TSA agent beats co-worker for laughing at his genitalia shown in scanner

[Anti Federalist]

But wait, government said the resolution on these scanners was not great enough to "see" genitalia?



Suspicious Package: TSA Worker Jailed After Junk Joke

MIA worker assaults colleague who made crack at genitalia after walk through machine

By WILLARD SHEPARD and BRIAN HAMACHER
Updated 7:26 PM EDT, Thu, May 6, 2010

Perhaps the new airport body scanners are a bit too revealing.

A TSA worker in Miami was arrested for aggravated battery after police say he attacked a colleague who'd made fun of his small genitalia after he walked through one of the new high-tech security scanners during a recent training session.

Rolando Negrin, 44, was busted for assault after things got ugly at Miami International Airport between Negrin and some of his fellow Transportation Security Administration workers on Tuesday.

Sources say Negrin stepped into the machine during the training session and became embarrassed and angry when a supervisor started cracking jokes about his manhood, made visible by the new machine.

According to the police report, Negron confronted one of his co-workers in an employee parking lot, where he hit him with a police baton on the arm and back.

"[Negron] then told victim to kneel down and say 'your sorry,'" the report reads. "Victim stated he was in fear and complied with [Negron]."

Negron was arrested the next day when he arrived for work. He told police he had been made fun of by coworkers on a daily basis.

"[Negron] stated he could not take the jokes anymore and lost his mind," the report reads.

Negrin was arrested and booked into Miami-Dade County Jail. His arrest photo (above) shows him wearing his blue TSA shirt at the time of the arrest.

The attack may be the first piece of proof that the new scanners may be leaving too little to the imagination.

The $170,000 machines, which were introduced last year, took some heat from fliers who weren't quite ready to show their bod to government employees.

But if this latest incident is any indication, the scanners sound like good news for anti-terrorism and bad news for less-than-average men.

http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local-beat/TSA-Fracas-After-Body-Scanner-Reveals-TMI-92971929.html

[sofia]

it may have just been normal shrinkage....

my johnson is a good size when it's called to action,...... but during the day it's the size of my thumb...

I'd hate to be judged by that machine

[revolutionary8]

it may have just been normal shrinkage....

my johnson is a good size when it's called to action,...... but during the day it's the size of my thumb...

I'd hate to be judged by that machine

TMI alert!

Okay George,

TMFI!!!!

These days I would put this in the good news category though- perhaps the less endowed will form a coalition to get these scanners banned. I can see it now, sorry Mr. TSA, I am not walking through that thing, my package is too small. :D

I tell ya, sometimes I am not sure whether to laugh or cry. :confused:

[Philhelm]

Let it be known to the world that Rolando Negrin has a small pee-pee! Tee hee hee! I think that the only fair punishment for Rolando would be to have the picture from the security scanner posted for all to see. I also think that those who support such things should have their naked pictures posted. Why not, if that's what they do to us? Fair is fair, after all.

[Old Ducker]

it may have just been normal shrinkage....

my johnson is a good size when it's called to action,...... but during the day it's the size of my thumb...

I'd hate to be judged by that machine

Some guys' idea of "good size" is different from others'.:p

[Anti Federalist]

Some guys' idea of "good size" is different from others'.:p

We'll make spears, as long as a man.

Aye, but some men are longer than others.

[Mach]

We need to invent, manufacture and sell.... Genital Blockers ;)..... then donate all profits to the campaign.

Or, how about...

Airport Extenders!.... "so you won't be laughed at when you go to the airport!" :D
.
.

[Anti Federalist]

This is no laughing matter...

[Live_Free_Or_Die]

What the hell is going on? The women on this forum let post #2 slide without a "Tube or it didn't happen" :confused:

[Anti Federalist]

What the hell is going on? The women on this forum let post #2 slide without a "Tube or it didn't happen" :confused:

Damn it this is...this is...serious...<snicker>

[evilfunnystuff]

Damn it this is...this is...serious...<snicker>

YouTube - Wonder Pets Ming-Ming The Serious Duckling! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjmYee2ZfSk&feature=PlayList&p=E4E6BEDF19F52344&playnext_from=PL&index=0&playnext=1)

[Mach]

It is kinda funny in away..... I wonder if they put out an all points bulletin.........

