Author: Jonathan Corbett

Jon Corbett is a civil rights attorney known for filing the first lawsuit against the deployment of TSA nude body scanners, as well as defeating the body scanners live in "How to Get ANYTHING Through TSA Nude Body Scanners." Twitter: @_JonCorbett, Web: https://professional-troublemaker.com/

TSA Accuses 4 Year Old of Attempting to Smuggle Gun

First, a TSO began yelling at my child, and demanded she too must sit down and await a full body pat-down. I was prevented from coming any closer, explaining the situation to her, or consoling her in any way. My daughter, who was dressed in tight leggings, a short sleeve shirt and mary jane shoes, had no pockets, no jacket and nothing in her hands. The TSO refused to let my daughter pass through the scanners once more, to see if she too would set off the alarm. It was implied, several times, that my Mother, in their brief two-second embrace, had passed a handgun to my daughter.

My child, who was obviously terrified, had no idea what was going on, and the TSOs involved still made no attempt to explain it to her. When they spoke to her, it was devoid of any sort of compassion, kindness or respect. They told her she had to come to them, alone, and spread her arms and legs. She screamed, “No! I don’t want to!” then did what any frightened young child might, she ran the opposite direction.

That is when a TSO told me they would shut down the entire airport, cancel all flights, if my daughter was not restrained. It was then they declared my daughter a “high-security-threat”.

Two TSOs were following her and again I was told to have no contact with my child. At this point, I was beyond upset, I disregarded what the TSO had said to me, and I ran to my daughter. I picked her up. I hugged her. I tried to comfort her…

I was forced to set my child down, they brought her into a side room to administer a pat-down, I followed. My sweet four-year-old child was shaking and crying uncontrollably, she did not want to stand still and let strangers touch her… A TSO began repeating that in the past she had “seen a gun in a teddy bear.” The TSO seemed utterly convinced my child was concealing a weapon, as if there was no question about it. Worse still, she was treating my daughter like she understood how dangerous this was, as if my daughter was not only a tool in a terrorist plot, but actually in on it. The TSO loomed over my daughter, with an angry grimace on her face, and ordered her to stop crying. When my scared child could not do so, two TSOs called for backup saying “The suspect is not cooperating.” The suspect, of course, being a frightened child. They treated my daughter no better than if she had been a terrorist…

http://consumerist.com/2012/04/4-year-old-gets-tsa-pat-down-following-hug-from-grandma.html

How many times has the TSA promised that they would stop molesting children at airports? That parents would never be separated from their children? That their employees would be more sensitive when working with children? That the public won’t be treated like “suspects?”

This is an agency that cannot — does not — tell the truth. It has made no progress in any of the regards it has claimed it would. Instead, the abuse keeps flowing harder and faster. It absolutely amazes me that a parent has not become violent with a TSA screener after abusing their child or demanding separation from their child. In no other place would a parent put up with this shit.

For more details on this article and a picture of the little princess/suspect, Amy Alkon did a great write-up.

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Help The Next Video Happen: Share This Blog With a TSA Screener!

I’ve been getting lots of e-mails from TSA screeners reporting even more failures of the TSA, including one today that says they were told to make the pat-downs rougher if a traveller was deemed to be rude (“resistence” would be “met” harder). I’d like to again encourage you all to share this with anyone who works for the TSA, whether it be over the Internet or by passing out information in airports: I WANT YOUR STORY!

Though I would love it if you would come on camera and do an interview, once again, I will do everything I can to keep you anonymous if that’s what it takes to get your story (even moreso than Jennifer, who was happy to have her voice broadcast, but wanted to avoid becoming famous for the leak at this time). Short of a subpoena, I won’t release your info, and if you want to protect yourself against that, simply e-mail me from Starbucks with a free e-mail account created just for this purpose (don’t forget to check for a reply!). My e-mail for TSA screeners is: jon [at] fourtentech.com

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TSA Admits $1B Nude Body Scanner Fleet Worthless!

