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State Rep. Sharon Cissna (D-Anchorage) arrived back in Juneau Thursday morning after a days-long ordeal resulting from her decision to refuse a Transportation Security Administration pat-down at the Seattle airport.
The ferry M/V Matanuska carrying the state lawmaker pulled into Auke Bay just after 10 a.m.
About a dozen supporters, some bearing flowers and holding welcome signs, gathered on the dock to greet Cissna.
The lawmaker's trip began Sunday, when TSA officials at Sea-Tac airport 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: “I 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.
Contact Ted Land at tland@ktuu.com