Man strips naked at airport as protest against TSA

reply to post by Flavian


I don't care who's listening or watching me. There's nothing to listen or see.

When I am travelling, here's what I care about - lack of stress.

1. I want to get in and out of the airport as quickly as possible.
2. I want a calm flight.
3. if travelling alone, I want to be left alone. No chatty neighbor.
4. if travelling with my kids, I want them to behave and enjoy the flight.


that's it. That's what most travellers want. They want to get to the airport, get on the plane, get off the plane and get out of the airport. All in as quick and painless a manner as is possible.

Folks "making a statement" at the security check in slow that process down.

Ask around. Ask people who actually fly. With frequency.

They're not put out by the security measures. If anything, most people are happy to comply with the added security because it adds a false layer of protection. We feel slightly more secure, even though we know that the added measures are probably useless.

reply to post by Crakeur


Don't think we will reach any agreement over this! Totally opposite opinions.......

These checks really do not make any difference to flight safety though. If someone is determined enough, they can make a plane crash (or at the very least freak out every other passenger), regardless of pat downs and the like.

Don't like it and don't agree with it but i get that you do. Each to their own i guess.

reply to post by Flavian


reread my last post. I told you exactly what they do. They give a perceived layer of protection and, for the folks who travel with any frequency, that's just fine.

for the person who sits at home, never flies, and sees the added security, it looks like a total hassle but it isn't and, until you have to do it, you can't complain about it. the guy this thread is about went to that airport with every intention of stripping down and getting himself arrested.

who wins when that happens? not the poor travellers behind him.
Not the families with kids who see the naked man.
not the people inside the airport who hear there's a security issue and the airport is in lockdown mode until it's resolved.


you know who wins? the guy who went to the airport with the goal of getting arrested over a non-cause.

he might as well be protesting the war in vietnam. that's how much of a non-factor security at airports has become. this guy is protesting something that nobody, other than those looking for a pr moment, care about or are bothered by.

and, again, until you travel, you cannot sit at a desk and bemoan the "sheeple" (I hate the word, using it is no different than being called one) who submit to this invasive torturous check point. you make it sound like we're all getting fisted by the incredible hulk before being allowed into the airport. when there aren't any morons holding up the line, it's no different than waiting on line at starbucks, without the faux ironic hipster snobs.

Originally posted by Crakeur
this is a guy who intended on getting arrested. It's against the law to be naked in public. he's an idiot.

the TSA is doing their job and they're constantly rejiggering their requirements to satisfy the overly vocal public.

Kids under a certain age no longer need to take off their shoes.
They barely go near kids anymore, other than to give them TSA stickers.
They're friendlier.
They're more understanding that, while it's their job, it sucks to be on the receiving end of the pat downs and bag searches.

The alternative is a free for all where safety is not an option. I'm not talking about safety from terrorists. Nope, more concerned with the random nutjob who decides to go bonkers on a flight.

I'm sorry you believe that.

If any TSA employee "is doing their job", I would suggest that employee is in the minority of decent people that really have a mind inside their skull. Your assertion that if they did not do this there would be some imaginary free for all is absurd. There was no free for all before they existed. There is no reason to believe that.

The free for all is at the check in point.

I think better screening of their personnel, to include in depth psyche evals, would eliminate nutjobs that can't handle their responsibilities in a rational, reasonable way. I would also include a minimum intelligence level for so important of a job.

reply to post by Crakeur


I do travel fairly frequently. Even if i did not, would that preclude me from having an opinion?


Also, why would kids be disturbed at seeing someone naked? Anyone that has issues with nudity has some serious issues - it is our natural state for gods sake. I despair that people are that repressed about the human body.

It is prisoner training!

If you think the TSA is stopping @ the airports then you are sadly mistaken. They are just getting started!!!