My last video demonstrated how easy it is to take a metal object through TSA nude body scanners undetected.

In this video, I interviewed an actual TSA screener to hear more about how these machines are an epic fail. “Jennifer,” who asked me not to use her real name or face, has been on the front lines of the TSA’s checkpoints for the last 4 years.

Please share this video with your family, friends, and most importantly, elected officials in federal government. Make sure they understand that your vote is contingent on them fixing the abuse that 200,000 passengers face from the TSA on a daily basis. If you are (or know) a TSA screener who has seen abuse in the TSA, please contact me (below)!

My legal battle against the TSA’s nude body scanner and pat-down molestation program continues in court, soon with a petition to the U.S. Supreme Court. If you’d like to donate to this effort, send PayPal to: jon [at] fourtentech.com

I’d like to thank:

Travel Underground – http://www.travelunderground.org/

Freedom to Travel USA – http://fttusa.org/

Legislators who have stood up to the TSA – especially Dr. Ron Paul & Sen. Rand Paul

…and all those who have both publicly and privately stood up to the TSA.

Add me on Twitter: @tsaoutourpants (no “of”)

Transcript:

In the video I released last month, I showed the world that it’s trivial to beat the TSA’s nude body scanners; all it takes is simply strapping a metal object to your side. I referred to the program as a “giant fraud,” and I chose those words carefully: it was not an oversight, but rather the TSA knowingly imposed these virtual strip searches on us despite the fact that they don’t work.

Now how can I be so sure that the TSA knew that the scanners were broken? Well, in the first video I referred to other countries who take aviation security more seriously than we do had rejected the scanners years ago. Over the last year, we’ve also seen almost the entirety of Europe has backtracked on the body scanners. And there have been dozens of research studies that have shown vulnerabilities in the technology, of which the TSA must surely be aware.

But most importantly, I know because TSA employees have told me so. In the last year and a half since I filed my lawsuit against the scanners and the groping, I’ve received hundreds of e-mails and thousands of comments on my blog, and some from actual TSA employees who have seen the scanners fail first-hand. One of them was nice enough to sit down for an interview with me last week. “Jennifer” has been working with the Transportation Security Administration for the last 4 years as a screener, and had this to tell me:

[Video Interview Segment]
Jon: Were there specific times where this machine didn’t work, for either someone testing it, or a passenger went through and it was determined that they went through with…
Jennifer: Absolutely. Yes, absolutely.
Jon: Metal objects?
Jennifer: Metal, non-metal.
Jon: Big, small?
Jennifer: Both.
Jon: Things like wallets I think you mentioned to me?
Jennifer: Wallets.
Jon: So you’d send someone through the scanner and you’d see a bulge in their pocket, but the scanner would show nothing?
Jennifer: Mmhmm.
Jon: Things during training?
Jennifer: Absolutely.
Jon: What would you test it with when you were testing the machines?
Jennifer: There were different props: guns, knives, bags of powder that were supposed to resemble explosive material.
Jon: Sometimes these would just go through completely undetected?
Jennifer: Absolutely.

Now if it wasn’t scary enough that the TSA deployed these machines knowing they could take simulated bombs through them, Jennifer tells me that they were forcing screeners to run these radiation machines who hadn’t, according to the TSA’s own policies, been properly trained:

[Video Interview Segment]
Jon: They tried to send you to the machines, and you said, ‘Hold on, I’m not certified.’
Jennifer: Right.
Jon: And then in December I guess you tried the same thing and they said, ‘Too bad?’
Jennifer: We were forced to work on these machines. So basically, there were so few of us trained to work on the machines, they basically forced us.
Jon: So they didn’t care if you were certified or not?
Jennifer: No, I actually went to my supervisor — or a supervisor — the first day. I and another officer had this concern, that, you know, ‘Look, we’ve never worked on this particular machine, we don’t know what to do’ and his answer was, ‘Sorry, we don’t have enough staffing, you’re going to have to work on it.’
Jon: Certified or not, just get on the machine and make the best of it?
Jennifer: Yep, ‘just have your co-workers help you.’

