Simsbury man punches TSA agent. Boiling point? Hot Air Howard Portnoy at 10AM

Sooner or later it had to happen but Simsbury? I could see the push back happening. We’ve been blogging on it for two weeks. But I never expected the push back would actually be a … ummm … push back?

The man in question is 51 year old John Christina, a man who has some serious medical issues. Police arrested him yesterday after allegedly punching a TSA agent in the chest. Apparently the confrontation took place after he went through the scanner at Indianapolis Airport and began a conversation with the TSA agent. From the Indianapolis police report.

“HUTMAN STATED AFTER CHRISTINA WENT THROUGH THE AIT THEY WERE TALKING ABOUT MEDICAL ISSUES AND CHRISTINA ASKED HIM A QUESTION. SINCE HUTMAN NORMALLY WORKS IN DAYTON, OHIO, HE STATED HE WAS NOT FROM THIS AIRPORT AND HE WAS NOT FAMILIAR WITH THE PROCESS IN WHICH YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT. AFTER THE CONVERSATION, CHRISTINA “PUNCHED” HIM WITH HIS RIGHT CLOSED FIST IN THE MIDDLE OF HIS CHEST. ACCORDING TO HUTMAN’S WRITTEN STATEMENT AFTER HE GOT PUNCHED IN THE CHEST HE ASKED CHRISTINA “WHY DID YOU HAVE TO HIT ME” AND CHRISTINA REPLIED “I WAS ONLY KIDDING WITH YOU.” THIS WAS WITNESSED AND CONFIRMED BY ANOTHER TSA/TSO NAAMAN DAVIS AND US AIRWAY PASSENGER ALSO GOING THROUGH TSA SECURITY, JOSEPH HALLETT. ALL OF THE WITNESSES PROVIDED WRITTEN STATEMENTS.

I have no idea what was said that touched this off and I am not even going to speculate. He didn’t go through a pat down … but he was screened. I will try to update this.

As for those screen machines, Howard Portnoy, from Hot Air, will be joining us this morning at 10 AM. He put together a great report on the safety of these machines themselves. Apparently the machines radiate well beyond the machine itself.

The agency does not specify whether millimeter wave technology was evaluated or by whom, which seems vaguely unsettling if not suspicious. Nevertheless, the TSA’s bottom line findings are “that the energy projected by millimeter wave technology is thousands of times less than a cell phone transmission” and that “a single scan using backscatter technology produces exposure equivalent to two minutes of flying on an airplane.” (Flying on an airplane produces exposure to radiation? Does anyone else find this less than comforting?)

As to the sources of these claims, note that only one—the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL)—is an independent, non-government agency. (Forgive my cynicism, but the FDA doesn’t have an exactly sterling track record in its capacity as consumer watchdog.) The APL’s report, which is available here, does seem to offer some assurance about the safety of the Rapiscan Secure 1000 backscatter scanner. But it is also contains this caveat:

And that caveat?

In short, whether you receive dangerous levels of radiation depends on who set up the particular AIT scanner being used and whether he followed the manufacturer’s recommendations.

And the beat goes on … so to speak.

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Jim Vicevich

Jim is a veteran broadcaster and conservative/libertarian blogger with more than 25 years experience in TV and radio. Jim's was the long-term host of The Jim Vicevich Show on WTIC 1080 in Hartford from 2004 through 2019. Prior to radio, Jim worked as a business and financial reporter for NBC30 - the NBC owned TV station in Hartford - and as business editor at WFSB-TV in Hartford for 14 years while earning six Emmy nominations and three Telly Awards.

12 Comments

  1. winnie888 on November 18, 2010 at 3:52 am

    Our government says those AIT scanners are safe and yet is sanctioning sexual assault in our airports should we refuse to be scanned. Illegals walk across our borders every day, yet Americans flying within the borders of their own country are being treated like criminals. Is this the U.S.A. or an Eastern Bloc country?



  2. Dimsdale on November 18, 2010 at 5:20 am

    Hmmm.  We are now grossly violating the privacy and presumption of the general public in order to avoid profiling, i.e. violating the privacy and presumption of innocence of a small subgroup of Americans directly associated with and to some degree supportive of the terrorist cause.

     

    Well, the Times Square bomber used a vehicle.  Should we expect that we will now have our papers checked at random intersections and rest stops on the highway?  That is the natural extrapolation of the reasons given for the full body ogling, I mean, scanning procedures.

     

    Remember how the lefties screamed about the PATRIOT act (the bulk of which Øbama has left in place without a peep from these same people)?

     

    Radiation?  Remember the big brouhaha about EMF from computer monitors?  How about cell phones?  How does the radiation exposure of the full body scanners compare to a nuclear power plant?



  3. weregettinghosed on November 18, 2010 at 5:44 am

    Ah, the government, believing in those the govern [at this point] would be to believe pink flying elephants, and for that there is a medication and a really nice place to live out your days, For realists such statements from the government is just a group of words put together to sound good but taken from where they come, there are totally the opposite. I say, we give them some of that medication, take them to the nice hospital on the hill where pink elephants fly regularly and see if liberal government officials feel any better. Meanwhile we will put some truth back into our government, get rid of the TSA and every other nonsensical idea, bring back the strength in our military, profile, and tighten up our boarders… , that is the reality of it.



  4. RoBrDona on November 18, 2010 at 7:23 am

    Socialists ADORE enforcing police states. It fits in 100% with their strategy of controlling all facets of production and consumption. The more confusion and angst the better, as it allows them to "fix" the problem and reinforce the big brother umbrella, which, if left unchecked, will destroy America.



  5. NH-Jim on November 18, 2010 at 7:31 am

    Are these machines used at the Mexican border crossings? ANYone can cross the southern border with anything on him. Yet, our brilliant leader and his administration are more concerned with a 3 year-old girl, a nun, an octogenarian , and pilots, themselves. The idiots are running the asylum. Come on, lefties, who railed against the Patriot Act, where are you? The din of the crickets is overwhelming!



  6. porschepete on November 18, 2010 at 1:34 pm

    I just would not want to be aTSA worker standing next this machine for 8 hours a day. Just because the government says it's safe you have to remember this is same government that drops bombs on people. How safe is that?



  7. Gary J on November 18, 2010 at 3:46 pm

    Winnie are you saying criminal activity is being sanctioned in the good ole USA? Shame on you. I think PBO had his life threatened and has to let them in the TSA is just secondary to take our minds off the borders.



  8. bullticky on November 19, 2010 at 6:57 am

    Easy solution!!  Have two planes going to the same destination, on one plane have all the passengers that have no problem with the scanners and on the other plane, have all the passengers who refuse to get scanned.  Quite simple!!



  9. sammy22 on November 19, 2010 at 10:04 am

    I have a different/better idea: don't fly, get in the car and drive. Perhaps then, the lines will be shorter for those like me who don't mind going thru the scanner.



  10. JollyRoger on November 19, 2010 at 2:32 pm

    I can understand Christina's frustration- spending so much money, hours patiently waiting his turn- such an intimate pat down ought to include a happy ending!  The last thing a man wants to hear from his TSA agent is, "Let's just be friends!"



  11. sammy22 on November 19, 2010 at 3:24 pm

    Who came up w/ the idea of the TSA in order to keep us safe from terrorist attacks?



  12. TomL on November 19, 2010 at 3:26 pm

    What i don't like is the violation of my 4th Amendment rights, especially since there is another way to take care of the problem.



John Christina TSA airport

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