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Small dick joke has TSA worker beaten up after security scanner incident
It was only a matter of time till the whole body imaging machines being installed around the country would set off some kind of nastiness. After the "love those gigantic tits" incident in the United Kingdom last month, the United States is finally getting a taste of the problems these machines can create.
During a training session at Miami International Airport, a TSA supervisor joked about the size of the manhood of one of his colleagues who had just stepped into the machine. The supervisor was operating the equipment when he made the remark - so his joke could have been based on facts.
Rolando Negrin couldn't appreciate the jokes about his genitalia, so at the end of his shift, he used a police baton to beat up the supervisor in an airport parking garage. The police report states "victim stated he was in fear and complied with [Negron]." after being told to get down on his knees and apologize.
Negron was arrested the next day where he told police he had been made fun of by his co-workers. He has been arrested and booked into the local jail.
As usual - the first thing that comes to mind is that we yet again get evidence of the professionalism of the TSA - the people hired to protect our skies apparently think it is OK to assault someone in a parking garage. That said - I can totally understand why someone would get a little upset over a bunch of "small dick" jokes, especially if said colleagues have actually seen naked images of you.
Of course, this is the worst kind of PR you can possible get when trying to convince the public about the effectiveness of whole body imagers. We've all been told that our privacy is safe, and that images will never be stored - but the good folks at the TSA managed to screw that up in just one afternoon, all thanks to their juvenile pranks.
For all the details on the incident, head on over to The Smoking Gun for the police affidavit.
Update: The TSA blog has issued a statement about the incident. As usual, they are "taking it seriously" and are "looking into it".
Filed under: Airports
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
verdegrrl May 7th 2010 12:21AM
Not only limited in effectiveness, but also humiliating. Chertoff and and his scanner buildling buddies are laughing their way to the bank.
Malaycobra May 7th 2010 8:19AM
So can I now keep my shoes on? No? So in addition to inconvenience, we have to suffer humiliation. Great.
Just another act in the theater production that is the TSA.
verdegrrl May 7th 2010 11:49AM
IMHO, the real insult is that it doesn't even make us any safer! Sooooo many ways around it.
Malaycobra May 7th 2010 11:51AM
See, I knew that lead underwear would come in useful!
Charley May 7th 2010 12:51PM
The TSA needs to screen its hires more carefully. When you hire dregs, you get this sort of behavior. Both the supervisor and his assailant have no business screening passengers based upon their actions.
WC May 8th 2010 12:19PM
They didn't manage to 'screw that up in 1 afternoon'. Nobody believed them anyhow. They did, however, give a lot of power to those who oppose these ineffective privacy violations.
Locksley McPherson Jnr May 23rd 2010 10:50AM
I do think airport safety is pretty important to check that people aren't concealing things.. But, it's a tricky situation if the worker sees something amusing. Like, yes they should be taking it seriously but I guess you can't help laughing at some things. Everyone is different. The supervisor should have just kept his mouth shut and laughed 'on the inside'.