After Jennifer was repeatedly ignored when she brought these serious issues up with management, she contacted her representatives in Congress for assistance… after which the TSA promptly began the process of firing her! A process, by the way, which took the TSA three months, during which Jennifer was forced to sit around on the taxpayer’s dime and do absolutely nothing. Fortunately, Jennifer turns in her uniform today.

[Video Interview Segment]
Jon: You wrote to Congress about the problems you saw in the TSA.
Jennifer: I did.
Jon: What happened?
Jennifer: I sent my letter on Jan. 1, and I came back from sick leave about a week later, and I was immediately removed from screening duties.
Jon: So you sent a letter to a Congressman — or to several — saying ‘Hey, there’s a problem with the TSA,’ and the TSA’s response was… retaliatory would you say?
Jennifer: Yes.
Jon: Was that the end of your screening duties… have you been back to screening since?
Jennifer: No.

This is why the TSA sucks. Because good employees who point out when the public is being put at risk aren’t listened to, they aren’t promoted – they’re fired! …and what’s left are the pizza-box employees that strip-search grannies, steal from your bags, throw hot coffee on pilots, and shoot up my neighborhood.

And every time another TSA employee is arrested – we’re up to at least 60 in the last 12 months – the TSA spouts off on their blog about the professionalism of their employees, just as when they’re caught on video molesting children at airports, they defend their employees’ fondlings as “by the book” – that book being the “Screening Checkpoint Standard Operating Procedures” or “SOP.” The SOP is the TSA’s secret guide as to how TSA employees are supposed to do screening as airports. The only problem is, TSA employees never actually read that book!

[Video Interview Segment]
Jennifer: Supposedly there is an SOP manual at every checkpoint. I’ve never seen it.
Jon: So you wouldn’t know where to go to find this book?
Jennifer: No, no.
Jon: *laughs*
Jennifer: I know, you can’t make this stuff up, you really can’t.
Jon: Did you read the SOP at any point, during training, or…
Jennifer: You mean initially…
Jon: Did you ever read the SOP from cover-to-cover?
Jennifer: Oh no, no… I’ve never read… no.

Absolutely stunning. I’d like to thank Jennifer for exposing this, and if you’re an attorney that would like to contact Jennifer, send me a message. I’d also like to encourage any of the few good TSA employees left who have seen abuse in the TSA to contact me – see the notes on this video for how to do so, anonymously if you’d prefer.

But there you have it. The TSA was aware of the fatal flaws in the nude body scanner program, yet knowingly defrauded the American taxpayer into buying these machines, as well as travellers from across the globe into posing naked “for their safety.” Well no more, guys — we’re done posing naked for the TSA. It’s time for the nude body scanner program to be immediately ended, for TSA Administrator John Pistole to be fired, and for the TSA to be dismantled as soon as possible. I encourage you to make this an election year issue and demand from your candidates a strong commitment to restoring our civil rights – and our sanity at airports. I also encourage anyone who’s asked to go through a body scanner to simply say, “I opt out,” and refuse to participate in this security theatre.

Until next time.

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New Video Coming Soon ;)

I’ve been working on producing a new video, which will be on the same level of epicness as the last one in exposing the TSA — and especially the nude body scanner program — as the giant fraud that it is. I’m pleased to announce that my new video will be released early next week.

No hints, but I promise you’ll like it. 🙂 Unless, of course, you’re a TSA supporter, in which case… well, apologies in advance.

