Deadline for TSA to respond to Bob Barr FOIA is today
Paul Joseph Watson
Prison Planet.com
January 25, 2011
News that Former Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura is striking back against being personally subjected to TSA harassment by suing the federal agency is sure to re-ignite a TSA revolt that has led many airports to consider abandoning the TSA altogether and replacing them with private security, while the TSA has until the end of today to respond to a FOIA request filed by former Congressman Bob Barr that could send further shockwaves through the Homeland Security-controlled federal body.
Having first privately told Alex Jones back in November of his intention to sue the TSA in a lawsuit that directly names DHS chief Janet Napolitano and TSA head John Pistole, yesterday’s announcement of legal proceedings against new invasive groping measures introduced last year has provoked a tidal wave of media coverage.
The TSA has become embroiled in a number of lawsuits and legal challenges over the past few months as the agency’s policies are flagrantly abused by TSA staffers in numerous blatant examples of sexual harassment, violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and wanton disregard for the 4th amendment to the Constitution.
Nowhere was this more evident than in the case of Lynsie Murley, 24, of Amarillo, Texas, who received compensation from the agency after TSA workers pulled down her blouse, exposed her breasts and then laughed in her face, leaving Murley, “extremely embarrassed and humiliated” according to the lawsuit.
The actions of Ventura, who is risking his television career by refusing to fly until TSA policies are changed, are sure to once again stir a national debate about TSA policies that peaked back in November and culminated in a national opt out day protest on Thanksgiving.
The revolt was led largely by the Drudge Report website, which flexed its significant media muscle to ensure the issue was kept in constant focus for weeks on end.
In a crude political stunt designed to deflate the success of the opt out protest, the TSA completely reversed its procedures as travelers across the country reported that the agency had temporarily roped off naked body scanners and relaxed supposedly mandatory invasive pat down policies.
This led to former Congressman Bob Barr’s Liberty Guard organization filing a Freedom of Information Act request demanding an explanation as to why the TSA felt comfortable in briefly mothballing policies it claimed were vital for national security simply as a propaganda ploy.
Obviously reticent to address the FOIA, the TSA pulled out all the legal tricks to delay their response and in fact Liberty Guard’s Shane Cory informs us via email today that the agency has until the end of the day to formally respond to the FOIA request.
Any admission that the TSA amended its policies as part of a coordinated media stunt will send shockwaves through an agency already on the ropes, and we’ll have more on this story within the next 24 hours.
