TSA criticized over video showing agents searching 96-year-old woman in wheelchair

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

TSA agents are facing heavy criticism on social media after a video of a 96-year-old wheelchair-bound woman being searched by agents at Washington Dulles International Airport was seen by almost 9 million people last month.

Jeanne Clarkson told CBS News that she was furious that her mother, who is seen in the video being patted down by TSA agents in her chair and with a metal detector for metallic devices, was treated in such a manner.

"I was just shocked. I've traveled with her before, I've been in a wheelchair myself unable to walk through the machines and I've never had that kind of a pat-down ever. I was just shocked. I couldn't believe they were doing this to my 96-year-old mother," Clarkson said. "It was just shock, and frustration because they would not talk to me. I felt helpless."

Clarkson can be heard protesting in the nearly six-minute video, which was posted in mid-May, sarcastically asking if agents expected her elderly mother would try to set of a shoe bomb.

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/391491-tsa-under-fire-on-social-media-after-viral-video-shows-agents

[kimbutgar]

1. TSA made my 80 year old Mother take off her wig and put her in this machine that puffed up her

Clothes. She was so embarrassed and upset she had to take off her wig. This was around 2003.

[Arkansas Granny]

2. I'm surprised they didn't ask for a urine specimen and stool sample.

I've had a couple of pat downs going through security, but never anything like that. Absolutely ridiculous.

[JDC]

3. Happens all the time. I travel for work and see it every trip

IMO, They pick the older folks because they are easy targets to meet some sort of "doing our jobs" quota. They first make these folks throw out their TCBY yogurt cone that they bought 5 feet from the security line. TSA is a clown show.

[Drahthaardogs]

4. They did nothing wrong.

The woman filming sucks ass.

[NutmegYankee]

6. They did a lot wrong.

Some of us haven’t acquiesced to a police state yet.

[Drahthaardogs]

11. It is their job and they did a shitty job as well as they could

They were courteous to her.

[Iggo]

25. Well, they did do a shitty job.

[NutmegYankee]

31. ICE is just doing their job to yank kids from their parents and store them in cages.

But hey, "they're just doing their jobs". I guess that means we can't criticize them for their actions...

[Demsrule86]

37. I disagree ...shitty all the way around with these folks.

[Iggo]

8. I think you mean they did nothing illegal.

Everything about it is wrong.

[Drahthaardogs]

12. Don't tell me what the fuck I meant.

These people are doing their job. It's not their fault and they did it as respectfully as possible. It's not the employees fault and I resent the sentiment here. TSA did not come up with this. The woman was in wheelchair. She could not go through a metal detector. She had to screened. What else we're they supposed to do?

[fescuerescue]

15. Well they could have acted like human beings

But I suppose having a job gives them a pass.

[Drahthaardogs]

16. They did act like human beings. Did you even watch the video?

They were kind all the while the idiot behind the camera being an ass.

[fescuerescue]

17. Whats wrong with filming our government servants?

If these TSA "people" don't want to be filmed, they shouldn't work in public.

[Drahthaardogs]

18. That woman was a jerk.

They never complained

[trof]

20. Yer kind of a prickly feller, ain'tcha?

jeez

[Iggo]

24. Don't tell him what the fuck he is !!!!

[trof]

26. Roger that.

[cwydro]

42. Well played!

[dhol82]

52. Sorry, I think you are being a bully.

Evidently the agents were doing their job. Sucks to be them. They were courteous.
You would have made a statement for liberty and fucked up your job and bennies? Doubt it.

Get a grip.

[trof]

61. Congratulations. That's a first for me. Bully.

Get a grip?
How about YOU get a grip?

You read and infer a hell of a lot into one simple statement of opinion.

meh


.

[Demsrule86]

38. It is not kind to poke and prod a 96 year old woman...no doubt she now has bruises...and

I thought they were condescending.

[pnwmom]

22. No. It was ridiculously long and slow and detailed. They could have patted her down

in ten seconds on the front, moved her, and patted her back and legs in another 10.

They took five minutes laboriously groping every inch of her. It was totally uncalled for.

[Drahthaardogs]

27. When your idiot daughter says she might set off a shoe bomb

You get an extra thorogh pat down.

[pnwmom]

28. That happened minutes into the groping session. And they shouldn't be punishing

the 96 year old for something anyone else said.

[Drahthaardogs]

36. It happened at the beginning and it was stupid shit

To do.

How often do you fly? I fly at least three times a month. I'm okay with this.

[Demsrule86]

39. Yes we must be in fear and awe of these folks who are pretty much idiots in many cases.

I am sorry...I don't believe what they do keeps anyone safe and I want them gone or severely restricted.