YouTube - porky's (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIcSuyZjjIM)

[amy31416]

What the hell is going on? The women on this forum let post #2 slide without a "Tube or it didn't happen" :confused:

http://www.rightonblog.net/media/statueofdavid.jpg

Being the fan of classical art that I am, I'm not entirely shocked by "sofia's" claims....but you're right, we're seriously slacking.

[MelissaWV]

What the hell is going on? The women on this forum let post #2 slide without a "Tube or it didn't happen" :confused:

1. I'm not a size queen.

2. Even if I were remotely interested in size as vital to something, I would not be interested in sofia's particular nether regions. What it's attached to is more important than its size, or even if it exists, to me.

:D

(These threads are just an excuse to say "penis" anyhow. Penis.)

[low preference guy]

//

[low preference guy]

(These threads are just an excuse to say "penis" anyhow. Penis.)

I would like to make a psychological study to know the cause/conceptions behind that statement.

Are penises funny or something?

[MelissaWV]

I would like to make a psychological study to know the cause/conceptions behind that statement.

Are penises funny or something?

For whatever reason, people do enjoy their anatomical references. It's not exclusive to this particular region. Do a search for "tits or gtfo" sometime. :p

Perhaps it's just the need to vent in a nice, safe, juvenile way? There's so much awful stuff going on in the world, and really this story should be upsetting on various levels, but maybe we've gotten past being able to find our outrage on this one.

I've never really met a comedic phallus, personally, but I'm sure some display such tendencies.

[low preference guy]

For whatever reason, people do enjoy their anatomical references. It's not exclusive to this particular region. Do a search for "tits or gtfo" sometime. :p

Perhaps it's just the need to vent in a nice, safe, juvenile way? There's so much awful stuff going on in the world, and really this story should be upsetting on various levels, but maybe we've gotten past being able to find our outrage on this one.

I've never really met a comedic phallus, personally, but I'm sure some display such tendencies.

I'm not a woman, but if I was... I think i wouldn't be comfortable having sex and sort of think of penises at funny as the same time. If I thought vaginas were funny.... I don't know.

[Bruno]

For me, this story is imporantant because of what it exposes (pardon the pun :)).

From this and other recent airport X-Ray scanner stories, we now know that:

1) Images can be stored, saved, and printed. (Contrary to prior claims)
2) Airport workers can and do share the images, make fun of them, etc. This and the Heathrow incident prove this. (Contrary to prior claims)
3) Images do show genetalia (Contrary to prior claims)

I have a hard time sympathizing with either TSA worker involved in this story. They both probably had no problem viewing other people's privates when they walked through the scanner, and only when things got personal did the one guy care. That said, the other guy didn't deserve a brutal beating for taunting him at work.

[MelissaWV]

For me, this story is imporantant because of what it exposes (pardon the pun :)).

From this and other recent airport X-Ray scanner stories, we now know that:

1) Images can be stored, saved, and printed. (Contrary to prior claims)
2) Airport workers can and do share the images, make fun of them, etc. This and the Heathrow incident prove this. (Contrary to prior claims)
3) Images do show genetalia (Contrary to prior claims)

I have a hard time sympathizing with either TSA worker involved in this story. They both probably had no problem viewing other people's privates when they walked through the scanner, and only when things got personal did the one guy care. That said, the other guy didn't deserve a brutal beating for taunting him at work.

Indeed.

I don't even care about the first one, by the way. An image doesn't have to be saved to be bothersome. The second and third ones are the huge problem here, and these machines don't discriminate. They show grown men, young children, little old ladies... it's disgusting.

[jkr]

i gots me a rubber dick extender
promisses to ADD 1-2 inches minimum!
next time im at an airport, i am wearing that bitch.
i want it to be a news story.

maybe i could write a book...

