On Sept. 4 at the Spokane airport, my wife and I had our civil rights violated by the TSA. We are elderly, disabled, and easy targets for TSA employees. I have filed complaints with the TSA and ACLU. This stems from my metal shoulder prosthetic, which sets off their machines. We were then treated like criminals and terrorists by the TSA agents. We are gentle people and always cooperative. There is no excuse for their rough pat-downs and treatment of us.
The TSA’s “one size fits all” approach to screening people does not work in a world where metal implanted prosthetics make disabled American citizens appear to be like others, yet, we will set off the metal detectors.
This violation of our civil rights will cause us to explore creative ways to fight back. Next time I’m wearing just a Speedo swimsuit through the checkpoint in order to keep TSA from abusing me.
I might also wear a T-shirt printed with the following: “This man is not a criminal and not a terrorist. He is a disabled American citizen with an implanted metal prosthetic. He will be abused by the TSA because of this.”
