Then why is "intend to drive your car" necessary if it's general intent?

Here's a definition of assault I found:

ASSAULT. (a) A person commits an offense if the person:
(1) intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly causes
bodily injury to another, including the person's spouse;
(2) intentionally or knowingly threatens another with
imminent bodily injury, including the person's spouse; or
(3) intentionally or knowingly causes physical
contact with another when the person knows or should reasonably
believe that the other will regard the contact as offensive or
provocative.

I don't think the OP meets these essential elements.

The law related to assault and attempted assault varies from state to state so any kind of general definition just might miss the boat .... entirely.

If criminal prosecution is not going to happen -- and it's often a dead end in these types of situations and I suspect it will be here for reasons not related to whether or not the actions of the TSAers is tantamount to a crime -- there's always civil litigation as much of a pain that can be in pursuit of federal government employees.

It never ceases to amaze me how many of those screeners who post here refuse to believe other posters who tell of incidents they have had with the TSA because "that's not the way it's done."

You can't be serious. The OP told the TSO that he had a pacemaker and it would be dangerous to wand him. Approaching him with the wand after being warned is reckless, and is actual notice that the contact is offensive and unpermitted. A lot depends on the specific facts, but taking the OP's version at face value, i.e. he warned the TSO, told him he had a doctor's note, etc., this is clearly assault. Put another way, if the definition of assault that you provided was a jury instruction and I was on the jury, I would convict based on the version of the facts presented by the OP.

My sister had a friend who had her inhaler taken away by TSA. Fast forward a few hours, she starts having convulsions or something on the plane. Few months later, TSA is hit with a mid-seven-figure judgement against them for this. By the way, the girl survived.

If they approach you with the wand again, if I were you, I'd start speed-dialing your lawyer. Then throw something at the screener, maybe a bottle of water, CAP OPEN. If they arrest you, you're perfectly justified in pleading self-defense. You were in reasonable fear for your life. Your pacemaker breaks, you die. Wands cause pacemakers to break. Broken pacemaker=likely death. In that case, you were justified in pulling out a gun and shooting the screener.

Under the law you have the right to use justifiable force to defend yourself. After a warning, I'd say you're justified in doing what you can to either disable the wand or keeping it a safe distance away from your pacemaker. Under the law you were legally justified, under self-defense, in pulling out a gun and shooting both of those lowlives. They put you in reasonable, imminent fear for your life, and thus you are legally justified in hindering their advances, at least, if not ending their lives. I'd contact the district attorney's office immediately and have their asses charged with criminal negligence, attempted murder, etc. They're lucky you didn't drop dead. That's murder in the first degree.

Swearing as security staff is not only a bad idea, but you could have families around you in the line up. Do you think someone's 8 year old on their way to Disney should hear you telling off the TSA agent? You're 25, not 5 and you should know how to handle situations like this in a more mature manner. You had a card there you could have shown the man. Any difficulties you had here are your fault. Not his.

Stupidhead, welcome to FT! Hope you continue to contribute.

As for the $3-$7 million judgment against the TSA, I would certainly like to know more of the facts. I am having difficulty believing that damages were that much unless the girl has permanent incapacitating injuries that require 24/7 care.

Portions of the post that previously appeared in this space have been deleted. I would provide you with a reason why, but doing so would likely be against the TOS.

Yep. Denial just aint a river in Egypt.

Back off. He TOLD the TSO, showed him the card, and the TSO refused to believe him, and tried to wand him despite his protests that it's dangerous to his health. That, in my opinion and POV, is attempted assault, and wrong in all means. I know you support the TSA - I do, too, in SOME cases, but in this case, I think the TSO was very, very wrong and it reflects poorly upon TSA.

So, don't you dare pass judgment on him - imagine how you'd feel if you were in his shoes.

Grow up.

I'd know. They bought a summerhouse in the Hamptons with the judgement money. And the judgement was probably that high because it was a 10-year-old child.

Btw, did anyone hear of the story where TSA breaks someone's laptop and then threatens to arrest the person for asking about filing a claim? Yeah, I know. They break my laptop, I'll be on the phone with the police FIRST.

The OP is perfectly justified in pursuing a claim against the TSA with a lawyer, which is exactly what he's doing - so we're unlikely to hear any further comment from the source until that process is complete, if at all.

As for self-defense, I can't speak for other states, but in Florida, it's perfectly legal to use whatever force is necessary to protect yourself from a threat - even a perceived threat. Had the thread incident occurred in FL, and had the OP used physical force, even deadly force, to protect himself, the action would have been perfectly legal.

Although we may never know the outcome, I hope in this case the OP collects a sizable punitive judgment and the screeners in question and their managers are pink-slipped.

When and where was the trial? I would like to review some of the stories associated with it. I'm sure that if a court tagged the TSA with a multi-million dollar verdict for a 10-year old, it would have gotten some press (or at least I can look at the pleadings).

Unless the TSA got the court records sealed.

Yea and some of you people ALWAYS believe negative posts by TSA.

Anyone remember the APril Fool Joke post that some of you fell hook, line, and sinker for???


I happen to know TSA procedure a bit better than the average traveler. I don't think I have EVER seen a Walk through metal detector person with a handwand.

Then there is the possibility of getting caught on tape letting someone into the sterile area without being properly screened.

Don't believe me. I challenge you to test TSA and tell someone at the WTMD that you have a pacemaker and see how many times the agent acts inappropriately.

Oh by the way, most pacemakers are NOT effected by the WTMD. I can remember at least a dozen incidents where an old guy(usually men) will tell me after the fact that he has a pacemaker. Pacemakers 30 years ago may have been effected, but today's models are not.

What is the technical medical training and background you possess which supports this assertion? If a passenger states whey will not enter the WTMD because of a pacemaker, are you going to argue the point with them or insist 'their pacemaker' will be unaffected?

Besides the illegal act of practicing medicine without a license, you're taking a chance with an innocent person's health - and that is just not acceptable.