Thursday poll: Is the naked airport protester right?


John Brennan stands naked in a Portland, Ore. airport last month after he stripped to protest what he later described as an intrusive screening process. (Brian Reilly/Associated Press)

To protest what he believed were intrusive screenings by the Transportation Security Administration, a man in Portland, Oregon, began to take off all of his clothes.

When John Brennan reached for his underwear, a TSA screener said “Don’t!”

He did. 

Needless to say, he missed his flight.

Police arrested Brennan and charged him with indecent exposure. He is arguing that his nudity was not of a salacious kind and was therefore not illegal. He was protesting and demonstrating that he had, literally, nothing to hide.

He is seeking a trial.

No, we’re not going to ask you if you’d ever do such a thing. But we are using the story to lead into today’s poll question.

Have airport screenings become too intrusive?

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Categories: Air travel
Tim O'Brien

5 Responses

  1. David Wilkinson says:

    I guess this adds a whole new meaning to the phrase “take off.”

  2. Ann says:

    Were they patting him down, aka feeling him up or did they just ask him to remove his shoes?

    Yes, security screening is annoying and largely pointless, but taking off your shoes and walking through the metal detector (which has been around for ages)isn’t really asking much.

    The full body scans that are basically nude shots are a violation and deserve this type of response.

    Also if my dang travel size container of saline solution is sealed, why in the name of all that is logical would I have to break the seal and open it so TSA can test it? I had to do just that at Albany.

  3. Len says:

    I’m not sure I understand the reason for the ‘protest’ in light of the recent discovery of the plot to use ‘undergarment bombs’ to attack US planes. How can the public not see that the screening processes in place are making it more difficult for terrorists to attack? Isn’t it obvious from this latest plot that terrorists have not given up in their attempts to attack our mass transit systems. It may be inconvenient but if we were to do nothing and the terrorists were to succeed in taking down a couple of planes… the same public that is protesting the inconveneince of the TSA security procedures would be the first people in line to lambast TSA and the government for not doing enough to protect travelers from the terrorists.

  4. zyxw says:

    Soon, we’ll all be required to strip to a G-string to get on a plane. Maybe it will encourage more people to lose weight and work out.

  5. JIm says:

    Why is it that all the airport drama queens who decide to strip in a pathetic attempt to make a point are the doughy, flabby ones who could have done with fewer burgers in their diet?
    I have been through about a dozen airports during the past couple of years, and I have never had an issue with security.