[Live_Free_Or_Die]

i gots me a rubber dick extender
promisses to ADD 1-2 inches minimum!
next time im at an airport, i am wearing that bitch.
i want it to be a news story.

maybe i could write a book...

Is that an admission? :eek:

[qh4dotcom]

Funny comment on that article


Now HERE is a BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY.

Right alongside the noise cancelling headphones and such they sell at the airport kiosks to frequent flyers, they will soon be selling lifelike silicone extension holders that you can put on your thing to make it look bigger to the operators of these body surface scanners.

TSA Operator: "Damn, that's a huge one!"

[MelissaWV]

Funny comment on that article


TSA Operator: "Damn, that's a huge one!"

Right, but those "extensions" could very easily be bombs, just like the breast implant bombs we have been warned about. Everything could be a bomb!

[Liberty Star]

Freedom is never cheap.

[Anti Federalist]

From this and other recent airport X-Ray scanner stories, we now know that:

1) Images can be stored, saved, and printed. (Contrary to prior claims)
2) Airport workers can and do share the images, make fun of them, etc. This and the Heathrow incident prove this. (Contrary to prior claims)
3) Images do show genetalia (Contrary to prior claims)



Bingo.

In spite of the obvious "Lulz potential", this story is very important for the reasons listed.

[Brian4Liberty]

For me, this story is imporantant because of what it exposes (pardon the pun :)).

From this and other recent airport X-Ray scanner stories, we now know that:

1) Images can be stored, saved, and printed. (Contrary to prior claims)
2) Airport workers can and do share the images, make fun of them, etc. This and the Heathrow incident prove this. (Contrary to prior claims)
3) Images do show genetalia (Contrary to prior claims)

I have a hard time sympathizing with either TSA worker involved in this story. They both probably had no problem viewing other people's privates when they walked through the scanner, and only when things got personal did the one guy care. That said, the other guy didn't deserve a brutal beating for taunting him at work.

My unscientific observation of the scanners in operation indicated a tendency for attractive women to get randomly selected...

[CCTelander]

My unscientific observation of the scanners in operation indicated a tendency for attractive women to get randomly selected...

Imagine that.

To paraphrase Captain Renault (Claude Rains) from Casblanca, "I'm shocked, shocked to find that this kind of thing is going on." Not.

[libertarian4321]

My unscientific observation of the scanners in operation indicated a tendency for attractive women to get randomly selected...

I know this article made some of you giddy as 13-year old school girls, but this is a serious matter.

These TSA idiots are gawking at your wives and teen-aged daughters, passing around the pictures and doing God knows what with them.

I don't see it as a laughing matter.

[Pizzo]

YouTube - george costanza - i was in the pool (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cUNNKzj_Nc)

[Anti Federalist]

I know this article made some of you giddy as 13-year old school girls, but this is a serious matter.

These TSA idiots are gawking at your wives and teen-aged daughters, passing around the pictures and doing God knows what with them.

I don't see it as a laughing matter.

4321 is absolutely right.

It isn't a laughing matter, really.

[Baptist]

I know this article made some of you giddy as 13-year old school girls, but this is a serious matter.

These TSA idiots are gawking at your wives and teen-aged daughters, passing around the pictures and doing God knows what with them.

I don't see it as a laughing matter.


The fact of the matter is that over 90% of male TSA workers are scoping out hot women who walk through these things. They are staring at the T & A of every teenager who has gone through puberty. I guarantee you that you could strap sticks of dynamite around the legs of any 16-year-old who is remotely good looking and TSA agents will not see the bomb, because their eyes are somewhere else. I can only imagine what these sickos are doing when they get home, after looking at softcore porn for 8 hours.

Any man who is honest will admit this is the case, and 90% is probably a conservative number.

[KCIndy]

Does anyone know any TSA workers who might be willing to talk "off the record" about this stuff? It would be really interesting to get to hear someone who has "been there and done that" describe all the stuff that goes on behind the scenes.

Hmm... maybe I'll apply with the TSA... :)

[Anti Federalist]

They are staring at the T & A of every teenager who has gone through puberty.

