UPDATE: Radio Host Meg McLain's Hellish Experience With the Body Scanners At Fort Lauderdale Airport Security

body scan image.jpg
This could be you.
If you're not a fan of powerful, liberty-stomping bureaucratic assclowns walking all over basic civil rights, this story might bother you.

Now, the new full-body scanners used by airports have already caused quite a bit of controversy. But Meg McLain, New Hampshire-based marijuana legalization activist and host of the freedom-focused internet radio show "Free Talk Live," claims that on a recent trip to South Florida, she was the victim of a ridiculous exercise in airport authoritarianism.

We're still trying to get a hold of McLain, but judging from how she described the incident on the radio, it sounds like she was harassed.

First, as she went through security at the Fort Lauderdale airport, McLain, an attractive, young female, was the only one in her group singled out for the body scanner. When she declined, she says, the TSA employees began to yell "opt out" over and over, and a woman guard began putting on latex gloves.

When McLain declined the pat down -- she says she's experienced them before, that they sometimes involve breast twisting, and that they are sometimes worse than getting groped by a stranger -- she was taken to a roped-off area behind the metal detectors, where the security employees continued to yell at her. She says they handcuffed her to a chair and wouldn't let her use her phone or camera.

She says anytime she tried to ask a question, she got yelled at, even when she brought up the very valid notion of how a sex crime victim might feel in a situation like this. Eventually, she says, the female guard she wouldn't let search her came by, took her boarding pass out of her hand, and tore it up in front of her.

McLain says more than a dozen police officers and TSA employees then escorted her out of the airport.

If she is to believed, the incident is not only outrageous but illustrates the disgusting civil-liberty-stomping that goes on every single day in every state in the nation.

Hear her story for yourself:



UPDATE: The TSA has released video of the incident, which confirms some aspects of McLain's story while debunking others. (There were no handcuffs.) Watch the video here.

The TSA's official blog also commented on the incident, saying, in part:

"TSA takes situations such as this seriously and we immediately looked into it. We diligently review claims of improper conduct. But when inaccurate passenger accounts are made either via media outlets or on the blogs, TSA works to resolve them and present both sides of the story. In this case, TSA has made the decision to post the CCTV video of the incident online. You can listen to her radio interview, and then you can view our airport CCTV footage. We'll let you decide what really happened."

Like this Story?

Sign up for the Weekly Newsletter: Our weekly feature stories, movie reviews, calendar picks and more - minus the newsprint and sent directly to your inbox.

Privacy Policy
Sign up for free stuff, news info & more!

Tools

General

Auto

Services

Browse Voice Nation
  • Voice Places

    Voice Places

    Discover restaurants, nightlife, travel, shopping...

  • VOICE Daily Deals

    VOICE Daily Deals

    Get 50 to 90% off every day on restaurants, movies, massages...

  • Best Of

    Best Of...

    More than 10,000 of the BEST things to eat, drink, and experience

  • My Voice Nation

    My Voice Nation

    Join the Village Voice community and get exclusive deals and info

  • Happy Hour

    Happy Hour

    Your local Happy Hour guide at your fingertips

or

Log in or Sign up

Social Connect:

Use your favorite account to access My Voice Nation.


Use your My Voice Nation account to log in:





Forgot password?
or

Sign Up or Log in

Social Connect:

Sign up for My Voice Nation with your preferred network.


Sign up for a My Voice Nation account:



Privacy policy