Woman Jailed While Attempting to Shield Daughter From TSA Pat Down

Mothers: Don't try to protect your daughters from invasive Transportation Security Administration searches—not if you want to stay out of jail, that is: 

A 41-year-old Clarksville woman was arrested after Nashville airport authorities say she was belligerent and verbally abusive to security officers, refusing for her daughter to be patted down at a security checkpoint.

Andrea Fornella Abbott yelled and swore at Transportation Security Administration agents Saturday afternoon at Nashville International Airport, saying she did not want her daughter to be "touched inappropriately or have her "crotch grabbed," a police report states.

After the woman refused to calm down, airport police said, she was charged with disorderly conduct and taken to jail. She has been released on bond.

The more invasive and frequent the searches, the more frequently we'll see conflicts and incidents like this. The pat-downs practically encourage bad bad behavior on the part of TSA agents: Way back in 2004, the ACLU warned that hands-on airport searches offer an "invitation to sexual harassment." 

Comments

[Jaybird]

She should be glad that she didn't take a picture of the patdown.

[Au H20]

Apparently, she tried to.

[OO]

she refused both the scan & the patdown then ran her mouth. no surprise she got herself arrested

[John]

When I was a kid liberals were at least reliably anti cop. And there is a place for that. Conservatives are sadly too often too easily pro cop. And liberals used to serve as a counter balance to this.

But all of that has changed now. Liberals just worship authority of any kind. The worst law and order redneck has a more sophisticated view of this subject than "the bitch should have shut up and done what she was told". Liberals really have degenerated into a mob.

[No Mob Here]

[OO]

u know who else worships authority?

[T]

You, apparently.

[Mensan]

Anyone who hasn't moved past Kohlberg's first stage of preconventional morality.

[GILMORE]

Whoo hoo! Shout out Lawrence Kohlberg... don't see that very often.

I went to an experimental high school he helped set the curriculum/model for... it was supposed to focus on helping nurture people through the stages of moral development, help foster a 'just society', yadda yadda...

Yeah, in my case it had no effect whatsoever, but the hippy chicks were easy!

[Anonymous Coward]

John, the Progressives have always worshipped authority so long as it was in their hands, even when, in their younger days, they had fantasies about the "people's glorious revolution" where they would sit in stern, but fair judgment over counterrevolutionaries.

But, as they got older, they learned that's easier to co-opt "The Man"? than to fight Him.

[No fool]

What an ass.

The TSA was created because of MUSLIM TERRORISTS. Would these people have the nerve to molest a hijab-wearing Muslim teenager and arrest her Muslim mother?

I hope this woman sues the crap out of the TSA.

[Citizen Nothing]

"The TSA was created because of MUSLIM TERRORISTS."
You really believe this?

[cynical]

I think he's right, if he's talking about causality rather than intent.

[Kristen]

Funniest (and most naive & gullible?) comment EVAR!

[Dave Spencer]

The TSA was created ... by President George W. Bush on November 19, 2001
Who's naive?

[Citizen Nothing]

You, apparently.

[Dave Spencer]

Witty retort.
Who was the TSA created to thwart then? Perhaps the Shoa Lin monks? They're scary and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was released in 2000...
Conservative Muslim women are not in favor of these intrusions and have protested often.
You could answer some of these concerns or continue the inane responses. Your choice.

[Citizen Nothing]

Dave is a poopy head!

[Cheeseburger]

I think over on Counterpunch, there was an essay by a reporter talking about his time in Iraq. Basically the Iraqi guards around the hotel would do every thing but give the western reporters prostate exams. When a car load of young Iraqi men would go through the check point, they would get waved through with out a second look. When the guards were questioned about this, they flat out said, "We search those guys, they may hurt us." I would imagine most of the TSA thugs feel the same way.

[CrackertyAssCracker]

She was on the way to a very important tractor pull.

[Mainer]

Ayah.

[Old Mexican]

Re: OO,

she refused both the scan & the patdown then ran her mouth. no surprise she got herself arrested
"The Jews got what they deserved. They would not have been placed in work camps if they were innocent, right?"

Same views.

[OO]

godwins law. ur comment is therefore NA

[Citizen Nothing]

You know who else would have misinterpreted Godwin's Law?

[OO]

hey sherlock, nazi's put the joos in those workcamps which old mex referenced. so godwin's law applies.

[Johnny Clamboat]

His comment is clearly alcoholic.

[Mr. FIFY]

She should have just allowed government goons to fondle her child.

Got it. Thanks, OO.

[Tulpa]

"After a thorough investigation, the Administration has determined that the agents acted properly and in accordance with established procedures when dealing with this bitch."

[Greer]

The Rosa Parks of air travel?

[Old Soldier]

She's right. None of us should calm down. We shouldn't be calm when our income is siezed and we shouldn't be calm when our kids are felt-up by government thugs.

We should all get riled the fuck up when we are treated like criminals and tax-slaves.

[Citizen Nothing]

"...a very stern voice with quite a bit of attitude..."
Or what Mr. Testes said above.
Show the required respect to the TSAr, and all will be well.