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TSA Employees: Tell Me Your Story

Based on some messages I’ve received, I’ve learned the following:

  1. Many TSA employees hate their job, often due to management treating them poorly.
  2. Many screeners hate using the nude body scanners, often because they are worried about the radiation.
  3. Many screeners hate giving pat-downs, because the procedures require them to do ridiculous things (example: pat down someone’s hair even if it is short and obviously not concealing something) or simply because they don’t like touching other people’s junk.
  4. Many TSA employees actually care about security and TSA abuse and want to see things fixed.

If you know a TSA employee, frequent a message board that has TSA employees, happen to meet a TSA employee, or have any other way of sharing this article with TSA employees, please do so. If you are a TSA employee, please e-mail me at jon@fourtentech.com with your story. We can talk for attribution (with your name behind it), on camera, or completely anonymously. (I won’t disclose your name without your consent unless required to by court order. If you’re worried about court orders, simply take a laptop to any free WiFi location [airport, coffee shop, etc.] and create a new Gmail account without using your real info just for this purpose… but remember to check it for my reply!)

Things I’m particularly interested in hearing about include:

  • Body scanners not detecting things they should have detected
  • Being asked to work on equipment that you were not trained/certified to work on
  • Management knowingly ignoring security risks
  • Any kind of malfeasance (accepting bribes, giving positions/promotions to unqualified friends/family, lying in paperwork, etc.

If you know that the TSA is doing the wrong thing, be a whistleblower. Again, whether you want to remain unnamed or want your face in the news, please contact me at the e-mail address above.

While I cannot prevent you from sending me Sensitive Security Information (SSI), nothing in this post should be construed as asking you for SSI. Please follow the law. 🙂

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FOIA Request Denied: CLE Airport Refuses Release of Video

I got the following from Cleveland in response to one of my Freedom of Information Act requests requesting checkpoint video of me defeating the nude body scanners:

Information contained in the Airport security system, including video surveillance tapes at Hopkins Airport, contains security sensitive information that is controlled under 49 C.F.R. parts 15 and 1520. No part of this record may be disclosed to persons without a need to know, as defined in 49 C.F.R. parts 15 and 1520, except with the written permission of the Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration or the Secretary of Transportation. Unauthorized release may result in civil penalty or other action. Additionally, the release of this information is not authorized under the Ohio Public Records law, in that this information is considered security material and represents an exclusion that exists under the law.

It amazes me how anyone could possibly consider a video of a public area to be “sensitive security information” — after all, anyone could have legally taken a video of me at the checkpoint, so why is the government’s video any more sensitive than that?

I sent them an appeal letter, which is required before I sue them for the video. I also discussed the issue with them on the phone, and they told me they’d look into it. We’ll see.

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TSA: Large Amounts of Currency Will Be Referred to Law Enforcement

I came across some old legal docs the TSA filed, and found some interesting remarks in this one:

http://www.aclu.org/files/assets/TSA.Switzer_Decl_attachments_1_2_and_3_0.pdf

Page 19: “When currency appears to be indicative of criminal activity, TSA may report the matter to the appropriate authorities. For all flights, factors indicating that cash is related to criminal activity include the quantity, packaging, circumstances of discovery, or method by which the cash is carried, including concealment.” Continues to state that TSA will verify you’ve reported to CBP if >$10K is flying internationally.

Page 24: “When TSA discovers contraband during the screening process that is not a TSA Prohibited Item, the matter should be referred to the local Law Enforcement Officers as appropriate. An Enforcement Investigative Report should not be initiated. Examples of such contraband include: … Large amounts of cash ($10,000).”

The TSA is empowered by Congress ONLY to find weapons, explosives, and incendiaries. They often times report people for drug possession, arguing that they were searching for WEI but just “happened” to find drugs, and therefore it’s cool. But cash?! Cash isn’t illegal at all, and assuming malintent or trying to enforce customs rules is NOT within the scope of their mission.

Best part: they’re more likely to refer you to law enforcement if you conceal your cash. If you leave it in plain sight for the TSA to steal, it’s much more acceptable.

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FLL Airport: TSA Told Us to Lie About Existence of Security Video!