Not even bringing up the "kiddie porn" angle of these miserable shitting things.

[MelissaWV]

They are staring at the T&A of everyone who allows themselves to go through these machines. There is a simple solution to the situation.

I put on clothing when I leave my home, and that means I am blocking anyone from seeing what's underneath unless I remove that clothing for them, thereby giving my consent. Putting on the equivalent of nerdy x-ray goggles to see through my clothing is disgusting. I'm not going to give these flunkies the chance to do it.

This worker was more than fine staring at everyone else's privates, and had probably pointed out more than one female's attributes (just guessing). His own attributes were pointed out, and he didn't care for it much. From a strict workplace standpoint, I honestly think it's a pretty nasty form of harassment, and should have been dealt with that way. Being at work and having a co-worker unprofessionally discussing the size of your genitals can't be particularly good for business, and the boss should have had something to say about the situation. However, perhaps the entire story will give people pause and make them reconsider what these screeners are seeing, how it's being stored/distributed, and how professional they are with the information that's given to them.

[Anti Federalist]

Being at work and having a co-worker unprofessionally discussing the size of your genitals can't be particularly good for business, and the boss should have had something to say about the situation. However, perhaps the entire story will give people pause and make them reconsider what these screeners are seeing, how it's being stored/distributed, and how professional they are with the information that's given to them.

It's my understanding from the story that it was the boss who was making these comments.

[MelissaWV]

It's my understanding from the story that it was the boss who was making these comments.

Every boss has a boss or bosses. My point was more that there really is something wrong in having a work environment where your employees are busy making fun of one another's genitals rather than doing their job, regardless of all the TSA stuff. I've always wondered why these people have so much spare time at work. It's just a tangent ;)

[Philhelm]

First of all, how professional can TSA employees really be, or any profession for that matter? Seriously? Let's face the facts; most of them are men, and men are men. If I were a TSA employee, I'd prefer to see the young, twenty-something images of naked women too. Furthermore, I'd likely joke, or at least think of joking, about certain images. It could be something as subtle as snickering at a co-worker when you choose an obese, older woman to subject to the scanner. I'm sure the same is true even of doctors. I'd imagine that they'd be "professional" or smart enough to leave things out of the workplace, but do you honestly think that even doctors don't say things to their friends and family? People are people, after all. The difference is that doctors are necessary, and TSA is not.

At what point does a husband and father have the right to protect his wife and children from people who would prey upon them? And yes, the pedophilia issue is a big one too. If I had an attractive 14 year old daughter, for instance, and a TSA goon wanted to check her, there might come a point where I would say, "By God you will not, you filthy pervert!"

What's funny, is that since 9/11, I have been spot checked at least half the times I've gone through airport security. I was in the Army Reserve, and we used civilian flights sometimes for annual training, and I would be checked, in uniform, by TSA employees who had foreign accents. They were even rude to me since I had beeped because I didn't realize that the foile wrapper on the pack of cigarettes I had on me was causing the issue. Now, don't get me wrong; I'm not saying that a soldier couldn't be a terrorist, or that I'm anti-immigrant, but come on....really? Meanwhile, Osama bin Laden winks at me as he passes right through. Make no mistake, TSA is not for our safety! I just wish our politicians had to go through the same routine. I want to be able to laugh at Nancy Pelosi's sagging tits...to her face!

[Anti Federalist]

Anatomical ridicule raises body-scanning concerns

By Marnie Hunter, CNNMay 7, 2010 -- Updated 1929 GMT (0329 HKT)

http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/TRAVEL/05/06/tsa.scanner.assault/story.body.scan.xray.cnn.jpg

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/TRAVEL/05/06/tsa.scanner.assault/?hpt=T3

(CNN) -- Full-body scanning machines may reveal a little too much, if an incident of workplace violence this week among Transportation Security Administration screeners is any indication.

A TSA worker at Miami International Airport in Florida was arrested for allegedly assaulting a co-worker who had repeatedly teased him about the size of his genitals.

