Meg McLain claims that the TSA ripped up her US Airways plane ticket and called police who restrained her in a chair, cuffed her, and escorted her out of the airport after she opted out of the backscatter can. Her radio interview describing the incident is at 390,000 hits and growing, and the TSA has posted CCTV of the incident on their blog.
Read: Interview With Meg McLain, Ejected From Airport After Questioning Body Scanners
Reached for comment, Meg McLain admitted that she may have misplaced some details in her radio interview, which occurred 30 minutes after she left the airport and was still a bit distraught. She said, “A lot of people are focusing on the specifics of this. I told the story as best I could recall and I’d like people to more focus on the issue at hand. We don’t have to subject ourselves to this, it’s not necessary, and it’s overstepping all bounds of humanity. People really need to stand up and say no, because if enough people say no, there’s nothing they can do.”
She has also posted a public statement on her blog and done a followup interview to address questions about the TSA video.
A request to the Broward County Sheriff’s Office for police reports surrounding the incident was deferred to the TSA.
We’ve reached out to the TSA, and US Airways for comment, and will update when we get more info.
Here is McLain’s version of the events as she recounted them on a radio show 30 minutes after it happened:
Here is CCTV footage released by the TSA of McLain going through the checkpoint (she shows up at 1:13). Note that there are several minutes where she is off-camera and we don’t see what happens in-between this clip and the one where she leaves the airport. The lack of sound also removes a lot of contextual information:
Here is CCTV footage of McLain exiting the airport:
On their blog, the TSA was circumspect, writing, “You can listen to her radio interview, and then you can view our airport CCTV footage. We’ll let you decide what really happened.”
Isn’t the procedure for when you opt-out of a backscatter scan they give you the pat-down? It’s unclear why this passenger was ejected from the airport in. It would be more helpful if the CCTV clips had audio as well.
Here is the followup interview she did to answer questions about the TSA video:
Radio Host Cuffed for Refusing Full Body Scan at Airport [NBC Miami]
Response to “Female radio host cuffed to chair, ticket ripped up…” [TSA.gov]
My Continued TSA Saga [FreeKeene]
Meg Addresses Tough Questions About TSA’s Video “Evidence” [FreeKeene]
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I’m a frequent flier and do whatever I can to just get through the checkpoint quickly. I’ve done the body scan and it doesn’t bother me – in fact, I like it because I have a metal knee, so when I go through it, i don’t need a pat down anymore.
If the woman refused the body scanner AND the pat down, she refused to be screened. If you refuse to be screened, they’re not going to let you on a plane. And if she wasn’t going to be screened, there was no reason to keep her at the checkpoint any longer. They just can’t say – “oh you don’t want to be screened, then just be on your way.”
She went back to the ticket counter to rebook her flight and the officers carried her bags for her. How nice. Also nice was the TSA agent giving her a tissue when she cried.
If she made up that she was cuffed, made up that she got the pat down and had her breasts “squeezed and twisted,” and made up that she was dragged by they arm, why should I believer she was there for an hour when the tape doesn’t back that up either?
The woman is clearly a liar.
Toward the end of the 2nd video it looks like she’s cuffed. And I’d believe stuff is missing given the separate recordings released and no timestamps.
Another example of the governments total embarrassing attempt to undo 9-11 and provide the type of security we need to prevent mass destruction. As a frequent flyer, I do mind being scanned and have my wife subjected to this as well. Yes, I was in the service during Vietnam and had to be exposed to physicals “au natural” as well. But, big difference, I enlisted and knew about all this in advance. I am not enlisting in the TSA “flying circus” when I fly and don’t want pix taken nor do I want assurances from Uncle Sammy about how safe and secure I will be.
I believe what our founding fathers said about a healthy distrust of our government. Remember all those soldiers that were exposed to severe radiation when A bombs were being tested?
Yeah, trust indeed.
Another example of the governments total embarrassing attempt to undo 9-11 and provide the type of security we need to prevent mass destruction. As a frequent flyer, I do mind being scanned and have my wife subjected to this as well. Yes, I was in the service during Vietnam and had to be exposed to physicals “au natural” as well. But, big difference, I enlisted and knew about all this in advance. I am not enlisting in the TSA “flying circus” when I fly and don’t want pix taken nor do I want assurances from Uncle Sammy about how safe and secure I will be.
I believe what our founding fathers said about a healthy distrust of our government. Remember all those soldiers that were exposed to severe radiation when A bombs were being tested?
Yeah, trust indeed.
