Family Misses Flight After TSA Gives Pat-Down To Girl With Cerebral Palsy

[rayofreason]

Source: CBSnews

WASHINGTON (CBSDC) – The Transportation Security Administration is once again the subject of national scrutiny, this time after aggressively screening a 7-year-old female passenger with cerebral palsy which caused her family to miss their flight.

The girl, identified as Dina Frank in a report by The Daily, was waiting with her family on Monday to board a flight departing from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York headed to Florida.

Since Dina walks with the aid of leg braces and crutches, she cannot pass through airport metal detectors, and must instead submit to a pat-down by TSA agents.

Read more: http://washington.cbslocal.com/2012/04/25/family-misses-flight-after-tsa-gives-pat-down-to-girl-with-cerebral-palsy/

---

Tar and feathers seem appropriate.

[KamaAina]

1. Don't they have those full-body Rape-a-scan thingies at JFK?!

[PatrynXX]

5. I'd prefer those

Pat downs make one feel raped.. if you get a hard on about my fat ass fine.. But Israel tends to just laugh at us at these dumb things


UBL is probably getting awards in hell

[waddirum]

21. I don't trust that the Rapiscan x-ray backscatter is safe

Nor do I trust TSA officials to understand radiation health physics or know how to calibrate the machinery.

[KansDem]

78. You are wise not to...

I worked in a hospital x-ray department for a few years. The techs were always warning us to avoid this kind of radiation: radiation absorbed by the tissues of the body. When you hear someone talk about "no more radiation than a routine chest x-ray" as the amount supposedly used during a procedure, remember that for chest x-rays, as well as for broken bones, the radiation passes through the body to expose the film. The kind of x-rays used by the TSA is absorbed by the body and the tissues.

TSA radiation is much more damaging to the human body.

Google "TSA" and "cancer" and see the many reports...

[waddirum]

81. Thanks

I'm actually waiting for a flight to Stockholm right now. Twice today I've opted out of the Rapiscan machines, in favor of a patdown.

[LisaL]

9. She would have to be able to stand with her hands up in the air to go through one of those.

Then, because of her leg braces, the scan will identify the anomaly. And she would still have to be patted down.

[Gormy Cuss]

43. Exactly. n/t

[Kablooie]

18. They'd be arrested for child porn if they used it on her.

[nolabear]

2. As the cartoon said, the terrorists have indeed won.

[joeglow3]

3. What is the right answer?

Do we do away with all airport screening? It has been stated that if this is not done randomly, we run the risk of profiling. Of course, if we do it randomly, we end up with children, elderly, handicapped, etc. having just as much of a chance of being screened as anyone else.

[schmice]

4. They need to use their common sense but at $8.00 an hour..... n/t

[Meiko]

6. They make

a tad bit more than that I'm afraid.

[SteveG]

11. $22, 000 ain't so much, you get what you pay for.

They start at $11 per hour or a little over $22 thousand a year.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

17. $8 an hour is no excuse. Who hired them? Who in authority will not hold them accountable?

Would Harry Truman have put up with this bullshit?

Not a chance.

No one, not a single person in the chain of authority, is accountable.

[jonthebru]

8. Random should include skipping over someone to pick another

These stories only enforce the general attitude average law abiding citizens have that the TSA are a bunch of foolish thugs. But indeed they aren't; the higher ups have to get smart and put someone on the line who can be the one who says to let this person go, check another. or maybe go lightly obviously a child isn't a threat.
But no, they double down when issues like this surface in the media.

[ZombieHorde]

10. We can just do what we did before 9/11.

What we are doing now would not have prevented those attacks.

[Bette Noir]

13. Scanning this girl wasn't random.

She was selected for extra screening specifically because of her leg braces. My husband and I always get extra screening because we used to wear leg braces (we've had corrective surgery since), which is the largest part of why we don't fly any more.

[MADem]

24. I have travelled with people who need wheelchairs and they give them the twice-over, too.

They go to town inspecting canes, examining the chair, looking at orthotics, etc.

Real pain in the ass, trying to round up my shoes and help others with theirs as well. Very discombobulating.

I always leave extra time at the airport!

[1monster]

26. It's gotten way out of hand. Just to go into the court house, I have to go through

a metal detector AND be wanded even if I don't set anything off. That's for any reason that is court controlled, for example paying child support or paying a traffic ticket.

I guess we're lucky we don't have to do that to pay our property taxes. . . yet.

