Elderly Woman With 2 Artificial Knees Describes Sexual Assault By TSA in St. Louis: “I Was Shaking & Crying… I Likened it to Being Raped” (Video)
Posted by Jim Hoft on Thursday, November 18, 2010, 10:42 PM
A Chicago woman with two artificial knees set off the metal detectors at Lambert St. Louis Airport this week. The TSA agents then took her aside and groped her. The woman said they touched her “private parts.” She told KMOV reporters, “I felt like I had been raped.”
St. Louis KMOV reported:
Yeah… She looks like a terrorist.
The woman Penny Moroney described the assault:
“I was shaking and crying when I left that room…. (She told agents) I would prefer to use the body scanner and I was told they were not available. (A patdown was the only alternative.) Her gloved hands touched my breasts went between them. Then she went into the top of my slacks; inserted her hand between my underwear and my skin and put her hand up on the outside of my slacks and patted my genital area… I likened it to being raped.“
Hat Tip Ed
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Published May 16, 2012 at 7:37 pm - 45 Comments
Wading Across commented:
I feel badly for those who pretty much have no choice but to fly – business purposes. Everyone else ought to stay at home or find another way to your destination instead of allowing themselves to be publicly assaulted in the name of “security”.
Supposedly 80% of Americans according to some poll are okay with the scanners. Yeah… let’s see if that stat holds up by January after the holiday travel is done.
I bet the stat drops like a stone, just like public support for the scanners.
One airport has dropped the TSA like a bad habit. I wonder how many others will follow? I suspect the scanners will largely go away within a year.
And when we’re attacked – and eventually we will be – can’t you just hear the WH imply, “See?! I told you so! We need those things!”
I smell a rat, and the Obama Administration’s name is written all over that rodent.
Ex-ExZonie commented:
I refuse to fly anywhere until this practice is STOPPED!
Chippy commented:
This is government insurrection. Stop this NOW!
MLM411 commented:
My MIL flew in town tonight for her Thanksgiving visit….she carries a cold pack for her hormone medicine and this set off the metal scanner. She got pulled from the line and had to get the new pat down. The TSA lady got an earful….my MIL told her that “this is seriously wrong and totally ridiculous”. She’s a 70-year old grandma, partially deaf, carrying her medications and she gets assaulted. The TSA screener felt between her breasts, all the way around her breasts, and then felt up her thighs, and she jumped because the lady touched her privates. This is SO SICK!!! She took it in stride but this is not right!
Why can’t our government use basic behaviour profiling (like the border patrol agents and the Israelis) and go after the truly obvious folks who are here to commit terrorist acts? Not my 70 year old MIL!!!!!
Jess commented:
First off, there was no support for the scanners – the CBS poll asked if one was “OK” with xrays (I’m fairly certain I was surveyed – got the phone call from their research arm a few days back). That info has been twisted into “81% approve full body scans”…
The comforting part of this theatrics is that whilst Ms. Moroney got the full scope & grope, any other could’ve bought a one way ticket w/cash & no luggage and been whisked thru “security”…
Wading Across commented:
Jess, I wouldn’t be surprised at all to learn that the 81% poll is highly skewed. The number does seem abnormally high.
dwd commented:
Wow, so she didn’t decline the scanner, she WANTED the scanner and still had to get groped.
This looks like it could lead to TSA agents choosing people out of the security line who they want to grope and forcing them to submit to the pat down. Hmmm… there’s an attractive teenage girl (or child, or whatever fetish that TSA agent has)… sorry miss, the scanner is broken… come along with me to this private room.
Replace the scanners with the scanners other countries use which utilize radio waves and depict foreign objects on a mannequin.
If enough people sue, and this stays in the media long enough, and airports start opting out of TSA, and Republicans take a stand once they take power in the House, maybe this can get fixed. Until then, I’m not flying.
lily commented:
I won’t believe they are serious about security until they start profiling.
Skandia Recluse commented:
There are going to be a large number of holiday travelers who are not expecting any of this and are going to vow to never fly again. Any type of terrorist attack will re-enforce this feeling.
People will not fly under these conditions, and the airlines better understand it.
Muffin commented:
ABOLISH tsa.
What’s the score on the Dream Act? Boy they come up with clever names, don’t they? I’m just wondering if the crazy dems are going to have several million new voters come 2012? American citizenship is going the way of the American dollar. Soon it won’t be worth nuthin’.
Old One commented:
The democraps are going ahead at full speed destroying any credibility the federal government and their overpaid arrogant, incompetent, dysfunctional bureauweenies still retain with the people.
When a government losses its credibility with its citizenry it soon collapses. Unless the leftist obumunist useful idiots of Gyorgy Schwartz ,the former kid nazi kapo and the democorrupt party throttles down and reverses course to survive they will have to turn our republic into a totalitarian police state . A collection of unhinged by their November 2 defeat democrap crazies such as Jay Rockefeller, Podesta, and by Spooky Dude Schwartz’s praise of China’s wondeful government suggest overthrowing the Constitution may be in the works.
