Acts of civil disobedience
 

Brainstorming session here: what acts of civil disobedience would cause enough disruption at checkpoints to get media coverage? Could anti-TSA demonstrators show up en masse and refuse screening, effectively shutting down the checkpoint while they argue with us, fill out paperwork on us, arrest us?

Refusing shoe removal, pointing out inconsistencies, arguing about procedures, demanding to see screening managers and FSD's, and writing official letters of complaint have occupied us all individually. These just aren't working; they don't draw enough attention to the bullying and abuse that happens at checkpoints. Could a group action achieve more?

I think that shutting down a checkpoint is a childish way do deal with the problem. Tell Mr. X that he has to miss his wife giving birth in Dallas because you want to protest. Tell Mrs. B that she has to miss her cruise ship because you felt the need to clogg up the checkpoint. You're only hurting fellow travelers if you cause such a disruption. Not a good way to win support.

I say that you don't have what it takes to do something like this and I double dog dare you :D :D :D :D :D :D

A bunch of people nekkid at the screening point should do it. You know, everyone remove their coat at once.

Grad Girl,
Of course, you're free to do as you wish; however, if you're being serious, then you need to consider the following. Conducting what amounts to be an organized protest at a federal checkpoint is not a TSA issue. It is, however, an airport issue, and the airport manager will call the city police, not the airport police, to remove the protesters. And what will that accomplish other than unnecessarily delaying your fellow travelers and perhaps getting a 2-minute mention on the local news right before a commercial break?

The events of 9/11 shocked the nation into a mad game of catch-up with the other nations that experienced terrorism and have had to deal with it every day. An Israeli traveler told me that our procedures were mild compared to what he undergoes every day in his homeland. While he complimented me on being thorough when I screened him, he said we have a long way to go until we truly understand the threat of terrorism and what it takes to deter it. (We will never truly be able to prevent a terrorist act, the very best we can hope for is deterence. A determined terrorist only needs to succeed once.)

While removing shoes is an inconvenience, it is the best method for detecting shoe bombs and other dangerous items smuggled through the checkpoint inside shoes. Nat Wheathole, the college student who smuggled fake bombs, box cutters and knives past security checkpoints, was never asked to remove his shoes at any of the airports he went through. He clearly made his point to the rest of us of how an amateur can defeat security measures. The problem is that the people we are trying to deter are hardened professional killers, and we're not where we need to be to deal with them.

If writing TSA or DHS doesn't accomplish what you want, then write your Congressional representative or Senator instead. If enough people complain to their representatives and exert enough political pressure on DHS and TSA to revise security screening procedures, they will succeed. Clearly, there are a lot of political undercurrents at play here, and whether there is a Democrat or Republican in the Oval Office doesn't matter. Businesses that rely heavily on air travel as well as the airlines themselves are the key players among others who can exert enough influence to make changes.

However, as the saying goes: be careful what you wish for, you just might get it.

I regularly work on airports on temporary passes, which under UK rules, require holders to undergo a full search every time they go airside (yes, it does start to grate, but the security staff are usually very pleasant, and it is a requirement of working airside). This doesn't involve any shoe removal....although some comical standing on one leg is required while they do a visual check of the soles - I'm getting better at this as time goes by :) Not all countries believe that removing shoes is required to ensure security, even for those working in ultra sensitive areas....

To go back on topic, you could always join in the great purple bra flash :)

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=320429

I have always loathed any form of civil disobedience especially if such acts inconvenience large numbers of people. To me, it is the height of selfishness.

Any comments on that famous Dec 1773 shipboard Tea Party in Boston?

MisterNice

Protest by not using the airports. :D

Analise: I guess you're not a fan of Thoreau or Martin Luther King or Rosa Parks or Gandhi or so many others ...

I admit it isn't good PR, but on the other hand, the people are already being inconvenienced. The horse has left the barn.

Sure.............pull into LAX or maybe JFK with your entourage, and cause all the civil disobediance you wish. The police will be called in to protect YOUR life, because all the other pax will be trying to kill you. :rolleyes:

I really, really, really dislike the screening procedures. But I agree that inconveniencing hundreds of people - perhaps thousands - is extreme in this case.

The civil disobedience of a Ghandi, M.L. King, or of the Buddist monks who set themselves ablaze in Vietnam in protest of the war ... well, the issues were consierably more pressing than being inconvenienced and even intruded upon to the degree that the screeing represents. IMO ...

If there's a way to loudly protest the TSA that doesn't interrupt the flow of other passengers through the checkpoint, let's hear it! Just sending letters and complaining to screeners and screening managers as I pass like another docile sheep through these abusive and un-American inspection stations leaves me feeling powerless. What can we do to make a bigger stir?

VOTE. I would really like to advise you like others have mentioned that protesting at a check point will probably result in you being monkey stomped by fellow travelers. Many do not feel the same as you do.