proof that this is just all bull shit security theater.

dg

[awoke_in_2003]

52. "that keeps them from exploding"..

thanks for the best chuckle I had all week.

[woo me with science]

63. "bull shit security theater"

That's exactly what it is.

[Raschel]

65. Theater is a good description. Especially after seeing how lax security is downstairs for employees.

[truedelphi]

95. I know the feeling. The County has installed

Metal Detectors in their lobby to the Main Court House, Building of Public Records.

I went in the building swinging a bottle of expensive orange-aid with protein powder. Immediately, I was ordered to shuck the bottle into the trash, to prove that I am a law abiding, God fearing, Authority conforming member of society.

Said to the security personnel, "I think I'll go do some errands instead." Basically cuz I did want to finish up my drink.

One half hour later, when I came back, sans bottle, both security personnel said, "Oh we are so glad you came back." They gave each other these significant looks - like now they didn't have to report to Homelands Shit-curity that someone of deviant mind and philosophy walks the streets of Lakeport Calif. in broad daylight, swinging bottle with orange colored contents.

But two months later, during a remodeling project involving the same lobby where the metal scanner was sitting, all of the public was told to enter via a side door. No security there for 48 hours! No one to tell anyone not to bring in dangerous, Al Queda-suspected liquids. Now all of a sudden, only thing that is important is remodeling and re-decorating!

Oh my. Could it be it is not about security and keeping us safer, after all?

[LibDemAlways]

105. It has never been about safety. If that was the case they'd dismantle

TSA and invest in intelligent security. But that's apparently too hard. Easier (and bigger profits for the likes of Chertoff and other leeches) to convince the sheep that they need to be nude-o-scoped and/or felt-up in order to be "safe."

[1American]

43. the stripper punk

15 seconds of infamous jollies...what a dork.

[SammyWinstonJack]

82. What a dork

:eyes:

[Hugabear]

44. You'd think they would be thanking him for making their job easier

Besides, it's not like stripped naked. Is there a law that says you can't be in your underwear in public?

[mackerel]

45. There was a women who stripped down to her bikini

although I don't recall many protesting her. A lot of wolf whistles though.

[LisaL]

77. I know of at least a couple women that stripped down to their

bikinis. They didn't get arrested.

[tomhayes]

46. Real mature

I'm sure this isn't helping.

[awoke_in_2003]

54. You're right...

he, and all americans should quietly submit and STFU about it.

[tomhayes]

60. Sure - those are the only two options

Again, real mature.

[GoneOffShore]

92. Perhaps you'd like to outline some other options?

I guess sitting in the front of the bus seemed real mature to you as well.

This guy is quite rightly protesting the tyranny that the TSA Smurfs represent.

Letters to Nappy and our congress critters certainly seem to have little effect. One receives boiler plate prose about an "abundance of caution" and "keeping Americans safe" and damn all else.

[20score]

85. I for one am very glad he did it. We need much more of this type of street protest. Mature pundits

speaking about this in a serious manner, coupled with concerned people discussing this in no-nonsense tones, will get nothing done.

So, kudos to him and anyone else who does this in the future.

And worse case, it won't hurt.

[dkofos]

47. No pictures, no video, why bother

[DesertDiamond]

53. Go Aaron Tobey! Does the term "civil disobedience" define this?

[Kolesar]

57. Real antiwar protesters suffered bigger rights violations than this TSA sideshow

I had to limit my protest else I could get fired, arrested or Rodney Kinged for expressing my protest in a legal fashion.

[James48]

58. A Constitutional Scholar! n/t

[ctwayne]

62. Remember that Day Well

There is a reason why I post with RFK's picture. I was a volunteer in his campaign. I believe his death fundamentally changed American history.

[treestar]

64. I always try to think of the way I could get my 15 minutes

Too bad I didn't think of this. It's in the realm of the possible for me. Though it might be horrifying for everyone in the airport at the time. :rofl:

[Raschel]

66. I salute you!

[wordpix]

71. applause! Would love to have seen it

[Sonoman]

72. But, if he was wearing a swimsuit, flip-flops, and a sleeveless shirt...

no problemo.