Originally posted by akalepos

I think better screening of their personnel, to include in depth psyche evals, would eliminate nutjobs that can't handle their responsibilities in a rational, reasonable way. I would also include a minimum intelligence level for so important of a job.

this should be the case for all gov't employees.

that being said, I will simply say, yet again, that I travel several times a year and not only have I never, ever had a problem. I've never heard anyone complain about it or seen any issues.

You're more likely to hear "wow, that wasn't so bad" than "hey the tsa guy grabbed my junk"


It's a problem that is minor and is being blown up by attention seekers.

reply to post by UFO1414


I like this guy's style. Twice at the Airport in Las Vegas I just let my pants fall to the ground after they made me remove my belt. Once I was going commando. TSA lady thought it was funny one time, but I had funny underwear on. Another time I had to have words with people and explain to them that there is no law stating I have to wear underwear, and that when they had me remove my belt they should have had enough common sense to know that the belt was there for a reason. The hottie seated next to me on the plane saw it all and yes, yes we did end up hooking up and going out. Thank you very much.

reply to post by Crakeur


Those who give up their freedoms and liberties for national security deserve neither freedom nor liberty.

While I agree that the increased security is needed, the TSA has become a symbol of an increasingly threatening police state. This is not the only instance of liberty being taken from the people and the average citizen being considered "guilty until proven innocent".

How far does a state need to go to ensure safety before it becomes a totalitarian regime?

Again, I agree that security measures should be taken. But I at least understand why this man has felt the need to make this statement.

Perhaps if your government was not "snatching" people from around the world at will, assassinating people remotely as some guy in an office sees fit, monitoring all your phone calls, emails and internet searches, overriding the democratic process, being paid-off by corporations... he wouldn't have thought the TSA were that bad.

But when you put it all together, the puzzle pieces are increasingly combining to create the image of a totalitarian police state where the terrorists have already won. And the TSA are one of the public faces of that image.

reply to post by Crakeur


About a year ago, i took my then 13 year old daughter to the airport, an airport in Tx that had already had an issue involving TSA and a female passenger.
I dont like the TSA and I intended on letting them know that (which isnt a good idea btw)
The first agent I encountered, asked if i intended on walking her to the terminal, I replied in a smart ass manner and he did he same, (wasnt a good start)
When we got to the screening part, a female agent came up and asked for my permission to pat down my daughter, which surprised me, I said sure (what choice did i have)
She talked to my daughter in a very polite and caring way as she patted her down and she did not touch her in any private areas, the same goes for the agent that patted me down.
All and all, it was not that big of a hassle and aside from the first agent, the agents there were actually pretty cool people.
There are rotten apples in every organization, so its possible that some of these videos are catching these rotten apples and not the organization as a whole.

Originally posted by Crakeur
I've never heard anyone complain about it or seen any issues.

You're more likely to hear "wow, that wasn't so bad" than "hey the tsa guy grabbed my junk"

It's a problem that is minor and is being blown up by attention seekers.

I used to travel a lot, mostly work related. I would fly 10 to 15 times a year for over a decade, but not always commercial flights. I agree with the second two statements.

My youngest brother is a high functioning autistic individual who worked with the TSA from 2002 to 2007 at McCarran Airport in Las Vegas. He has been very candid, and I know honest, when sharing some of the reasons he decided to quit... due to shady practices by the TSA. To include going out of their way to keep celebrities a little longer and "randomly" pull them aside for additional question or searches.


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reply to post by ILikeStars

To include going out of their way to keep celebrities a little longer and "randomly" pull them aside for additional question or searches.

That just breaks my heart

reply to post by Crakeur



"It's a problem that is minor and is being blown up by attention seekers."

You could be right about this, but I do not know that as a certainty.

I have flown a few times since all this has begun and only had one instance that seemed silly.

Still I can't be certain that the negative things we hear about in the media and the sub-media are overblown and/or are as frequently happening as reported. I do see that the instances are "off balanced" to some degree in the way they are executed. I see no merit in going through old people's stuff. I see no merit in being cowardly in the execution of searches that excludes the profiling of likely candidates for terrorist acts This policy of putting everyone through the process seems to be devoid of any rhyme or reason, and I would suggest that it merely is an appearance ploy that only allows the most non reflective of people to "feel safe".

but... we can banter about this all day, as you well know, and it will or will not end up being productive.

