Woman Says TSA Forced Piercings Removal

Woman Says TSA Forced Piercings Removal

AP   |  GREG RISLING   |   March 27, 2008 at 11:09 PM


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UPDATE:

The Transportation Security Administration said it will change they way its officers search passengers with body piercings after a Texas woman complained she was forced to remove a nipple ring with pliers in order to board an airplane.

Mandi Hamlin, 37, had demanded an apology and her Los Angeles-based attorney sent a letter to the TSA this week requesting a civil rights investigation.

Keep reading AP story.

This was in response to an incident at the Lubbock airport on Thursday.

Hamlin said she could not remove them and asked whether she could instead display her pierced breasts in private to the female agent. But several other male officers told her she could not board her flight until the jewelry was out, she said.

She was taken behind a curtain and managed to remove one bar-shaped piercing but had trouble with the second, a ring.

"Still crying, she informed the TSA officer that she could not remove it without the help of pliers, and the officer gave a pair to her," said Hamlin's attorney, Gloria Allred, reading from a letter she sent Thursday to the director of the TSA's Office of Civil Rights and Liberties. Allred is a well-known Los Angeles lawyer who often represents high-profile claims.

Keep reading AP story.


 
 

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Another reason why you people will lose another election. You want somebody to blame? Blame the mother fucking people that killed 300+ people in '01. Remember them? This women is 37 yrs old. 37! She's a grown ass adult, wearing something a 22 yr old would, maybe. And if she's too stupid enough not to realize that the ring would be a problem w/ the metal detectors than she's dumb as dogshit!

But go ahead and blame the people that's attempting to make up safe to travel. That makes sense to me. Don't blame a problem flyer, whose asking for trouble. Blame the dude who makes $8 an hour. who is only trying to follow the rules he/she's been given.

Some of you are fucking clueless.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 03:01 AM on 04/01/2008

First, the terrorists who attacked us on 9/11 killed 3 THOUSAND plus people, NOT 3 HUNDRED plus.

Second, I don't remember them taking over the airplanes with their nipple rings...... I'm pretty sure that would have made the news, but all that I can remember is the box cutters.

Third, I'm not going to give up my civil rights just so that YOU can "feel safe."

I am going to blame the idiots who wouldn't consider that maybe, just maybe the nipple rings on this woman's breast MIGHT just be NIPPLE RINGS!!

And finally, do you blame rape victims for "dressing sexy" when they get raped!

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 02:14 PM on 04/01/2008

Some of you guys really are some pussies. After all that we've been through you want to take up for the dumbass that puts holes through their tities and think they're the victims. Please toughen the fuck up!

It's those peoples jobs to make sure you people (passengers) are safe to travel. IF not, it's your death and they'll be blamed for lax security. And the women w/ the ring through her nipple was embarassed? Give me a fucking break and you people need to get over being complete and utter babies.

If the chick or dude wants to screw w/ their bodies thats their business but when it comes to protection of others well then tough titty! Pun intended. Because I have a feeling if that you were one of the passengers on that plain you just might have a different opionion on the matter. For once think of soembody other than yourselves. Just once. I know it's hard for you folks but it's not easy work for the folks at the airport.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 02:51 AM on 04/01/2008
Moderator's Pick

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If they want to place a ring in their nipples, they are allowed to do that. It's perfectly legal, and an INDIVIDUAL'S CHOICE! Perhaps you remember that idea. It's what the republicans supposedly stand for, the reason that we are all screwed economically, since they stopped regulating because it was "too intrusive!"

Once again, YOUR rights end at the end of MY nose! Stop trying to blame the victim here for the heinous actions of the TSA agents!

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 02:17 PM on 04/01/2008

But, but, but, most of the people who HAVE nipple rings say the pain is the thing! Those endorphins, wow!

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 09:50 AM on 03/31/2008

These airport security bastards have gone too far, manipulating a woman into seeing her breasts in the name of "safety." Yeah, got any piercings on any other 'naughty' body parts? Better check my prince albert--you know, for "safety" reasons. But be careful, while you're down there I may just "hair gel" you to death. Let's hope she sues and wins.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 07:44 PM on 03/30/2008

If I am struck by lightning I could die. But I'm not afraid of that happening. Are you? My chance of being killed by lightning is greater than my chance of being killed by a terrorist. What are the odds against being killed by a terrorist armed with a nipple ring. Pretty unlikely I'd say. So why did this happen? Why are Americans being bullied for no reason by petty officials? Where are the leaders who will organize us against these ass holes? We need to open up a giant can of WHOPP ASS in this country.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 06:14 PM on 03/30/2008

Why do people pierce their nipples anyway???? OUCH is all I can say. Makes me sick thinking about it. Plus didn't she figure the metal detectors were going to be buzzing. Give me a break this whole story is ridiculous... serves her right in a way.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 01:39 PM on 03/30/2008

First, it doesn't matter WHY she did it, it's her body, it's her choice!

