Woman made to remove bra that triggered courthouse metal detector

Associated Press

COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho — Security guards refused to allow a woman into a federal courthouse until she removed a bra that triggered a metal detector. Lori Plato said she and her husband, Owen Plato, were stunned when U.S. Marshals Service employees asked her to remove her bra after the underwire supports set off the alarm.

"I asked if I could go into the bathroom because they didn't have a privacy screen and no women security officers were available," Plato said Wednesday. "They said, 'No.'

"I wasn't carrying a shank in my bra. If it's so dangerous, why did they give it back and let me put it on?"

Patrick McDonald, the U.S. Marshal in Boise, said appropriate security protocols were followed in the Sept. 20 matter, and guards suggested she simply remove the bra in her car outside, or find a restaurant bathroom.

"She's inflating it," McDonald said. "All of a sudden she just took it off. It wasn't anything we wanted to happen and it wasn't anything we asked for her to do. She did it so fast."

Plato, of Bonners Ferry, said she was parked on a busy street and wasn't familiar with downtown Coeur d'Alene businesses. So her husband held up his coat to shield her from the rest of the people in the courthouse lobby while she removed her bra underneath her shirt.

Generally, McDonald said, undergarments aren't considered a danger to security.

"I don't think they're considered a weapon, really, the last time I looked," he said.

He declined to discuss other ways the federal courthouse guards could have screened Plato for weapons.

Plato wants the Marshals Service to apologize and stop forcing women to disrobe.

"It was very humiliating," her husband, Owen Plato, said. "They could have handled it with a much more professional attitude."

I've had this happen in an airport when I was younger. It was pre- 9/11 and the security person figured out what it was and let me go. I wore non-wired bras when I flew for quite a while after that.

i don't think this woman would just strip her bra off but then again who knows.

That's odd, usually they just wave the wand over your bra area to confirm it's the underwire.

and most underwire bras won't set off a detector, mine never have and i've flown alot and been into courthouses several times for school related things

I've had the little eyehooks in the back set off the detector, but I think the detector has to be really sensitive to detect metal in that small of an amount.

I think it all depends on the detector and sensitivity. Also, depending on your bra size and the thickness of the wire. I have some that are thicker (width wise) and that is the one that set it off when I went through security at the airport. God, that was so long ago now that I think about it, but I'll never forget it.

That is just Bull Shit! That's why they have Hand Wands!!!

I'm such a goof. I guess I'd take it off and let them do there thing. Than shake em and smile and put it back on. LOL.

I'm such a goof. I guess I'd take it off and let them do there thing. Than shake em and smile and put it back on. LOL.
:rofl

I would have pulled my arms out of my shirt (leaving my shirt on) and took the bra off, then and there... if it embarassed the security guys, so be it! I agee, a 'shake' would have been in order! :giggle

I'm such a goof. I guess I'd take it off and let them do there thing. Than shake em and smile and put it back on. LOL.

:rofl I love you!

:rofl

I would have pulled my arms out of my shirt (leaving my shirt on) and took the bra off, then and there... if it embarassed the security guys, so be it! I agee, a 'shake' would have been in order! :giggle

OMG, yes. But its still wrong of them (the security people). There are much more... tactful ways to handle that situation.

LMAO, I can't believe this is even a big deal. Just take off the stupid bra and let them look it over. And how does she not know how to take off her bra under her shirt without flashing people? I can do it in like 2 seconds and barely move my shirt and BAM produce a bra from my sleeve.

LMAO, I can't believe this is even a big deal. Just take off the stupid bra and let them look it over. And how does she not know how to take off her bra under her shirt without flashing people? I can do it in like 2 seconds and barely move my shirt and BAM produce a bra from my sleeve.

I completely agree. If they were feeling her up, it would be a different story. All they asked her to do was remove it(and offered to let her go outside).

They DID ask her to remove it, by finding a restaurant restroom or in her car. Then she would of had to walk around braless from where ever she went back to the courthouse have them check her bra then go put it back on. I would of done the same thing because I can not walk around without my bra on my tatas are to big and I would feel embarrassed even more then just taking it off in front of them. (Which I can do with out removing any clothing.) That is what the hand wands are for anyway to check that stuff. I can't wear a bra with out underwire I need support.

LMAO, I can't believe this is even a big deal. Just take off the stupid bra and let them look it over. And how does she not know how to take off her bra under her shirt without flashing people? I can do it in like 2 seconds and barely move my shirt and BAM produce a bra from my sleeve.
Well, most of us can probably get our bra off pretty easily - but she shouldn't have had to. The guards went TOO far.

Hey, this is the world we live in now. Searching suitcases, pat downs in the airport, illegal wire taps, patriot act. We all better get used to it. Americans can't cry out for more security and then get mad when they are asked to remove their bras in the name of security. :lmao

Hey, this is the world we live in now. Searching suitcases, pat downs in the airport, illegal wire taps, patriot act. We all better get used to it. Americans can't cry out for more security and then get mad when they are asked to remove their bras in the name of security. :lmao

So true it's the whole be carefulwhat you wish for schtick.

So true it's the whole be carefulwhat you wish for schtick.

Exactly.

My bra set off the detector at BWI whereas my friend decided to yell, "Jen's boobies are making the alarm go off!"

I had that happen back in '89. I was in Frankfurt flying back with my class and my bra and sneaker eyelets went off. I looked at the guard and said, in German, "These are real(ta-ta's), but if you want to be sure we can check" he turned red and let me pass LOL This was after the PanAm bombing in Scotland so security was really high.

that sucks that she had to that but :lmao at everybody's responses. dang that metal detector must have been really sensitive because i've been wearing underwire bras since 5th grade, and i've never set off a metal detector with them. now when i fly home i'm gonna be all paranoid!!! :lol