[PIRS]

A 41-year-old Clarksville woman was kidnapped after criminals lurking around Nashville airport said she was belligerent and verbally abusive to local child molesters, refusing for her daughter to be sexually molested before boarding an aircraft.

Andrea Fornella Abbott yelled and swore at the child molesters Saturday afternoon at Nashville International Airport, saying she did not want her daughter to be "touched inappropriately or have her "crotch grabbed," the word on the street says.

After the woman refused to calm down, criminals who hang around the airport said, she was kidnapped. She is currently being held for ransom.

[Critic]

C-

[Trespassers W]

I disagree. The execution could have been more elegant, but the concept was sound. B+.

[cynical]

Ransom was paid, read the article.

[Brendan Perez]

She is currently being held for ransom.

Should be:
She was released after her ransom was paid.

[CE]

Ron Paul's call to abolish the TSA is helping his campaign already. He's up to 14% in Iowa in the latest ARG poll.

[PIRS]

This is good news. One thing about presidential primary elections is that [except for the incumbent] peaking too early often leads to being knocked out of the race early on. This is why I am hopeful that Ron Paul can win this year.

Release the Balkobots!

[Citizen Nothing]

Gov. Barbour? Is that you?

[AlgerHiss]

The headline I'd like to read but never will:

"Sheriff arrests TSA agents, along with FBI and city police: Charges each with molestation, assault, false arrest, kidnapping and numerous other charges."

Doubtful we have an elected Sheriff with the nuts to do the right thing and have a standoff.

[Jim]

If one of the TSA goons decides to say something negative against Sheriff Joe in Maricopa, we could see something really interesting.

[Nicholas Sarwark]

If by "really interesting," you mean one of those fights where it's just sad that they can't both lose, I agree.

[Brett L]

The wonderful thing about gunfights is that everybody can lose.

[Charles]

I could be wrong. But I think the officer might have been mistaken when she said that the backscatter machines aren't x-ray machines, and when she said they use radio waves and when she said they are just like a sonogram.

[Citizen Nothing]

"Backscatter" airport security scanners do, indeed, use x-rays.

[rogue biologist]

some airports have millimeter wave scanners. I'm convinced that these are just as bad, inducing electrical currents in DNA loops and jamming the base excision repair mechanism (which uses electrical currents to detect mutations).

[TSA Agent]

There's that fag talk we talked about.

[Bingo]

If you refuse the scan the nearby TSA will gleefully tell you just how great the backscatter machine is. You can imagine that they don't exactly have the background necessary to discuss radiation considering that they barely qualify for fast food positions.

[Charles]

"Bingo",

You wrote "If you refuse the scan the nearby TSA will gleefully tell you just how great the backscatter machine is. You can imagine that they don't exactly have the background necessary to discuss radiation considering that they barely qualify for fast food positions."

I think you may find the following interesting and distrubing: "Evidence Found: Full Body Airport Scanners Cause Cancer?"
http://www.opposingviews.com/i.....use-cancer

"The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) said it obtained documents following a Freedom of Information Act request that shows the machines could cause cancer, and that the government is not telling the public about it."

"... One document set reveals that even after TSA employees identified cancer clusters possibly linked to radiation exposure, the agency failed to issue employees dosimeters - safety devices that could assess the level of radiation exposure."

"... Another document indicates that the DHS mischaracterized the findings of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, stating that NIST 'affirmed the safety' of full body scanners. The documents obtained by EPIC reveal that NIST disputed that characterization and stated that the Institute did not, in fact, test the devices. Also, a Johns Hopkins University study revealed that radiation zones around body scanners could exceed the 'General Public Dose Limit.'"

Regards,

Charles

[R C Dean]

Seeing as a sonogram uses soundwaves, she was, in fact, comprehensively wrong.

[Tim]

We have to do this lest the Al Queada start sending waves of explosives packed little girls our way.

[T]

The most you would be likely to get charging the TSA is assault. At least in Texas, as the law reads, you can't be charged with sexual assault on a fully clothed victim. There's no lesser offense. This is why the Lege tried to make what the TSA was doing a specific crime all it's own.

Although it occurs to me that naked scans of 14 year olds would constitute manufacturing child pornography.

[cynical]

What, even if you reach under their clothing to grope them?

[Tulpa]

They don't call it "Texas Titty Twister" for nothing.

[Mainer]

That's the same as a Purple Nurple, right ?

[T]

Texas law is big on penetration and oral contact. No penetration, no mouth, no sexual assault. There is a seperate offense for children (Indecency with a child) but it has an intent component of "committed with the intent to arouse or gratify the sexual desire". So anty TSA agent is going to claim they was just doing their job.

[STEVE SMITH]

STEVE SMITH BIG ON PENETRATION AND ORAL CONTACT!

WHERE SHRIKE?

[sarcasmic]

Contempt of TSA.

How long before they give TSA agents guns so they can shoot those who do not properly submit to their authoritah...?

[Tim]

TAsers. We need to buy them tasers.

