Women forced by TSA to remove nipple rings for flight [wtf]
March 27, 2008
A Texas women with a nipple ring was told to remove them at the TSA security checkpoint before she could board a flight on Feb 24th.
The women was handed a pair of pliers after informing the officer that it could not be taken out without it.
The victim, Mandi Hamlin, has retained high-profile L.A. lawyer Gloria Allred as her attorney. Charges might be pressed if the TSA does not reply with a formal apology.
This whole fiasco is simply the most mind-boggling retarded event I’ve heard in a while. It’s not like the TSA doesn’t have such a status, but this asking someone to take out a nipple piercing with pliers is taking it too far. It’s not uncommon to walk through a metal detector with nipple rings and have them set off, but according to actual TSA literature, “If you are selected for additional screening, you may ask to remove your body piercing in private as an alternative to a pat-down search.” No pat-down search was ever offered as an alternative.
Oh, and the best part? After her whole ordeal, she was allowed to pass through with a belly-button ring.
Link [via Boing Boing]
