TSA defends pat-down of 4-year-old at Kan. airport

So much for my kids and the generations after that, being able to grow up with freedom and liberty. Cowards have allowed our government to take our freedoms Little by little.



WICHITA, Kan.—The grandmother of a 4-year-old girl who became hysterical during a security screening at a Kansas airport said Wednesday that the child was forced to undergo a pat-down after hugging her, with security agents yelling and calling the crying girl an uncooperative suspect.

The incident has been garnering increasing media and online attention since the child's mother, Michelle Brademeyer of Montana, detailed the ordeal in a public Facebook post last week. The Transportation Security Administration is defending its agents, despite new procedures aimed at reducing pat-downs of children.


The child's grandmother, Lori Croft, told The Associated Press that Brademeyer and her daughter, Isabella, initially passed through security at the Wichita airport without incident. The girl then ran over to briefly hug Croft, who was awaiting a pat-down after tripping the alarm, and that's when TSA agents insisted the girl undergo a physical pat-down.


Isabella had just learned about "stranger danger" at school, her grandmother said, adding that the girl was afraid and unsure about what was going on.


"She started to cry, saying `No I don't want to,' and when we tried talking to her she ran," Croft said. "They yelled, `We are going to shut down the airport if you don't grab her.'"


But she said the family's main concern was the lack of understanding from TSA agents that they were dealing with a 4-year-old child, not a terror suspect.


"There was no common sense and there was no compassion," Croft said. "That was our biggest fault with the whole thing -- not that they are following security procedures, because I understand that they have to do that."


Brademeyer, of Missoula, Mont., wrote a public Facebook post last week about the April 15 incident, claiming TSA treated her daughter "no better than if she had been a terrorist." The posting was taken down Wednesday. Another post said the family had filed formal complaints with the TSA and the airport.


The TSA released a statement Tuesday saying it explained to the family why additional security procedures were necessary and that agents didn't suspect or suggest the child was carrying a firearm.


"TSA has reviewed the incident and determined that our officers followed proper screening procedures in conducting a modified pat-down on the child," the agency said.


The statement noted that the agency recently implemented modified screening procedures for children age 12 and younger to further reduce the need for pat-downs of children, such as multiple passes through a metal detector and advanced imaging technology.


"These changes in protocol will ultimately reduce -- though not eliminate -- pat-downs of children," the statement said. "In this case, however, the child had completed screening but had contact with another member of her family who had not completed the screening process."


In a phone interview from her home in Fountain Valley, Calif., Croft said Brademeyer tried to no avail to get TSA agents to use a wand on the frightened girl or allow her to walk through the metal detector again. She also said TSA agents wanted to screen her granddaughter alone in a separate room.


"She was kicking and screaming and fighting and in hysterics," Croft said. "At that point my daughter ran up to her against TSA's orders because she said `my daughter is terrified, I can't leave her.'"


The incident went on for maybe 10 minutes, until a manager came in and allowed agents to pat the girl down while she was screaming but being held by her mother. The family was then allowed to go to their next gate with a TSA agent following them.


Croft said that for the first few nights after coming home, Isabelle had nightmares and talked about kidnappers. She said TSA agents had shouted at the girl, telling her to calm down and saying the suspect is not cooperating.


"To a 4-year-old's perspective that's what it was to her because they didn't explain anything and she did not know what was going on," Croft said. "She saw people grabbing at her and raising their voices. To her, someone was trying to kidnap her or harm her in some way."

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/a...efends_pat_down_of_4_year_old_at_kan_airport/

 

so they can fondle 4 year old girls but allow drugs through for cash. Who is to say they cant be bought off by terrorist too? There is no need for TSA. Private companies can do the same job and giver us Americans the freedom to choose which airlines we want for their safety.

TSA screeners allegedly let drug couriers through LAX for cash
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-tsa-screeners-20120426,0,4508192.story

 

No one is forcing you to fly. Don't like it don't fly.

 

Yep, treat every American citizen like a potential terrorist.

Great thinking on your part.

 

If a TSA pervert can't look at a little four-year old and see that she's not packing a pistol then the idiot needs to be whacked upside her frickin' head. This country is starting to make Nazi Germany look like the home of the free.

 

You have no right to fly. I don't agree with it but I am smart enough to know no one is forcing anyone to fly. Don't like being searched don't fly.

 

The Liberal Authoritarians and Neo-Cons teamed up and screwed the rest of the nation here. Allowing the federal government to have the power to search each and every person wishing to fly on a PRIVATE airline is insane.

Some people have no respect for others, they just want power and control over their lives. The more airports that fire the TSA and put in private firms like SFO will find that they get a better quality of service with a far less intrusive attack on the citizens.

Only a person against the American citizens and for an authoritative government would view this as acceptable. A real piece of crap that really ought to move to North Korea.

 

Gotta love the statist mentality.

First of all, every citizen should be able to have the right to freedom of movement throughout our country. I mean last time I checked we still had the whole "We the people" thing going on, or atleast it use to be that way, a long time ago.

Why are you so willing to be treated like a potential criminal for simply flying from point A too point B?
Are you so willing to hand of your dignity?

 

You can go where ever you like. If you don't like being searched then you can find another way besides flying. No one is stopping you.

 

Ok, so you fail to grasp the big picture.

 

You are the one not accepting the reality of the situation. You don't have to fly. It is that simple.

 

No one searches you if you have a private plane unless you go through Customs.

 

Then I guess all the cry babies better get them a jet airplane and they won't have to worry about it. Problem solved.

 

And people don't have to be patted down. Problem solved.

But hey, don't let me keep you from your boot licking.

 

lol and when the government puts boots on the ground in your city, check points and asking for papers folks like watcherofthegates will be saying crap like, " nobody is forcing you to leave your home" if you dont like it then stay home lol

ITs called freedom pal. just because your scared and want the government to protect you doesnt mean other Americans are to. We should be able to fly without government holding our dicks.. I dont expect you to understand. but generally there are still a lot of Americans who believe in liberty and freedom and not government welfare.

 

I love how you people seem to think the private sector somehow has power over the federal government. National security is the federal governments job and interstate travel falls under that. I agree the TSA is very much gestapo like, but just because its private owned doesn't mean they are not subject to federal regulation and law....To say otherwise is plain stupid.

 

We have liberty and freedom, stop parrot extremist right wing talking points.

 

You don't have a right to walk down the street either. Should we just start searching random people for walking?

 

We just don't have it at the airport. Apparently those 'rights' we have are suspended if you decide to get from point A to point B in an airplane.

 

Thanks to folks like you we are losing our freedoms and liberties. No doubt you want to censor me that is what Nazis did to folks who spoke out against government control. Keep believing the B.S.

That good ol Commerce Clause has done wonders for those dependent on welfare. Whether its security at the airport or obamacare.
A lot of us are sick of mass ineptitude of the people when it comes to talking about freedom and liberty. You obviously have no clue. The amount of folks who are against TSA are growing and for good reason.

 

Better than treating just one portion of the American public like a potential terrorist.

 

Yet not better than not treating random as potential terrorists.

 

I'm not so sympathetic.

 

It's not the airport forcing these extremely intrusive searches, it's the gov.

Abolish the TSA.

 

The TSA groping children, NDAA, Patriot Act, and the new SOPA like bill they're trying to pass all say hello.

All supported by your boy, Barack Obama.