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29 March 2024

Video: Passenger's strip-down protest at airport

Published
By AP

A college student has posted a video on the Internet in which he strips down to a Speedo bathing suit to protest security measures at Salt Lake City airport.

The video was purportedly shot Tuesday in a security line, but an airport official reported another Speedo protest was taking place Wednesday.

In the video, a Transportation Security Administration agent asks the student, "Sir, what are you doing?!"

"This is a safety precaution, man," the student replies. "Just making sure I don't have any trouble."

"Put your clothes back on!" an agent orders before the protester tries to explain that he plans to dress after exiting a metal detector.

"Put your clothes back on!" the agent repeats.

The protester refuses and tells a TSA supervisor, "I looked on the TSA website and it didn't say anything about going through in a bathing suit."

Agents then try to coax the man to at least put on a shirt.

"I will on the other side - is that cool?" he replies.

Agents finally give up and let the man remain in his briefs.

The student was identified only as Jimmy on the blog complaining of "ridiculous" screening procedures at U.S. airports. The footage was taken by a video camera filming from a security line conveyor belt.

On Wednesday, a man in a swim suit, boots and cap was walking around a terminal, airport spokeswoman Barbara Gann said.

He also spent time outside the terminal in frigid temperatures.

"He's being allowed to exercise his freedom of speech," Gann said. "That Speedo guy is definitely provocative."

The TSA saw no reason to take action.

"He's not a security threat," said TSA spokesman Dwyane Baird at the Salt Lake airport. "We would have no reason to detain him."