Muslim Woman Says TSA Forced Her To Show Her Bloodied Pad During Airport Screening
Source: Huffington Post
08/23/2018 02:34 pm ET Updated 4 hours ago
Zainab Merchant said that after the horrifying incident, airport officials refused to give her their names and badge numbers so she would not be able to file a complaint.
By Rowaida Abdelaziz
Zainab Merchant, a graduate student at Harvard University and the founder and editor of the website Zainab Rights, was already anxious about traveling from Boston to Washington, D.C., for a speaking engagement. As a Muslim woman, she was all too aware of a frightening pattern in her travel experiences.
But Merchant, who is based in Orlando, Florida, knew what to prepare for. She knew to get to the airport much earlier than the suggested two hours before her flight, since she expected Transportation Security Administration agents to pull her aside, rummage through her bags and subject her to additional pat-downs and screenings. She said the ordeal has been her new normal for the last two years.
What she did not expect was for a TSA officer to announce to the other agents at the security checkpoint that she needed to take a deeper look after publicly patting down Merchants groin area.
Merchant said she resisted at first, telling the two TSA officers that she was on her period and therefore wearing a menstrual pad. She insisted that any additional screening be done in public, fearing that if she went into a private room without any other witnesses, the situation would only escalate.
Read more: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/tsa-muslim-woman-bloodied-pad-airport-screening_us_5b7da406e4b07295150f45e5
IronLionZion
(45,442 posts)onecaliberal
(32,861 posts)secondwind
(16,903 posts)help her a lot!
IronLionZion
(45,442 posts)TSA doesn't give two shits about my pre-check. It's the particular officer's discretion who they want to pull aside and harass for the "randomly selected enhanced screenings".
It's infinitely worse when traveling on airlines that don't use it, or if the TSA officer has grown to enjoy abusing their power without any legal consequences. I've had varying experiences.
I used to like traveling a lot more before 9/11.
CBP global entry is worth it for international travelers, and includes TSA pre. So of course the Trump administration has been randomly scrubbing people with ethnic names off the list without any reason or refunding the fees.
EttuBrute
(10 posts)Yep, I have been pulled from the TSA pre-check for a complete body scan. Total B.S. I see no logic in screening domestic flights in country. Once inside the continental US anyone could drive a car a do whatever mischief they want.
ProfessorGAC
(65,042 posts)And, this country has been scared like frightened squirrels ever since that happened.
Of course, one needs to conveniently forget that the second worst terrorist attack (at the time the worst) was two white american guys with a truck.
mr_lebowski
(33,643 posts)You shouldn't HAVE to, but that's what I'd do if I looked like I might be Muslim.
I would absolutely decide it's not worth it to wear any sort of traditional garb or anything that made me appear Muslim.
But then I'm actually an atheist so .. what do I know about religion?
ck4829
(35,076 posts)mr_lebowski
(33,643 posts)I'd be rocking a baseball cap, a t-shirt with an american flag on it, jeans, and friggin' Nikes.
But that's just me.
LuvNewcastle
(16,846 posts)I'd probably be listening to Country Music, too, while I was at it.
ManiacJoe
(10,136 posts)Just say no.
Worst case is that the TSA denies you passage and you need to reschedule the flight.