The 'don't touch my junk' guy: Should the TSA leave John Tyner alone?

The federal agency is threatening to levy an $11,000 fine against the man who rejected its body-scanner and pat-down techniques. Who will that hurt more, Tyner or the TSA?

Scan, Pat, or possible fine: Privacy advocates vs. the TSA
(Image credit: Getty)

John Tyner's caught-on-tape warning to the San Diego airport security agent assigned to pat him down, "If you touch my junk, I'll have you arrested," has become a rallying cry for privacy advocates and others opposed to the TSA's stringent new airline safety rules. (Watch the video below.) After Tyner, 31, refused to pass through the TSA's new full-body X-ray scanner, and rejected the pat-down alternative, he was escorted from the security area. Now the TSA says it is investigating Tyner for leaving the airport without undergoing a security check. Is the TSA pushing this too far?

Leave Tyner alone: "It's the TSA that should be investigated, not Tyner," says Jane Hamsher in The Huffington Post. What the TSA did to him is "a full-on outrage," and now the world has seen how those who reject its "porno scanners" or "sexual molestation" techniques are treated. The agency is blatantly trying to make an example of Tyner so other "refuseniks" will fall in line.

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