Meg came to NH by way of donated money during the 08 Ron Paul campaign. It was a special mission called Operation Live Free or Die started by Vijay Boyapati. During her first months in NH she caused all kinds of problems. The house she was staying in was a rental provided by the group, all funded by donations. She started many fights while she was there and was caught doing drugs. Her intentions coming to NH were supposedly to do a documentary on the effort, however this documentary never surfaced. At the end of the effort when the people in charge of the rental house were going to move the effort to Las Vegas, she was stranded saying her mother canceled her plane ticket. The people let her stay a couple nights after they left with the promise to keep everything clean. She was upset that they didn’t bring her to Vegas with them, even though they didn’t have room. During that time she completely trashed the house, and then blamed it on the people who let her stay there. She had also pitched in $75 to help cover her groceries, and transportation costs during that month, which she later tried to get back from paypal by lying and saying she didn’t recieve a product. These people were stranded in Vegas because of her lies, and had to borrow money to drive home to Missouri. During their time trying to get home she started many lies about them, tarnishing their name within the movement, causing them many problems. Luckily the people had pictures to prove they had left the house in good condition, but not in time to not cause damage. They also got their money back from Paypal, but again, not before causing them more financial distress. She was suspected of doing drugs then as well, and her actions made the whole group look bad. This girl has been mooching off of people for over 2 years. Always doing dramatic things for attention. She has yet to admit to these mistakes, or apologize for them, and still causes them grief, although inadvertently.
Fascinating, and not exactly surprising, but I think we all agree that she should not be used as an example to deligitimize complaints about scanners and screener behavior.
From the radio interview, she indicates that she would not go through with a pat-down search based on stories she had heard, not from her own experience here. If you don’t go through the body scanner, and you refuse a pat-down, no admission for you.
The policy that you must conform to the security measures or reasonable alternatives offered in order to be admitted to the “sterile” side of the airport isn’t new, and is codified in law, not TSA regulations.
George Carlin was spot-on when he said that we have no rights in this country, only temporary privileges.
Why not make a game of the pat down? Just make a bunch of low moans and “ooooh yeaaah”s when gettin’ fondled.
Or stuff a sock down your pants. Works for men or “ladies”!
Sorry I hate people crying wolf and blowing things out of proportion. Libertarian, whatever.
We are training the terrorists to wait to go through screening until JUST AFTER a random enhanced screening or JUST AFTER a distracting incident occurs.
Before you fly go to the TSA website and get a copy of the regs so you can show any over officious jerks who don’t know them where they go wrong. I was sent to a room and had to drop my pants to show them my leg brace. That was a violation of the rules but I didn’t know it then. I haven’t flown recently so I suppose the whole thing has changed. To the TSA, just use a little common sense. All of these TSA agents circling a diminutive girl for what a throw down? And twelve cops? She must have been very frightening to these guys with mace, guns and body armor. To the passengers; what would you rather have, a pat down or some guy with a bomb up his butt on your plane? Flying is not so much fun anymore.
lol,,,this shitstain kid thinks she going to change the world? I’m glad she got arrested. Maybe her ass should be thrown into the USMC or the U.S. Army to learn some respect for authority and then sent over to Afghanistan to find out why our servicemen and women are getting their heads blown off for idiots like her. Let her rot in jail.
Time to grow up little girl.
You are the biggest submissive coward on earth.
“Meg McLain admitted that she may have misplaced some details in her radio interview, “
Of course. She (and her friends) are apparently well known attention seekers with some libertarian movement. This was well covered at Reddit. http://www.reddit.com/r/reddit.com/comments/e4o66/tsa_posts_video_of_girl_who_said_she_was/c15b202
“I’m familiar with this woman. Her name is Meg “Smeg” McLain and she is a member of the Free State Project/”Free Keene” in New Hampshire, which is a far right-wing “libertarian” movement which seeks to turn NH into an Ayn Rand Land. Basically, a good portion of people in their “movement” participate in stupid stunts to get themselves arrested (like running around the NH city of Keene naked and high on weed) and then exaggerate about how harsh the police are.”
Basically, she embellished the entire incident for her ‘movement’ – and the free publicity, which clearly she got.
Ok, she says in the follow-up interview that it is “disturbing” that there isn’t video coverage of all areas of the airport! Wait, does she want greater security measures, or more freedom? I don’t think you can have both.
It is so frustrating that our choices as flyers are now either have naked pictures of us taken, possibly being stored and then leaked to who-knows-where, or getting felt-up even worse than before. So you say – “Fine! I won’t fly!” But next month, they decide trains aren’t safe enough, and do the same thing there. So you say “Fine! I won’t take the train!” But now there are pat-downs and scatter things at border crossings. So now you’re sitting at home in your home going nowhere in order not to feel totally degraded when getting from place-to-place.
What the heck are we supposed to do?