If the democorrupt party doesn’t end representative government the whacking they got on Nov. 2 will seem like a Mc Caskill praised love pat compared to the smacking the party will get on November 6, 2012. Nasty Pelousy, Dingy Harry, the voting Fraudster, and the manchild B. Hussein, along with the entire democrat party and any complicit Rinos are cruzin for a bruzin beyond even their ability to continue living on the banks of River Denial.
GLM In Ohio commented:
I’m in agreement with the general theme here … that these screenings are invasive and unnecessary, especially when profiling and background checks would be far more effective. It’s humiliating, unnecessary, embarrassing, and a huge overreach on the part of our government to be x-rayed or felt up, and it’s going to hurt the airlines, since it is clearly discouraging people from flying. We should fight to eliminate this nonsense and focus our efforts on carefully screening the people who have been statistically proven to pose the threat.
That being said, I have to say that I think equating being felt up by a TSA agent to being raped is a little ridiculous. In my opinion, hysterical reactions such as hers ring rather hollow, and threaten to discredit the rational people among us who are fighting for common sense changes to these policies. Voice your opinion, fight for change, but save the hysteria for the day, God forbid, that you really ARE raped.
Jason commented:
As usual, the usual two suspects are primarily responsible for this disgraceful situation: ISLAM and THE LEFT.
If it weren’t for the kind of sub-human savagery that Islam inspires, we wouldn’t be at risk at all. And if it weren’t for the kind of bone-headed political correctness that leftism inspires, we could get down to the business of profiling high-risk groups at airports instead of sexually molesting little old ladies in the name of “equality.”
If there is ONE GOOD THING that these two groups have contributed to the world I’d like to hear it. Mainly all they’re good for is ruining the quality of life of decent human beings. What an absolute scourge these people are.
Zilla of the Resistance commented:
My mom is from a foreign country (she came here legally and is an American Citizen now), she’s in her 70s and has an artificial knee. She’d like to visit her country of origin to see family, but I told her not to – at least not until that walking atrocity is out of the White House. These Gate Rapes (h/t Lily) aren’t stopping terrorists and Obama’s weakness and disgusting dhimmitude make us a bigger target for attack than ever before.
I won’t feel even remotely safe until we have someone like Col. Allen West in the Oval Office.
Gini commented:
#12 November 19, 2010 at 2:06 am
GLM In Ohio commented:
May I make the assumption that you are male and have never been assualted.
The unwanted physical touching/groping of a female is extremely offensive and while technically not rape, is just as disgusting and traumatic. It is NOT hysteria to compare the two – it is realistic.
I have plans to go abroad come April, sailing is not an option, and am seriously re-considering whether my desire to see family is strong enough to force me to submit to being groped – and by a “female”.
Tom Usher commented:
My wife had to fly for business yesterday. She was in line and the woman in front of her was pulled out and sent through the body scanner. My wife thought she’d be next but she was sent through with no real checking at all. She told me she even had her watch on and nothing was said.
She tells me that the woman in front of her was young and quite attractive while my wife, while still quite attractive, is a 50 something grandma.
Makes you wonder about the criteria being used, doesn’t it?
Granny commented:
I would consider this pretty close to rape myself – certainly sexual assault. Made worse by the fact that the assault was perpetrated by another woman. I’ll not be getting on a plane anytime soon.
Got to say though, this is a real damned if you do & damned if you don’t situation. If we all give in and allow ourselves to be exposed to unnecessary radiation and sexually assaulted (it seems that being scanned is no guarantee you will not also be Gate Raped) then we are allowing the government to simply ignore the Fourth Amendment. If we don’t fly, then we are allowing the government to essentially control our movements. And since the pilots are in negotiations for a biometric solution, we may all be forced to obtain ID that contains our biometric data in order to travel. Any way you cut it, the American public loses and those who would move our nation towards a totalitarian state win.
Taqiyyotomist commented:
Zilla, good to see you commenting here at GP! Your site — in particular the recent, amazingly thorough roundup of “Gate Rape” news — is great. Found it through Larwyn’s Linx a day or two ago, then I read that post, (possibly the longest, most link-chocked blogpost ever) and immediately bookmarked your site.
Great work.
Doug Wakeman commented:
“If you want a picture of the future, imagine a rubber glove, squeezing your testicles — forever.”
IlliniGuy commented:
PREDICTION: Obammer admin cancels “enhanced techniques” says “we were only implementing a Bush Era plan” . Obviously it is not there fault. Big Sis will claim we always listen to the people. Wait for the spin!!!
wheezer commented:
It has nothing to do with security imho…Its about control.
