[nfb-talk] TSA discrimination in Orlando

[ckrugman at sbcglobal.net]

you got the same equal treatment as much of the public gets when going 
through airport scheckpoints operated by the TSA. I have traveled frequently 
and have never had a problem relinquishing my cane to walk about a foot 
through the scanner.
Chuck
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "T. Joseph Carter" <carter.tjoseph at gmail.com>
To: "NFB Talk Mailing List" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Sunday, July 10, 2011 9:32 AM
Subject: [nfb-talk] TSA discrimination in Orlando


>I am copying Scott LaBarre on this message for his opinion, but have not 
>done so openly to keep him from receiving every single reply to this 
>message as well.
>
> I had absolutely no trouble in my home state of Oregon getting through 
> Transportation Security Administration security screening.  The TSA 
> officials at Portland International Airport know the blind quite well, and 
> they know the laws.  They follow them.
>
> In Florida, however, returning from convention, I was told that I was 
> required by law to relinquish my cane and step through the scanner with a 
> sighted guide.  I said that once scanned, I could step through with my 
> cane.  It contains metal only on its tip.
>
> The TSA official told me that was against the law.
>
> I insisted that it was not, and offered to share the specific regulations 
> in question.
>
> The TSA officer did not want to see the regulations.  She told me that 
> hundreds of blind people were coming through the airport, and not one 
> single person before me had protested being required to travel without 
> their cane.
>
> I once again offered the copy of the regulations, which were not accepted. 
> Another officer offered to send a supervisor at this point, which the 
> officer declined as well.
>
> I was told at that point that I would be allowed to have my cane, but that 
> the consequence of my unwillingness to comply with being stripped of my 
> dignity would be a full security pat-down.  I was told this before I ever 
> stepped through the metal detector.
>
> I did not set off the metal detector upon stepping through, as you might 
> predict using a rigid fiberglass NFB cane.  I was, however, still 
> subjected to the humiliating additional screening as a punitive matter.
>
> During this full security pat-down, I was forced, in full view of other 
> passengers, to remove articles of clothing, had my groin and other 
> personal areas felt by security personnel, and tested for explosive 
> chemical residues among other things.  I was told that this was all being 
> done because I had in fact set off the metal detector, though it had made 
> no sound when I passed through it as it had when the officer before me had 
> done so.
>
> After another five minutes, most (but not all) of my belongings were 
> returned to me.  The TSA officers refused to account for my things, and 
> threatened arrest when I would not leave the testing area, without the 
> return of all of my possessions.  To defuse this situation, an officer who 
> had not been part of the preceding was came over and located my missing 
> items and returned them to me.
>
> I want to know why it is that the government is permitted to treat the 
> blind in this shameful way?  And to whom do we register our formal, 
> written complaint?  At the very least, the TSA of this particular airport 
> need training in the law concerning passengers with disabilities.  More 
> properly, a full investigation of the repeated lies and attempts by 
> officers to cover up this incident through threats and intimidation is 
> also warranted.
>
> TSA records video of their checkpoints, and I think that video will show, 
> for example, that I did not actually set off the metal detector upon 
> passing through it, among other things.  They do not record audio, 
> however, so we may not be able to prove the lies, the threats, and the 
> intimidation unless others were denied their canes (which I already know 
> they were) and any others stood up for their rights (which the TSA say 
> none ever did.)
>
> What I can prove is that we of the National Federation of the Blind do not 
> request the same dignity that is afforded to the sighted public.  To do so 
> would be to presume the possibility that we ought to be treated any 
> differently.  No, we insist upon it!  If my own treatment is any 
> indication, the Transportation Security Administration seems to believe 
> that we are merely asking for equal treatment.  They seem to feel as if 
> they are free to answer in the negative.  I think it is time that we 
> ensure they learn that they are mistaken.  What do you think?
>
> T. Joseph Carter
> Just a blind guy trying to get home
>
>
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