Flier Who Refused Scan Threatened With $10K Fine

What happens if you refuse both a full-body scan and the alternative grabby pat-down the Transportation Safety Administration demands? One libertarian blogger trying to fly through San Diego was not only barred from boarding his flight, he was threatened with a civil suit and a $10,000 fine, Gawker reports. The blogger, "Johnny Edge," says he was pulled out of line and asked to go through a backscatter X-ray machine. He refused and was told he'd therefore have to be patted down, to which he replied, "if you touch my junk, I'll have you arrested."

He was informed that the patdown did involve "running hands up the inside of my legs until they felt my groin." He offered to go through the metal detectors and stressed to TSA officials that the airport wasn't listed as one using Advanced Imaging Technology. Things got messy, with several agents, a security manager, and a supervisor arriving on the scene. After eventually being barred from the flight, getting a refund on his ticket, and leaving the secure area, he says officials tried to stop him from leaving the airport and told him he "could be sued civilly and face a $10,000 fine and that my cooperation could help mitigate the penalties I was facing." Click here for his full story, and here for another airport mess ... involving a three-year-old.
(More full body scanner stories.)