Passenger chooses strip down over pat down
SAN DIEGO, California - November 22, 2010 - When a San Diego man opted out of security screening using the Advanced Imaging Technology (AIT) at Lindbergh Field Friday, he stripped down to his underwear in an attempt to avoid the pat down procedures.
Samuel Wolanyk took the protest started November 13 by Oceanside's John Tyner to a whole new level.
While Tyner videotaped his refusal to be patted down, telling the agent, "If you touch my junk I'll have you arrested," Wolanyk decided to give the TSA a look at his body, down to his Calvin Klein's.
Through a statement released by his attorney Sunday night, Wolanyk said, "TSA needs to see that I'm not carrying any weapons, explosives, or other prohibited substances, I refuse to have images of my naked body viewed by perfect strangers, and having been felt up for the first time by TSA the week prior (I travel frequently), I was not willing to be molested again."
Wolanyk's attorney said that TSA requested his client put his clothes on so he could be patted down properly but his client refused to put his clothes back on. He never refused a pat down, according to his attorney.
Wolanyk was arrested for refusing to complete the security process. A woman, identified by Harbor police as Danielle Kelli Hayman, 39, of San Diego, was detained for recording the incident on a phone.
San Diego has played a central role in the debate over the need for AIT machines in our nation's airports; from Tyner’s videotape and U.S. Rep. Bob Filner's call for a congressional hearing to the parody song penned by Poway musician and Grammy-winner Steve Vaus. This Wednesday, one group is asking Americans to opt out of the AIT machines.