A Virginian man who stripped off his shirt and pants during a Transportation Security Administration scan at an airport in late 2010 to reveal the text of the Fourth Amendment on his chest won a little respect this week.
Richmond International Airport officials announced that all security officers attended mandated training on First and Fourth Amendment rights, as part of a settlement that just came through for Aaron Tobey, a.k.a. airport stripper, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Mr. Tobey said he was only trying to protest the TSA’s full-body scanning program — now disbanded — that scooped up near-naked images of passengers.
But after he removed his shirt and pants and placed them on the conveyor belt — revealing the text penned on his chest, “The right of the people to be secure … against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated” — he was arrested. Airport officials threatened him with a criminal sanction, handcuffed and held him for more than hour.
Mr. Tobey then responded with a lawsuit against the airport police and the TSA, charging his First Amendment rights were violated.
The terms of his settlement, reached this week, weren’t fully disclosed. But part of it involved mandated training for security officials.
The Capital Region Airport Commission said to the Wall Street Journal that “the supplemental training was provided by the Commission’s counsel and has been completed.”
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.