Jesse Ventura sues TSA for invasive pat-downs and body scans

WASHINGTON - Jesse Ventura, former Minnesota governor and professional wrestler, has filed a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security and the Transportation Security Administration, claiming full-body scans and pat-down at airports violate his right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures.

Ventura has asked a federal judge in Minnesota to issue an injunction ordering officials to stop subjecting his body to “warrantless and suspicionless” scans and searches, reports CBS News.

Janet Napolitano, Homeland Security Secretary, and John Pistole, TSA Administrator, are named as defendants in the lawsuit which argues that searches are “unwarranted and unreasonable intrusions on Governor Ventura’s personal privacy and dignity and are a justifiable cause for him to be concerned for his personal health and well-being.”

Since receiving a hip replacement in 2008, Ventura, a frequent traveler, has been subjected to numerous body scans.

However, when Ventura’s titanium implant set off a metal detector in November and was subjected to a pat-down, the 59-year-old was about ready to lay the smack down.

Ventura claims he did not mind the non-invasive hand-held wand that was used to scan his body as a secondary security measure prior to the November incident, but what he does mind is the “humiliation and degradation” he experienced as a result of the “unwanted touching, gripping, and rubbing of the intimate areas of his body.” (ANI)