Second, it doesn't matter whether she figured that the machine would go off, AND it DIDN'T! Therefore there's no there there.

And to blame her for the humiliation forced upon her by the TSA is the same as telling a rape victim that it's her fault for dressing sexy!

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 02:58 PM on 03/30/2008

I still stand by my comments what a looney toon to pierce her nips!!

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 08:50 PM on 03/30/2008

Nobody is telling you that you have to do it. In fact, I haven't done it either, and I never will, it doesn't interest me. BUT, I'm not going to tell this woman that she CAN'T do it, NOR that she should expect this kind of treatment simply because she made a LEGAL choice about her OWN BODY!

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 09:21 AM on 03/31/2008

It is a sexual thing. You wouldn't understand.

It is also her body to do with as she wishes.
Getting a nipple pierced is about the same as getting her ear pierced.
Did your mother have pieces of metal shoved through her ears? Did it make her a looney?

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 01:54 AM on 03/31/2008

Two days after my last post on this issue, I'm still disturbed by the abuse, discourtesy and frequent indignity everyone flying in the US today has to endure from TSA. Perhaps it would be different if TSA did the job it was intended to do, but we regularly read of potentially dangerous weapons being passed through security -- some people make a hobby of doing just this.

Any complaint concerning the behavior of TSA agents when the injury occurs are routinely met with threats of refusing to allow people to make their flight, sometimes with threats of banning them from airports altogether. I know of one person so threatened simply by pointing out that she could not identify her belongings because the TSA agent refused to return her glasses (dangerous things, glasses, it might indicate someone reads or, at the very least, needs them to discern which of the many things trundling down the conveyor belt belongs to them).

Does anyone know exactly what the procedure is for calling TSA agents to account? Are they accountable???? Who has oversight on this agency and what do we need to do to change it?

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 12:50 PM on 03/30/2008

Yeah, the irony here is that whole screening process is a farce to begin with. A big show to create the illusion of safety. Or, more to the point, to create the illusion that they're on top of things. Take off your shoes, occasionally get pulled aside for the bigger Dog and Pony act. Effective? Yes, if you're trying to create the illusion; no, if you're actually trying to prevent a future 9/11 (which is not going to involve airplanes anyway, you can be sure. Anything but).

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 07:16 PM on 03/30/2008

If you can manufacture an explosive and detonator in a nipple ring sized package capable of doing substantial damage to anything or anyone (other than the person wearing it), YOU HAVE ALIEN TECHNOLOGY. Pony up! We need to replace oil so we can replace the fascists.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 09:39 AM on 03/30/2008

Maybe the inpectors read this NY Post headline before going to work:

"Dozens of planes falling from the sky all over the US. Exploding nipple rings thougt to be the cause."

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 01:51 AM on 03/29/2008

ROFLMAO....

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 11:53 AM on 03/31/2008


["Hey, I wonder, who searches these jerks before they go to work at the airport???"]



Ya, they obviously have huge empty cranial cavities that could hold any sort of weapon.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 01:48 AM on 03/29/2008



All of this because Bush couldn't read, "BIn Laden Determined to Attack the United States."

It's one thing to have daddy's business partners cover your inadequate lazy ass your whole life, but it's been seven years of a whole country doing it.

Enough.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 01:43 AM on 03/29/2008

HA! That picture! On the left, a women with no sense of humor, but one who used a Maidenform bra dummy torso from the '60s tv commercials (in the middle) and on the right.... is that a woman? Is it the woman with the nipple piercings? Oh dear. I'm sorry. I know the TSA workers are mostly a bunch of rent-a-cops, but that picture looks like it belongs in a Monty Python sketch.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 12:07 AM on 03/29/2008

I think they should remove all nipple piercings.

Firstly, you remember Janet Jackson's nipple attire during the superbowl - it caused over 2 million adolescent boys to masturbate. You can't win a war on terror with over 2 million males locked in the bathroom.

Secondly, weapons can easily be disguised as nipple attire. In the movie Austin Powers, some terrorist type babes' nipples turn into machine guns. In Double Agent 73, a womans breast is used as a camera - and it flashed. In the film Wonder Women, a nipple ring was actually a pin for an implanted hand-grenade.

They are just trying to protect our country.

God help us if they ever watch attack of the killer tomatoes...

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 08:56 PM on 03/28/2008

Man, I was about to hit reply and then SLAM you. Then I read the rest of the satirical comment!