[LanternWaste]

69. It does seem that part of the human condition

"I'm okay with this..."

It does seem that part of the human condition is to lay down, show our bellies and pretend we're being the best we can be.

[Drahthaardogs]

70. Oh please. I am a grandson of Ludlow

My family was brought over by Rockefeller and inendutred in the coal mines. I have seen real union struggles and the threat of bloodshed. Around here everyone thinks putting on a silly hat and marching puts fear into the opposition. Newsflash. They laugh at us. A Russian operative took over our government. Are we rioting in the streets? Of course not. We are weak and placid. Can you imagine what the GOP would have done were the shoe on the other foot? Civil disobedience would be the law of the land.

Just because I think it's stupid to sit here and shake our fist at some poor blue collar schmuck doing his job does NOT make me a pacifist.

Really, pennywise and pound stupid seems to describe us.

[LanternWaste]

71. Kinda like the allegation that De Las Casas lied

Fast and loose with the pretense again. Kinda like the allegation that De Las Casas lied because the historical record doesn't support a particular bias.

No penny-wisdom there at all...

[dflprincess]

57. "Only following orders"

Is not an excuse or a defense.

[Drahthaardogs]

58. Oh please, spare me the self righteous bullshit.

This was a standard search. They were polite and gentle. Quit acting like there was a cavity search. The Pearl clutching around here is ridiculous.

[dflprincess]

62. No, the TSA and Security Theater we have put up with for the last nearly 17 years

is ridiculous.

[LanternWaste]

68. ("Befehl ist Befehl"

"I was given a bad order. I had no choice. I had to it!"

~Anton Dostler~

[pnwmom]

21. Yes, they did. They failed to exercise simple common sense. I'm an able bodied person

and I've had patdowns in the airport, and they have never, ever, been this intrusive.

The woman filming did the public a service.

[Ms. Toad]

30. You must have had them a while age

Or only ( until recently) because you set off the metal detector. (They have recently started doing the more invasive searches for anyone who doesn't go through absolutely clean.). The ones imposed on people who opt out of (or can't use) the virtual strip search machine are much more invasive.

This is a relatively short version, at a little over 2 minutes. Mine are usually z bit longer, because I have breasts -and the explanation of their process seemed a bit shorter than I usually get. TSA Detains Young Boy for Invasive Pat Down || Vi…:

[pnwmom]

32. No, I've had them because I failed the virtual machine.

They didn't like the way the pictures came out.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

5. Jeanne Clarkson is lucky she wasn't arrested and interrogated for hours.

Never, ever, crack a joke about "shoe bombs" or any other explosives when you're at the security checkpoint. Of course, the First Amendment gives you the right, but just think first.

"You’ve got to remember that these TSA agents are just simple farmers. These are people of the land. The common clay of the new West. You know… morons."

[treestar]

65. Yeas ago I saw a sign

In the Philadephia airport specifically telling you not to joke about terrorism.

[elias7]

7. Agents were gentle, polite, and oddly redundant

Searched her arms, then her legs, then her arms, then her legs...

[LuckyCharms]

9. If they ever do that to me, I'll just mockingly moan

in pleasure for that 5 minute exam. If they tell me to stop, I'll tell them "I can't help it".

Looks like TSA's procedures may need to be revised a wee bit.

[phylny]

14. "I'll have what she's having." n/t

[Petosky Stone]

10. Disband the TSA.

A most bloated, un-American agency.

[Demsrule86]

40. I agree.

[treestar]

66. Noun verb 911

Then what if something happens ?

[MyNameIsKhan]

13. I get SSSS on my boarding pass many times and I am a US Citizen

Once you get SSSS, your life at airport security is totally screwed, and they treat you as if you have shoe, laptop bomb and have been working with explosives entire life time. They open every shirt pant undergarments and test for explosives, then I get enhanced pat down which is almost equal to molestation, metal detectors, full body scan. I started carrying my US passport now to hand over to TSA some of them are apologetic and tell me sorry.

[Ms. Toad]

19. That's a standard search for anyone who opts out of the virtual strip search machine

It is what I go through every time I fly, and they force me into the virtual strip search machine - rather than the metal detectors.

It took a bit longer - and seemed redundant beause there were areas that are challenging to pat down while someone is in a wheelchair.

They must run their hands inside the waistband of pants (both front and back), all the way up each leg and bang against the crotch, the buttocks, and between and under the breasts.

I'm not supporting the overreaction to terrrorism that created these procedures - but what happened here is standard procedure for anyone who cannot go through the metal detector or who is directed to go through the virtual strip search machine and opts out.

[pnwmom]

23. I've had to have pat downs and never had one that took more than 30 seconds.

Spending 5 minutes on this woman made no sense.