Tom63010 commented:
Let me get this straight. Because she had artificial knees that set off a metal detector a TSA agent has to give her a full body pat down. That makes sense since they haven’t invented metal detecting wands that could have isolated the metal to her knees and then concentrated their pat down to her knees, no wait they have had them for years!
I like the ACLU guy who says there are no regulations against this. Well it doesn’t surprise me an ACLU guy wouldn’t have read the Bill of Rights past the 1st amendment to get to the fourth amendment that protects us against unreasonable searches and seizures. The amendment specifically also requires search and arrest warrants be judicially sanctioned and supported by probable cause.
I would think that this would limit someone from searching my groin if the area that is suspicious is my knees. If a search warrant is issued it is issued for a specific location such as a suspects residence. The cop can’t go to a location he has a search warrant for and then proceed to search the suspect’s neighbor’s houses.
It seems like anymore Federal Law is looked at in a vacuum. In other words if a law or procedure is initiated the passage of that law must contain it’s own regulations or it is unregulated. The Constitution has been ignored and trampled on so many times that it doesn’t seem like it isn’t even under consideration anymore!
These are DANGEROUS times and everyone including the Liberals better wake up or we will be in the grasp of Tyrannically Government. The foundation has been laid over many years and now you have people in office that are using to their advantage.
We give up so many freedoms to get goodies from the Federal Government not thinking about what power we are giving up to a centralized entity. It is truly scary to think what a relatively small group of people in Washington D.C. are running our lives!
It is great when your mommy is alive in the Fairy Tale but it goes horribly wrong when she dies and your dad marries the wicked step-mother!
Muffin commented:
You know why the terrorists have won? Because Obama and his people are incompetent. Obama says there is no terrorism, but the TSA is grabbing everyone they can find because they say they’re fighting terrorism? Obama has trouble communicating clearly.
RoboMonkey commented:
It’s amazing how much this issue resonates with everyone I know on the left and on the right.
Self-pimpage: http://robomonkey.wordpress.com/2010/11/18/presenting-sing-along-with-airport-security/
Sasja commented:
This is more incidious that we realize. This is just one of many instances where they are trying to desensitize us to government abuses. It frightens me that there are far too many people willing to allow this because the “government” is involved. I’ll make book that should it come down to government agents raiding your neighbor’s home and dragging them off, you will do nothing.
Alana commented:
What gets me is you’re supposed to not care if some random person touches you or sees you naked. I keep hearing people on various forums say, “Get over yourself. You’re not special.”
Modesty is not only no longer a virtue, but something to scoff at? It would seem so.
chuck in st paul commented:
#22 November 19, 2010 at 7:39 am Tom63010
I totally agree. I see two changes in process that would make most of this issue go away or at least become reasonable.
1) on metal detector hits they use the wand and ONLY the hot spots get touched
2) on body scanner hits an avatar with a red X on the hot spot gets flashed to a monitor in the public area so the traveller and the TSA agent can both see where the issue is and once again ONLY the hot spot(s) get touched
My wife has a knee replacement and I cannot see the virtue in groping her crotch when it is so-o-o-o imminently obvious that with a wand her knee IS the bell ringer. Neither, apparently, does anyone else except the absurd management dolts at TSA and their camp-guard mentality employees.
greenfairie commented:
I’ve only been patted down once and that was three years ago after my underwire in my bra set off the sensitive metal detector. I wasn’t thrilled about it, but the TSA person did not go over the line.
But there’s NO excuse at all for anyone to touch anyone’s genitals on the skin. There’s no reason why the pilot who was on Hannity’s show the other night had to expose his penis or allow someone to touch it. NONE. I don’t agree to sexual assault just to fly on a plane. What if TSA decides intercourse with every passenger regardless of age is necessary to prove there’s nothing hidden anywhere?
Joanne commented:
So a person is allowed to touch a person’s private parts for security? I don’t know about other people, but this is the most ridiculous thing ever.
dunce commented:
Every one should be required to present their voter registration card to fly and !00 % of the democrats should get the full pat down change they voted for.Cavity searches upon request for the hope part.
GLM In Ohio commented:
No Gini (#15), you may NOT make assumptions. By doing so, you have fallen victim to that pesky old rule about assumptions….
Yes, you are right to assume that I am male, but you are wrong to assume that I haven’t ever been sexually assaulted. Unfortunately, I was “touched improperly” by an adult male when I was about ten years old, and it certainly wasn’t pleasant. However, it was a far cry from what most rational people would call rape, and there is an even bigger difference between a casual check for contraband and a determined sexual “groping” like I endured. What the TSA is doing is certainly unnecessary, unpleasant, and embarrassing, and it’s a big waste of time and money, but equating it to rape, or even sexual assault is ridiculous.
All I’m saying here is let’s try to keep our hysteria under control and approach this problem rationally. If we let our hysteria overwhelm us, we risk discrediting ourselves, which will make it much more difficult to enact the positive changes we all desire.