State Rep. Sharon Cissna (D-Anchorage) arrived back in Juneau Thursday morning after a days-long ordeal resulting from her decision to refuse a TSA pat-down at the Seattle-Tacoma Airport.
The ferry M/V Matanuska carrying the state lawmaker pulled into Auke Bay just after 10 a.m.
"I've got to tell you, I've never had such a hard time getting here!" said a jubilant Cissna as she left the vessel.
A dozen or so supporters, some bearing flowers and holding welcome signs, gathered on the dock to greet her.
"She supports us and we support her," said David Morris, a Juneau resident who works for the Alaska Marine Highway System.
The lawmaker's trip began Sunday, when TSA officials at Sea-Tac told her she’d have to undergo a pat-down after they spotted something unusual in a full body scan. Cissna, a breast cancer survivor, said she was targeted because of irregularities in her chest, the result of a mastectomy.
She denied further scrutiny, saying in a later statement: “It would require invasive, probing hands of a stranger over my body. Memories of violation would consume my thoughts again.”
Cissna chose to leave the airport and instead took a small plane to Prince Rupert, B.C., where she boarded the ferry. The voyage took roughly four days.
She said Thursday she plans to draft a resolution addressing the issue of travelers being "accidentally being abused by government."
