Judge Acquits Man Who Stripped Naked in Airport Protest
An Oregon judge has acquitted a Portland man who took off all his clothes at an airport security checkpoint.
The defendant, tech consultant John Brennan, testified that he stripped to protest invasive security procedures after he underwent a pat down and a test of the screener’s gloves found nitrates, report the Associated Press and the Oregonian. Brennan said he knew that would mean a long delay, since he had heard of nitrates being used in the Oklahoma City bombing.
At that point, Brennan said, he took off his clothes to show he wasn’t carrying explosives and to lodge a protest. “I also was aware of the irony of taking off my clothes to protect my privacy,” Brennan testified.
Judge David Rees ruled that Brennan wasn’t guilty of indecent exposure because the law does not apply to acts of protest, according to the Oregonian.