[Ms. Toad]

29. 2-3 minutes is pretty standard.

I've had perhaps 30.

Being in a wheelchair would make it longer, because the wheelchair needs to be searched, well as the additional time it takes to reach and search body parts that are normally easily accessible, but are in contact with the wheelchair.

[pnwmom]

33. But you can SEE that they're taking much longer than they need to,

in every step of the procedure. It takes only seconds to run a couple hands across someone's body and figure out that there's no gun hiding in there. But this woman gets groped, and groped, and groped.

They rubbed her hair, though no weapon could have been hiding there. They rubbed her arms down 2 separate times -- even though she was clearly wearing a shirt that showed nothing could be hiding in her sleeves. They rubbed her legs down 2 separate times. They rubbed across her stomach, in the same area, over and over and over.

It didn't look like a patdown. More like a massage in a massage parlor, except in a wheel chair.

This was abusive and there was no excuse for it.

[Ms. Toad]

34. It looks pretty standard to me.

I edited the post above to include a video of a standing search. It doesn't quite include everything, and is over 2 minutes long. Doubling the time to add a search of the wheelchair - and to be able to reach her back, bottom, back of her legs, and crotch while seated is about what it would take.

[pnwmom]

35. This was over 5 minutes long and it featured 2 separate rubbings of each of her limbs.

I don't think you could have watched the whole dreadful thing. The time wasn't doubled because she was in the chair. It was doubled because they were so SLOW everywhere, and groped instead of patted, and rubbed out both her arms and legs two separate times.

Any gun could have been detected in ten seconds of patting on her front. Ten on her back to her waist, ten getting her to lean forward, and ten on her legs.

Here is a breast cancer patient talking about the inappropriate patdown she was given, even though she told them she was a breast cancer patient with a port. After her experience, LAX had to retrain their staff in how to screen.

[Ms. Toad]

41. They are not just looking for guns

And the "groping" you describe is standard for the more invasive pat-downs they have been universally for more than a year. (They have been doing then for opt out passenters since 2010). Two hands at a time down each arm and leg, careful searching, front and back on each leg an arm (i.e. twice), putting their hand clear up into the crotch, careful inspection around the shoulder, neck, and hairline, including putting a hand inside the collar. They "grope" me in that way every single time - through multiple airports. Since they have started doing the more invasive pat-downs 8 years ago, I have had one person who just did a 10-second swipe. I recall it because it was so strikingly different from their standard invasive pat down.

Once, I accidentally had something very small in a pocket - a credit card, single key, a receit - I don't remember exactly - but it was of that nature - in a pocket where they are required to swipe with the back of their hands. They are looking for things that small, and find them, so they can't just do a 10-second swipe and find all they are looking for (i.e. they are looking for things much smaller than a gun).

They implemented that procedure across the board for anyone who sets off alarms last spring (in addition to doing that search for opt out passengers). If it doesn't look very familiar to you, you haven't had the (now standard) invasive screening.

I'm not arguing that this is good, or that they should - only that what I see in that video looks to me like what I've experienced as an opt-out passenger for several years - adapted for someone elderly (slower ot avoid jerking fragile joints) and in a wheelchair (meaning both the wheelchair and the person need to be searched, and the contact area between the person and the chair has to be searched).

[pnwmom]

45. Okay, I've read the new standards -- and they say back of the hand should still be used

in sensitive areas UNLESS other tests have indicated dangerous conditions. What other dangerous conditions did they see in this woman?

And they DON'T say you should go over each arm and leg on two separate times.

And EVEN IF somehow these gropings have become standard now, why SHOULDN'T we be objecting? Why are they training all of us to accept this abuse?

[Ms. Toad]

46. They did - watch the tape again.

The sensitive araeas are under the breast, between the breasts, down the buttocks, and the crotch. The crotch is done as part of the leg sweep, so they bump up against it with the leading edge of their hand as it is sweeping up.

As to this particular woman, when they went between/under her breasts they used the side/back of their hands, not their open palms on her breast (or the area between/immediately under). When they went into her crotch it, again, it wasn't the palm of their hands - it was the leading edge of their hands hile their palms were on her legs (although her position/their position make it harder to ensure it is just the side of the fingers, rather than the tips. There is also a challenge with her bottom, because she can't stand in order for them to run the backs of their hands across her bottom. When there are challenges, they have to adapt (just as they do for dangerous situations).

I didn't say we shouldn't be ojecting - what I'm saying is that the outrage in this thread was focused on how out-of-line these particular agents were behaving toward this person, which misses the big picture, which is that they were only following protocol. Unfortunately, this is the standard procedure for anyone who refuses the virtual strip strip search, can't go through it, or sets off an alarm while going through the metal detectors.

