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TSA oversearching a pilot at MEM?

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

I'm in the Memphis airport, and going from Terminal B to A takes you past security. A pilot is sitting down, shoes off, getting the blue glove treatment: a search of his bag and an ion scan of his computer for explosives. Three TSA employees, at least two of which were apparently supervisors (TSA logos on their black shirts, but khaki pants, one with a radio in hand) watching intently, like this pilot was a danger to society. It appears he apparently he refused to go through the backscatter scanner, which MEM now has. If his bag and computer went through x-ray, what was the point of searching everything else? Retaliation for insisting on not being overradiated? Is a request to not be overradiated these days a reasonable request when food from Japan arriving here has unacceptable levels of radiation in it, and airplanes landing from Japanese airports have increased levels of radiation?continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on March 27, 2011 (boomark / email).