The insults stemmed from an X-ray of the accused captured during a training exercise with the airport's full-body scanning machines, the report said.

Rolando Negrin "stated he could not take the jokes anymore and lost his mind," allegedly striking the victim with a police baton. According to the report, a witness heard Negrin say in Spanish, "get on your knees or I will kill you and you better apoligise [sic]."

In response to the incident, TSA said it has a zero-tolerance policy for workplace violence. "At the same time, we are investigating to determine whether other officers may have violated procedures in a training session with coworkers and committed professional misconduct," the agency said in a statement.

The incident puts the spotlight back on technology some privacy advocates liken to a virtual strip search.

"As far as I'm concerned, this really demonstrates exactly how detailed the images are, exactly how invasive the search is," said John Verdi, senior counsel with the Electronic Privacy Information Center, a Washington-based research center specializing in civil liberties and privacy issues. It receives much of its funding from private foundations.

Verdi said the Miami incident "... also demonstrates that this technology, and the way it's being implemented by TSA, is ripe for abuse."

The TSA screener scuffle is not the only recent case of workplace tension involving the technology. A security worker at London's Heathrow Airport allegedly made lewd comments about a female colleague who mistakenly entered a scanner, according to the UK's Press Association. The accused worker was given a police warning for harassment.

TSA officials stressed that the incident in Miami was internal and did not involve any member of the traveling public. When the technology is used in airports, one screener views the scan in a remote location and does not come into contact with passengers being screened. The images are permanently deleted and never stored, according to the TSA.

EPIC has filed a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security under the Freedom of Information Act seeking details about the government's use of advanced imaging technology.

In April, DHS revealed in a letter to EPIC that it has 2,000 full-body scanning test images, "using TSA models, not members of the public," stored at its test facility. The agency is withholding the images, citing exemptions to the Freedom of Information Act for information pertaining only to internal personnel rules and practices and records that might "benefit those attempting to violate the law."

Verdi finds the idea that the images might be used to evade security "highly problematic."

"Because if merely publishing examples of the images that the TSA has generated during testing would harm security, that really calls into question the effectiveness of the machines," he said.

Examples the TSA says are consistent with what screening officers see in airports are available on the agency's website.

Aviation security expert Douglas Laird said it is "perfectly logical" for the TSA to withhold the 2,000 test images.

"If they were available to the public, then if you were trying to defeat the machine you would study the images to find the weak link, so to speak. I would think they would be crazy to release them," said Laird, who is president of aviation security consulting firm Laird & Associates.

There are shortcomings for any technology, Laird said.

Still, Laird said he believes body-scanning technology would have given officials at Amsterdam's Schipol Airport a much better chance of catching a Nigerian man who boarded a Detroit, Michigan-bound flight on Christmas Day with explosives concealed in his groin area.

The alternative pat-down, which U.S. passengers may opt for instead of body scanning, has to be very intrusive to be effective, and studies show people are less tolerant of physical intrusion than of intrusive technology, Laird said.

While advanced imaging technology doesn't involve direct physical contact, the screener training incident in Miami highlights some travelers' reservations about full-body scans.

"I really think it would give a lot of folks pause if they thought that TSA employees were mocking naked body scans of American air travelers," Verdi said.

[foofighter20x]

Aside from the aggravated battery, the dude has a pretty straight-forward sexual harassment lawsuit.

I'm not sure how much the criminal action would interfere with his ability to sue, however.

[Bruno]

Anatomical ridicule raises body-scanning concerns

By Marnie Hunter, CNNMay 7, 2010 -- Updated 1929 GMT (0329 HKT)

http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/TRAVEL/05/06/tsa.scanner.assault/story.body.scan.xray.cnn.jpg

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/TRAVEL/05/06/tsa.scanner.assault/?hpt=T3

(CNN) -- Full-body scanning machines may reveal a little too much, if an incident of workplace violence this week among Transportation Security Administration screeners is any indication.

A TSA worker at Miami International Airport in Florida was arrested for allegedly assaulting a co-worker who had repeatedly teased him about the size of his genitals.