I think that all that I would like to add, is that I have had this feeling for quite some time that one way to get that paradigm to straighten up, is for people to simply stop unnecessary flight travel for awhile. The economic pressure coupled to the idea that people simply want to be left alone undisturbed and unmolested in their pursuits could create a situation where more disgression would be properly utilized. The physical manifestation of the false generalization fallacy is what is causing the difficulty. It is another instance, imo, of punishing normal law abiding citizens because someone else "might". I am only saying that they have applied "security" in a stupid fashion, and the best way to eliminate it is for it to be avoided, therefore snubbed, en masse.

You see so much more of this land you live in when travelling by car, motorcycle, bus, or train.

reply to post by detachedindividual


flying isn't a right. It's a luxury and the airlines, and the airport, have a duty to try and make that as safe as possible. this includes making us feel safe.

anyone who wants to travel from NY to LA, which I've done a few times in the last few months, has a right to take a train, bus or drive themselves. By opting for the airplane, we are opting for the security measure which, I continue to repeat, is not intrusive in any way, shape or form.

On one of my trips I was sporting a knee high medical boot thanks to some ankle surgery. I was under the haze of pain killers, on crutches and sporting a carry on bag. Total pain in the butt. The TSA were extremely kind and helpfull. They told me that, if the boot couldn't come off, they'd have to scan me or pat me down. I told them I'd take the scan. They scanned me. They did some chemical testing on my carry on because they have to do a certain amount of them and it was probably easiest to do that whilst running me through the other checks.

In all, it took less than ten minutes.

I was hardly giving up my freedom.

Again, I could have taken a bus.

Originally posted by UFO1414
I don't agree with what he did but here is your hero.

He looks like Jason Russel with a beard, glasses and a receding hairline.

It's just one naked romp after the next.

It's not really kids who are disturbed to seeing an adult naked, it's the adults. They just love to use the kids as justification because it's hard to argue against kids with the stupid mentality that many Americans have towards kids these days.

Originally posted by EvilSadamClone
It's not really kids who are disturbed to seeing an adult naked, it's the adults. They just love to use the kids as justification because it's hard to argue against kids with the stupid mentality that many Americans have towards kids these days.

I always interpret those reactions as indicative of the adult's shame over how their reproductive system responded. Kind of like how homophobia works.

Originally posted by HawkeyeNation
Oh for #s sake people. We all screamed for more safety after 911 and now they have provided this yet people are so #ing sensitive to the fact. "It's my freedom" well guess what you don't have any so stop bitching and get thru the scanner. If you cooperate like 99% of the others then you go thru just fine. I know, I've been thru them 7 or 8 times.

We all didn't scream for safety. Honestly, I don't know anyone who did.

reply to post by Crakeur


I had my 15 minutes of fame when I got shot own over the N. Vietnam/Laos border and was paralyzed as a result, and it made my hometown paper. Then, recently, I went to fly to a squadron reunion and some hired off a pizza box slope-headed, slack-jawed, mouth-breathing thug with a a two digit badge number which was higher than is IQ bellows out at the top of his voice, "Super! I've got another one who says he can't walk through the scanner!" Spending 40 years in a wheelchair tends to make you sensitive about such things. Yeah, those who support or acquiesce in the destruction of the Fourth Amendment for the sake of convenience are lazy cowards. I don't need another 15 minutes of fame. The cause of the last 15 minutes still hurts too much.

if he had stripped down to just underwear,

they still would have arrested and charged him with indecent exposure or something.

so it just goes to show the real problem - which is what he's protested about.

but yea, talk about having the 'balls' to make that kinda statement.

its just sad in our sexually-frustrated, fearmongered society that nudity is associated with "sex".