[Citizen Nothing]

TSAsers. I like it. (Well, not really, but I like the name.)

[Au H20]

I got to wonder if the proposed protests, which never really got off in thanksgiving, will work this time, because we've all now had a year of this shit, and the average, non-regular flyers are getting fed up.

[Tulpa]

From what I understand, TSA shut down the backscatter machines on the day that protest was supposed to take place, and just ran everyone through the old metal detectors.

[Citizen Nothing]

True. And then they proclaimed the protest a failure, because no one opted out of the scans they weren't doing.

[Tulpa]

Oddly enough, the skies that day did not rain down American blood from all the terrorist attacks that everyone knows would surely accompany going back to the old scanners.

[Bar Student]

Um the article does not mention her doing anything besides speaking her mind? Isn't this arrest a violation of her 1st amendment rights? It is the purest form of political speech, complaining directly to a government official about a specific policy.

[Tulpa]

She may have been blocking the security line...we don't know the details yet.

[cynical]

You do not have the right to stand perpendicular to the security line.

[sarcasmic]

You give up all your rights and become property of the TSA once you step into that line.
The own you.
Disobey or show disrespect and if you're lucky they'll just delay you until your flight leaves, if you're unlucky they'll have the police take you to jail.

[Old Mexican]

After the woman refused to calm down, airport police said, she was charged with disorderly conduct and taken to jail. She has been released on bond.

I feel safer already! Thank you, government!

[Citizen Nothing]

Is "Refusal to Calm Down" a misdemeanor or felony in Tennessee?

[sarcasmic]

Stop resisting!

[Anonymous Coward]

A 41-year-old Clarksville woman was arrested after Nashville airport authorities say she was belligerent and verbally abusive to security officers...

The Blue Shirts need guns and tasers. As their LEO brethren should have informed them, "being combative" is an offense punishable by immediate execution.

[Chupacabra]

If only more dogs flew....

[J Mann]

She didn't just "refuse to calm down", she also "unsuccessfully tried to take a picture with her cellphone."

TSA is the stupidest thing ever.

[jtuf]

If you film a TSA pat down of a child, will the feds arrest you for producing child porn?

[Citizen Nothing]

I don't try to have logical discussions with trolls, which is why I'm not threading this.
But it's worth saying that the TSA was created to thwart NO ONE. It was created to pander to a hysterical populace, score political points, and perhaps to create a vast new bureaucracy that would prove useful in the future to those who wield power.

[GroundTruth]

This is America?

[R C Dean]

I hope she takes it trial, and demands a jury.

She'll win in a walk.

[Moral High Ground]

What percentage of TSA employees are pedophiles? Great job opportunities abound thanks to mindless discard of the constitution in favor of reactionary fear based values.
I would say the extreme muslims have, with US executive complicity, succeeded in changing the values of the US for the worse.
We lose 🙁

[Chupacabra]

53%

[Mark Bennett]

Because of the methodology used (self-reporting), that number may be artificially low.

[carly]

Good work TSA! pick on sick elderly people and children but let people with expired boarding passes and stun guns pass thru. Traveling is an adventure. Found a great site to post about travel experiences at airlineslodgingetc.com

[GILMORE]

"I still don't want someone to see our bodies naked," Abbott said, according to the police report

Based on that photo, she was doing them all a big favor.

[Concerned]

I was subjected to a "pat down" last time I went through BNA Nashville airport. It was a most humiliating and degrading experience. I wept uncontrollably at the gate awaiting my flight because of it. The TSA is out of control at BNA. I'm a middle aged, well dressed, caucasian woman, seriously, not a threat to national security in any way, shape or form. I dread that security checkpoint every time I have to fly, which in my case is again this week.

[Fisher1949]

It is a sad day for America when police arrest a woman for trying to prevent her child from being assaulted and defend the assailant. TSA considers any refusal to participate in their perverse practices to be hostility and they have routinely falsely accused passengers of abusive behavior simply for opting out of the scanners.

It is understandable that the mother would become agitated at the prospect of having her child molested by a stranger in public. It is a natural reaction for any parent desperately trying to protect their child. She deserves our support and appreciation for her courage in preventing TSA from traumatizing yet another innocent child.

TSA acknowledges that frisking children is wrong, stating that they are revising these policies, yet they continue to abuse children and adult passengers. Just last week, a six year old boy was groped by TSA in Seattle adding to the dozens of similar reports involving children since December. Pistole has said on four separate occasions December that TSA would "revise" their policies regarding the frisking of children and has lied each time. He told the Senate Homeland Security Committee this as recently as two weeks ago and yet two more reports have surfaced since. This agency is completely out of control and there must be a Congressional investigation into TSA and its management to identify the source of these continuing problems.

I hope she opens a legal defense fund, I would be happy to contribute to her defense and a lawsuit against TSA and police who arrested her.

http://www.travelunderground.o.....rimes.317/

[Swedish libertarian]

It's RULE OF LAW, deal with it you anarchists!

[Swedish libertarian]

Also, SOMALIA!