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 03:00 PM on 03/30/2008

I hope she sues the S**T out of the TSA and wins. BIG.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 07:16 PM on 03/28/2008

Hey, that's just too damn bad. We just can't let our guard down for a minute. Islamofascism is cunning- you never know where it will hide. Evildoing terrorists will stop at nothing, so great is there hatred for our freedoms. So,if those rent a cops have to strip search your wife and daughters well, hey, it's for your own good. You should be proud to be bending over yourself to have one of these patriotic $8buck an hour cops stick a flashlight up your butt.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 07:09 PM on 03/28/2008

Hey, I wonder, who searches these jerks before they go to work at the airport???

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 05:58 PM on 03/28/2008

"TSA officials said they are investigating to see whether its policies were followed."

How many stories have we heard? How many indignities have we all suffered at the hands of these cretins in uniform? Every time a citizen of this country is treated this way, the terrorists win. TSA needs to be disbanded and its employees returned to the occupational schools they flunked out of.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 05:38 PM on 03/28/2008

So upset, I ended a sentence in a preposition! I hate TSA!

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 11:10 PM on 03/28/2008

Texas.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 05:27 PM on 03/28/2008

More like Tex-ass

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 08:20 PM on 03/28/2008

Personally, I am torn. If god forbid another 9/11 incident happened, even would be on the wagon once again about extreme security measures and doing anything possible to prevent the loss of life. However, left in the hands of individuals twisted enough to abuse this power is where the problem comes into play.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 04:10 PM on 03/28/2008

I gotta disagree with you. If we had another 9/11 it won't be for lack of trying on our part, it will be because they figured out a loophole that we either didn't notice, or did notice but thought that it was too expensive to patch the hole. That's what happened on 9/11, that's what happened to the USS Cole, that's what happened in the '95 bombing in Oklahoma City, that's what happened in the '93 attack at the WTC, and that's what happened in the Beirut bombing!

The fact of the matter is that I'm not prepared to give up enough freedom to plug every hole, even if it means that I must sacrifice my wife and kids, or myself!

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 03:03 PM on 03/30/2008

This should really infuriate people. What is next - removing the braces off your F*(#&ing teeth? We have turned into a society of insanity. What a joke. I would have gone to jail because there is no way in hell I would remove my nipple bars, rings, whatever for the TSA. Janet Jackson better watch out!

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 03:56 PM on 03/28/2008

Of course as we know by experience the TSA and it's people are all amazingly stupid.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 03:52 PM on 03/28/2008

Too bad she didn't have a clitoris ring as well.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 05:10 PM on 03/28/2008

As a means of providing any real security, the TSA is a sad joke.

But as a means of desensitizing the People to the routine privacy violations of a fascist state: Mission Accomplished.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 03:08 PM on 03/28/2008

No doubt Moshe. Its a "police state" thing.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 06:26 PM on 03/30/2008

EXACTLY, all this TSA nonsense is about one thing and one thing ONLY...

CONDITIONING the sheeple.

Wait 'till you are subjected to searches before going into malls or stopped at checkpoints in you car. And it WILL happen after the next terror attack happens... which will probably be just before the elections.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 11:00 PM on 03/29/2008

If the founding fathers could rebel over tea and taxation seems only fitting we should do the same to the TSA. For the Bush administration, there seems to be no difference between the application of torture to the innocent and guilty and the application of a little pain to someone flying between Lubback and Dallas.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 02:29 PM on 03/28/2008

THE ANAL TRAVELER WITH THE ITCHY BRAIN
You just left the Larry Craig restroom. Now don't dwell on this too much but think of what you certainly have picked up on the bottems of your shoes (in addition to whatever else might have been there already). This might include small amounts of fecal matter, urine, spit, etc. Why, when walking the dog this morning you might have -never mind. You can take it to the bank-that horrible stuff is there. But it's on the bottom of your shoes so you don't half mind. Nothing you can do about it anyway. And you do have some control over this.

Whoops! You're going to lose control. Going through airport security, you put your shoes in a grey basket used by thousands before you. Your shoes along with other things you use. You may now consider them contaminated by an ocean of microscopic (some chunks maybe) vileness.

Comfortably boxed in on the aircraft you start thinking about your exposure to God knows what. What might these other people have stepped in? You think of the possibilities. You feel itchy. You scratch here and you scratch there. Why, even your brain feels itchy. You try hard not to think of the horrible filth that has now become part of you. Think instead of a running stream...whoops again. Never mind. Relax, treat yourself to that sandwich. Arrrgh! Your hands, your hands!

Have at it; scratch your brain.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 02:20 PM on 03/28/2008

Of course Gloria Allred is on the case!! lol

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 02:17 PM on 03/28/2008
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