[Auntie Bush]

64. Don't hold your breath...that's probably next.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

69. Please don't give them any ideas.

[crunch60]

7. TSA screeners allegedly let drug-filled luggage through LAX for cash

Eric Holder needs to get his priorities straight and watch his TSA agents instead of all those medical marijuana users. Old people wearing diapers, people with handicaps aren't the big threat here. If the TSA let drugs through, what else would they let through for cash.

snip:

Four current and former Transportation Security Administration screeners have been arrested and face charges of taking bribes and looking the other way while suitcases filled with cocaine, methamphetamine or marijuana passed through X-ray machines at Los Angeles International Airport, federal authorities announced Wednesday.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/04/tsa-screeners-drug-arrest.html

[HotRodTuna]

28. That story sure landed with a whimper

The more power we give to minimum wage thugs and the less we give to the citizenry the less safe we become.

Has anyone ever seen a Muslim TSA agent? I sure haven't.

[PavePusher]

32. What does a "Muslim TSA agent" look like?

I figure, just like everyone else.

Or is there a profile?

Seriously?!

[HotRodTuna]

35. That's my point

The TSA tries to convince us that's it's doing some great job of keeping us safe with this "wide net" bs by assuming everyone's guilty and not doing any profiling. In the meantime, I've flow a lot and have never seen someone that "looks" Muslim. And come on, don't be obtuse, if you don't know what I'm talking about then let me spell it out for you. Women in headscarves, middle eastern looking men with beards.

This tells me that on the back end, the TSA is doing plenty of profiling. The fact that one of my co-workers, a supervisor at a major oil company, who's muslim and from Yemen, gets an extra screening every time he flies, tells me that as well.

I knew that comment would get the standard knee-jerk opposition, maybe you can actually consider the question first. Just a thought. Or you could just throw out the "profiling" comment and shut down the question without having to think about it.

[PavePusher]

38. I was admitedly rather pre-caffeination satire-impaired this morning....

but with this: "Women in headscarves, middle eastern looking men with beards." you will miss, based on my travels around the world, something on the order of 80-90% of followers of Islam. Ummm, blatent stereotyping, much? Or is this more satire?

It also completely ignores the fact that any terrorist would be well-advised to actually try to NOT stick out as you have described.

[hedgehog]

39. Not all Moslem women wear head scarves, but it seems

Last edited Thu Apr 26, 2012, 12:20 PM - Edit history (1)

to me I have seen officers in head scarves at JFK. It's been a matter of a little pride to me to see Customs officers who appear to be immigrants, as well.

(Changed Now to not - can't type worth a darn sometimes!)

[HotRodTuna]

40. It would make me feel much better about the TSA if that was the case

as it would indicate that perhaps they actually know what they're doing. Which I have grave doubts about.

[avaistheone1]

70. Behavioral profile is fine.

Racial profiling is not.

[earthside]

12. The Secret Service is now in Dept. of Homeland Security ...

One of the biggest mistakes of the Bush/Cheney reign was the creation of the Department of Homeland Security.

When is this TSA insanity and tyranny going to end?
When is the questionable management evidenced in the Secret Service Scandal going to be understood and corrected?
Are we really going to get Homeland Security drones spying on all of us from above?

Here is one cabinet department that Pres. Obama could promise to eliminate. We'd be better off going back to the organization for "homeland" security before Bush and Lieberman came up with this terrible idea.

Of course, the Dept. of Homeland Security is part of the military-industrial complex and there are too many corporations and lobbyist making money now for it ever to be eliminated.

Still, I'm quite disappointed that Napolitano and Pres. Obama have not made any effort to rein-in the abuses and stupidity of TSA.

[HotRodTuna]

29. As far as I can tell all they've done is finally allow us to take some water on board

Whoopee. Nobody wants to spend any politcal capital on this; they'd rather just have us all suffer.

I'd say that's because they don't have to deal with it but a congressman here in Texas just got felt up by the TSE so I guess everyone gets to feel the pain.

[dkf]

14. Sounds like it was simply too much for the girl and she freaked out.

"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."

http://washington.cbslocal.com/2012/04/25/tsa-defends-pat-down-of-4-year-old-girl-at-kansas-airport/

The whole thing is unpleasant for everyone, but I'm not sure a lowly TSA agent has discretion to do what they want. In this day people may not feel like exposing themselves to the risk of deviating from procedures.

[HotRodTuna]

31. Then that just proves they're lead-brained idiots that have no business screening us.

The total lack of judgement and presumption of guilt of every American by the TSA makes my blood boil.

I really can't imagine having that thankless job, particlarly since the number of terrorist plots uncovered by the TSE stands, as of this morning at....let me check my numbers...carry the zero....ZERO. Total waste of resources.

Every one of these guys probably wakes up hoping they're going to find a pocket knife they can confiscate, since they know they won't be finding a terrorist. That doesn't stop some of them from treating us like one though.

Most TSA agents have been pretty cool, but since I'll be travelling this summer with two toddlers and an infant, I'm already getting nervous. One bad seed can ruin your trip.