The insults stemmed from an X-ray of the accused captured during a training exercise with the airport's full-body scanning machines, the report said.

Rolando Negrin "stated he could not take the jokes anymore and lost his mind," allegedly striking the victim with a police baton. According to the report, a witness heard Negrin say in Spanish, "get on your knees or I will kill you and you better apoligise [sic]."

In response to the incident, TSA said it has a zero-tolerance policy for workplace violence. "At the same time, we are investigating to determine whether other officers may have violated procedures in a training session with coworkers and committed professional misconduct," the agency said in a statement.

The incident puts the spotlight back on technology some privacy advocates liken to a virtual strip search.

"As far as I'm concerned, this really demonstrates exactly how detailed the images are, exactly how invasive the search is," said John Verdi, senior counsel with the Electronic Privacy Information Center, a Washington-based research center specializing in civil liberties and privacy issues. It receives much of its funding from private foundations.

Verdi said the Miami incident "... also demonstrates that this technology, and the way it's being implemented by TSA, is ripe for abuse."

The TSA screener scuffle is not the only recent case of workplace tension involving the technology. A security worker at London's Heathrow Airport allegedly made lewd comments about a female colleague who mistakenly entered a scanner, according to the UK's Press Association. The accused worker was given a police warning for harassment.

TSA officials stressed that the incident in Miami was internal and did not involve any member of the traveling public. When the technology is used in airports, one screener views the scan in a remote location and does not come into contact with passengers being screened. The images are permanently deleted and never stored, according to the TSA.

EPIC has filed a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security under the Freedom of Information Act seeking details about the government's use of advanced imaging technology.

In April, DHS revealed in a letter to EPIC that it has 2,000 full-body scanning test images, "using TSA models, not members of the public," stored at its test facility. The agency is withholding the images, citing exemptions to the Freedom of Information Act for information pertaining only to internal personnel rules and practices and records that might "benefit those attempting to violate the law."

Verdi finds the idea that the images might be used to evade security "highly problematic."

"Because if merely publishing examples of the images that the TSA has generated during testing would harm security, that really calls into question the effectiveness of the machines," he said.

Examples the TSA says are consistent with what screening officers see in airports are available on the agency's website.

Aviation security expert Douglas Laird said it is "perfectly logical" for the TSA to withhold the 2,000 test images.

"If they were available to the public, then if you were trying to defeat the machine you would study the images to find the weak link, so to speak. I would think they would be crazy to release them," said Laird, who is president of aviation security consulting firm Laird & Associates.

There are shortcomings for any technology, Laird said.

Still, Laird said he believes body-scanning technology would have given officials at Amsterdam's Schipol Airport a much better chance of catching a Nigerian man who boarded a Detroit, Michigan-bound flight on Christmas Day with explosives concealed in his groin area.

The alternative pat-down, which U.S. passengers may opt for instead of body scanning, has to be very intrusive to be effective, and studies show people are less tolerant of physical intrusion than of intrusive technology, Laird said.

While advanced imaging technology doesn't involve direct physical contact, the screener training incident in Miami highlights some travelers' reservations about full-body scans.

"I really think it would give a lot of folks pause if they thought that TSA employees were mocking naked body scans of American air travelers," Verdi said.


Thanks for sharing that update!

[Anti Federalist]

Thanks for sharing that update!

Welcome.

Sorry for stealing your thunder on this story, I saw after the fact that you had already posted it.

I'm optimistic about this.

Let one case of some TSA goon ogling a minor child happen and I'm thinking that might be enough even for the most dull witted to oppose these things.

[Bruno]

Welcome.

Sorry for stealing your thunder on this story, I saw after the fact that you had already posted it.

I'm optimistic about this.

Let one case of some TSA goon ogling a minor child happen and I'm thinking that might be enough even for the most dull witted to oppose these things.

Not a problem at all! :)

And I think you are right, and it is only a matter of time before that happens as well.

[Kludge]

(These threads are just an excuse to say "penis" anyhow. Penis.)

Heh. Heh.

... Penis.