So the protest/outrage should be focused on the decision to make this a general search, rather than one done for special circumstance - not on abberrant behavior by these agents (because it wasn't abberrant).

[pnwmom]

47. You've never addressed the point that they went over both her arms and legs twice. n/t

[Ms. Toad]

48. They generally go over mine twice.

Once from the front, and once from the back. (Which I'm pretty sure I did address in another post)

[pnwmom]

49. No, that's not what I'm talking about. They did everything, front and back, twice.

In between they did other things. Then they went back and did fronts and backs of arms and legs AGAIN.

[Ms. Toad]

50. I believe that's the second pass for the wheelchair

and the area between her body and the wheelchair, because they didn't do that on the first pass.

[pnwmom]

54. Watch it again. I'm talking about her arms and legs, front and back, not the wheelchair.

They did the wheelchair searches also.

[Tipperary]

44. That is awful. Really awful.

[cwydro]

43. These TSA asshats would be working at Burger King otherwise.

They get a uniform and think they’re important.

[MadDAsHell]

51. I'm not sure what we expect. We're paranoid about discrimination, so refuse to allow discretion.

If that’s the way we want it, that’s fine. But then we can’t complain when the 96-year-old woman in the wheelchair gets the same search as everyone else.

We’re forcing the TSA to be about as
inefficient as possible, but that’s the choice we’ve made when not offending is prioritized over efficient, effective screening. What’s ironic is the people screaming the loudest anytime an older woman gets searched, would be screaming just as loud if TSA was allowed the discretion to base searches on what 99% of potential threats have in common: males who are under the age of 50.

But God forbid we offend men.

[dhol82]

53. I am a 72 year old grandmother.

I look as benign as it can possibly get. I have white hair
Every fucking time I travel out of JFK, I get stopped and examined.
I must meet the criteria for terrorist.
Whatever, I just put up my arms and deal with the situation.

Not sure what the daughter’s problem was.

[pnwmom]

55. The daughter could see how upset her 96 year old mother was.

It was written all over her face, and her trembling lips.

[dhol82]

59. Sorry, life in today's world.

Not to be snarky but this is what it is.
Not happy about it but have learned to deal with it.

[pnwmom]

60. You're not 96. n/t

[dflprincess]

63. I have a blond haired blue eyed friend who get pulled out for extra searching

more often than the laws of probability say she should.

She assumes it's happening to prove they are not profiling who they search.

[Algernon Moncrieff]

56. I was recently in a wheelchair due to a knee injury and searched by the TSA

At National, not Dulles.

Actually, it was fun, as an older trainer (who had enlisted my cooperation) bossed around a young trainee and gave him Hell when he made mistakes or failed to tell me what he was doing. I didn't mind being searched and I didn't mind being a guinea pig. The trainer told me something that could be one reason they might have been zealous (even with a 90+ year old); in tests done earlier in the year, TSA agents were failed when mock explosives were brought through under the seats and footrests of wheelchairs, and went undetected.

They have a thankless job and they did it. My knee is better, and I walk with a cane currently. I just went to Europe. I'd say the equivalent of TSA in Iceland and Denmark works better than ours, but has a lot of similarities. My 15 year old daughter was selected for random searching. I have to go through a full search due to my brace and the wire in my knee.

Truth be told, customs and immigration coming back into O'Hare was far more of a pain in the ass than TSA has ever been to me.

[dflprincess]

64. The last couple times I've flown

they've pulled me aside after I go through the "raise your hands above your head" machine and wanded my lower left arm and only that area.

I have a plate and screws in my right wrist. Go figure.

[Lee-Lee]

67. The TSA is in a catch-22 and will get criticized no matter what course they take

Everyone says “use common sense and don’t search a wheelchair bound grandmother”.

But what does that look like.

The TSA, if they used the so-called “common sense” model, would have to pick and choose who they search based on whatever is being called “common sense” or lower the invasiveness of searches based on “common sense”.

So who determines what “common sense” is? Because if you are choosing or not choosing people based on appearance, age, gender, disability status guess what you are doing.... it’s called profiling.

And then how do you ensure this “common sense” profiling is fair and is never discriminatory or has a disparate impact on any group?

No matter how they tried, someone would claim their selections are discriminatory.

On top of they if they profile and never search older people guess who the terrorists would start using to carry bombs or weapons? Yep, old people.

So instead they have a policy that everyone, regardless of age or other status, gets searched the same. And more intense searches are done at random and not by profiling. That way they can’t be accused of any discriminatory acts or policies, it’s equally crappy for everyone.

But that also gets people mad.

Realistically no matter what approach they take it would make people mad.