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Conor Friedersdorf

Conor Friedersdorf - Conor Friedersdorf is a staff writer at The Atlantic, where he focuses on politics and national affairs. He lives in Venice, California, and is the founding editor of The Best of Journalism, a newsletter devoted to exceptional nonfiction.

TSA Reduces Former Miss USA to Tears

By Conor Friedersdorf
Apr 27 2011, 4:27 PM ET Comment

A full body pat down left the beauty queen feeling "violated" and "molested"

 

Susie's Experience with the TSA Pat Down from SusieCastillo.net on Vimeo.

It isn't really important whether Susie Castillo was right to feel violated or not -- it's an inherently subjective judgment. The point is that she is hardly alone in being deeply uncomfortable with full body pat downs that include the genitals. The controversy over these techniques has waned. But every day, inside airports across the country, American citizens who've done nothing wrong feel violated by their own government, sometimes to the point of crying.

Says Castillo:

What bothered me most was when she ran the back of her hands down my behind, felt around my breasts, and even came in contact with my vagina! ...I never expected it to make me so upset.  When it was over, I grabbed my things, walked over to my husband who was waiting for me, and was completely overcome with emotion. I have never felt more violated in my life than I did that morning at DFW

Is it worth it?



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