Sonoman

[earth mom]

75. I can't wait for the class action lawsuit to begin! Because it's so unconstitutional it ain't funny!

:grr:

[delightfulstar]

80. Well, that's one method....

There was also the woman who went through LAX in a bikini last month... http://www.nbclosangeles.com/traffic/transit/Traffic-LAX-holiday-travel-thanksgiving-110384004.html

Whatever works, I guess. :shrug:

[Stinky The Clown]

83. We need more of this, not less

Yes, I am angry at Obama's administration for escalating The Crazy.

These searches and pat downs serve NO PURPOSE.

[truedelphi]

96. hey there, Stinky -

Happy New Year!!

[AnneD]

106. Oh but they do serve a purpose.....

much the way a child molester grooms his target, we are being further groomed to tolerate this crap. People who protest this are written off as crazy. A few sheeple are interviewed saying well, this is actually this is for our own good and gee I feel soo much better now that I have had a frontal lobotomy. :sarcasm:

Think avoiding the airports will prevent you from this rude, illegal search. They are branching out to bus terminals, ferry terminals, large sporting events and concerts. The only thing that makes you a terrorist these days seems to be buying a ticket.

Oh but wait, they now have vehicles that can scan cars driving by and have portable watch towers that they set up in places like small town Walmart parking lots. Like Al Quida is going to attack Bumfuck Arkansas. They are not monitoring for terrorist, they are monitoring the citizens of this country, an armed population that one day may not continue to sit around patiently while their Treasury is plundered, houses stolen, all the while the people they elected to represent them continue to ignore them and pass laws to help the corporate overlords at the peoples expense.

Yes my friend, the purpose is to groom us into submission. I am not prone to crazy, but I know it when I see it. Just like the Jews in the ghettos, we are gradually losing our rights. It is a short hop to the gas chambers or work details my friends, or singling out those that disagree with the approved party line for special attention, and we are whistling their praises as we take it up the butt.

I salute anyone that can come up with a clever and non violent way to protest, since legal redress doesn't seem to be working at this time.

[LibDemAlways]

108. Right after 9/11 cars entering the parking lot at my husband's

place of employment, a suburban office park, were stopped and drivers were instructed to open the trunk for inspection. Total bullshit. Bumfuck, Arkansas is right. The chances of that obscure office park being a terrorist target were somewhere in the negative number column, but that didn't stop officious assholes from inconveniencing people. It all stopped after about a week when the rent a cop guard was fired, but it was laughable to begin with.

We need a lot more protest and a lot fewer people flying before this shit is going to be scaled back. I am glad to see this story in the news because the public has a short attention span and needs to be reminded that their government is nothing more than a bunch of paid thugs.

[me b zola]

89. We should all be "disorderly"

Screw them and their insistence on our "compliance". Comply with this, mother-focker! I'm in no mood to be treated as cattle.

[sabrina 1]

93. Good for him. And why was HE cited?

If being naked is the problem, why aren't the machine operators being cited for what they are doing, and the gropers?

They are going to have to get rid of those machines eventually, as soon as people start winning cases in court and more and more people are filing cases now.

They never should have been allowed. But I guess they figured it was worth trying it and making as much money as they could until they have to get rid of them.

Rapiscans. Even the name is cynical. Sometimes I think they do these things to see how far they can push people. 30 years ago they would not have dared to try to introduce such clear Constitutional violations under the guise of 'security'.

But with the drug war having 'softened' Americans up, this is just the next step towards total control and an end to any rights.

But, people like this guy are standing up and that slows down the process a little. Good for him, he is a hero. He should fight that citation also. Who cares if he's naked? I thought that was not an issue anymore?

[LisaL]

94. I don't know why he was cited.

Why exactly can't he be in his underwear to show TSA he isn't hiding anything under his clothes? Isn't that what TSA claims it wants to know?

[watstearns]

101. This is happening b/c of Congressional failure

Let's reform the campaign finance system so corporate money,
corporate media bias, and corporate corruption of vote getting
and vote counting are nullified.  Here's a petition for that:

http://www.petitiononline.com/PoliTru3/petition.html

[eridani]

110. Can't see London, can't see France--

--until we see your underpants.

[pam4water]

115. I hope people cheered him on! And not to a strip tease :P