Broward County responded to my new lawsuit (for abuse while kicking me out of FLL airport after I would not let them touch my genitals) in record time with a Motion to Dismiss (document below). Their motion is full of nonsense and will not stand (except perhaps requiring me to amend the complaint to name the Broward County Sherrif’s office as well), but it will actually do them more harm than good. Worthy of note:

TSA informed County that the subject CCTV recordings at TSA checkpoints, including the mere existence thereof, constituted Sensitive Security Information.

The County, back in September, flatly denied that security tapes of me being threatened by a Transportation Security Manager existed. I took this to mean that they weren’t in the county’s possession and therefore the security cameras must belong to the TSA. But, when the TSA also denied their existence a few months later, Broward county admitted that they did own the security cameras, but that “if” tapes exist, they cannot be released because they are “Sensitive Security Information.”

The idea that the government can lie about records because it thinks they are “sensitive” is founded neither in law nor in the hallmarks of a free country. Both the federal FOIA and the Florida Public Records Act require that documents either be disclosed or they be denied with a reason. There is no provision for falsely denying their existence (which is incredibly stupid given that there are at least 13 visible cameras or camera domes at the FLL E gates checkpoint), with the limited exception of confidential informants or classified foreign intelligence. See Shura v. FBI, Order, Docket #98 (CDCA 2011), p. 13.

The TSA thinks it’s ok to lie to us. This isn’t anything new: they lied to us when they said the nude body scanners were safe, were effective, were not able to save/print images. They lie to us about how they treat the elderly (her story), women, and children (watch in horror as the TSA screener puts her hands inside the child’s pants before rubbing her chest and genitals… how many times has the TSA said they don’t do this to kids?!). It’s not ok for our government to lie to us, even if they think it’s for our own good. This organization needs to be dismantled, and the body scanners are a great place to start. Please share this story so that those who patriotically tust their government know that this particular government agency is abusing that trust.

Corbett v. TSA – Broward County’s Motion to Dismiss (.pdf)

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Motion for Reconsideration Filed

After thoroughly embarassing the TSA on the international stage:

…my battle in the courts continues. The brief summary for new readers is that my lawsuit against the nude body scanners and molestation pat-downs was dismissed from U.S. District Court by stretching a jurisdictional statute that requires challenges of TSA “orders” to be filed instead in the U.S. Courts of Appeals. I challenged the constitutionality of this (the result of which would abridge my right to a jury trial, discovery, witnesses, etc.) with an appeal, which was rejected by the 11th Circuit who suggested that I could file in a Court of Appeals and ask the Court of Appeals to order a District Court to hear the case. The absurdity of the idea that I can’t file in one court but can file in another court only to be referred back to that original court notwithstanding, as they wish: the motion I filed today asks the court to do just that.

Of course, there are wrinkes. To start, the court doesn’t have to approve my request. The notion of asking a court for “permission” to challenge my government is repulsive — I demand my challenge as of right! But, if asking nicely gets this issue resolved faster than a petition to the U.S. Supreme Court would, so be it. The second wrinkle is that the TSA, after essentially winning the appeal, in a highly unusual move filed its own motion, basically saying, “No you’ve got it wrong. You were right to deny him his day in court, but wrong to suggest you can give him a day in court by ordering a District Court to hear it.”

So, now pending before the court is the government’s motion to change its decision to omit the part about me being able to get back to District Court “the long way,” as well as my cross-motion, which says, essentially, that if the court agrees with the government, my right to due process is gone. Therefore, if the court wants to grant the government’s motion, it must declare the resulting outcome unconstitutional and send me to District Court. And, if the court denies the motion, please transfer the case to the Court of Appeals and then order a District Court hearing. Either way, you may have noticed that I’m a fan of being heard in District Court. 😉

Corbett v. US – TSA Motion for Reconsideration
Corbett v. US – Corbett Motion for Reconsideration

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