[LibDemAlways]

15. A young child with leg braces and crutches is no threat to anybody.

The TSA is long overdue for an overhaul to inject some common sense into the procedures. I'd personally shut the whole damn thing down as it benefits nobody, but that is wishful thinking.

[cstanleytech]

22. Its not the girl they were concerned with I bet but rather the braces.

But that aside I wonder if they were late showing up and that is part of the reason why they ended up missing the flight?
After all dont alot of airlines ask passengers to show up a few hours before the flight and I also wonder if they contacted the airline ahead of time to let them know that their daughter was handicapped, if so you would think it would have saved them some time.

[HotRodTuna]

33. Yes, let's put some more burdens on people

People shouldn't have to show up three hours ahead of time, submit a written explanation of their disabilities etc, just to get on ain airplane. Of course the issue was the braces, but since braces are not sentient beings, you have to assume, which they did, that either the people have been recruited by terrorists to smuggle explosives in their daughters crutches, and prepare to blow themselves up, or that they came up with the same idea all on their own.

Or, there is the remote possibility that it's just an average American family on vacation who pose no threat to anyone. Nah, that's impossible.

[cstanleytech]

50. Actually I said 2 hours and I cant remember where it was but

on another forum I was visiting they explain its recommended because airlines will sell the seat to someone else if you dont check in before a certain time for your flight.
As for the braces, if your flying with braces a wheelchair or any other special device then you really should try to be there early to avoid delays and its not just because they need to check out the items but also to make boarding easier because if you have such things they may very well board you earlier so as not to delay the flight.

[sabrina 1]

49. A crippled child, harassed by uniformed thugs working for the Orwellian-named

'Dept. of Homeland Security', a Grandmother, forced to remove a diaper, by the same Orwellian thugs, Blue Shirts I think they are referred to, working for the same Orwellian 'Homeland Security' Org.

The list is growing, and the question is, when will the American people rise up against the theft of their rights and freedoms? Or, as in other societies before them, as seems to be happening already, will they just 'submit' to the Government and how far can the Government go before enough is enough? In other historical examples of these kinds of phony policies, based on fear as the selling point, and money as the main goal, they waited too long.

There are no excuses for this. None. Zero. But of course there will always be the 'pragmatic' types, trying to appear 'reasonable' who are the main reason why Governments get away this kind of thing.


The Virtual Rape Machines are banned in Europe, for two reasons. They don't work and they violate people's rights. But here in the 'Land of the Free' there are NO rights left that cannot be violated in the name of 'feedom'.

Name me a 'right' that it would be so egregious to violate that they would not dare? I can't think of any. And I know that each time they do it, there will be so many apologists minimizing the real threat to this country, the destruction of rights which no terrorist could accomplish, in exchange for 'feeling safe'.

That is the threat, the loss of rights, not a terror attack, which may kill a few people, but could never destroy our rights, unless we allow it.

And if protecting those rights is no longer a priority, then let's stop pretending to be the great Democracy we keep claiming to be. It's not true. We have become a nation of cowards, afraid of everything, will to give up all rights in order to get a false sense of 'safety'. And as Ben Franklin said, such a nation doesn't deserve rights. Just stop pretending we do, it's laughable at this point.

[Boudica the Lyoness]

52. Well said.

"That is the threat, the loss of rights, not a terror attack, which may kill a few people, but could never destroy our rights, unless we allow it".

[Ruby the Liberal]

51. What would calling the airline do?

TSA is the one who delayed them. Nothing the airlines can do about that. The gate check person would have seen that they checked in (as you have to be IDd and ticketed before going through security) and probably made overhead calls to the passengers asking them to get to the gate. Not much more they can do.

[cstanleytech]

54. If you call the airline before hand they probably would have advised the TSA

of the situtation before hand as well the airline probably would have advised the family to check in earlier than usual so as to board them before most of the other passengers since it takes extra time to assist someone who is disabled and yes I am speaking from experience here because my mother is confined to a wheelchair now so going anywhere including to the store takes extra time and effort.

[Ruby the Liberal]

55. I will give you advising them to arrive even earlier

but there is nothing the airlines can do about TSA. Leg braces, wheelchairs, pins (like from knee reconstruction) are all flags to them. My sister has a card she carries in her wallet to identify her as someone with surgical metal.

[yardwork]

57. Well, they wouldn't. The airlines don't have that kind of clout with TSA.

I almost missed a connecting flight decades ago because a jerk from the Agriculture Dept decided to make a really big deal out of unpacking the luggage of a woman ahead of me. The airline told me there was nothing that they could do. If the airlines were helpless in the face of Ag Dept obstinance in the 1980s I am certain that they have zero clout with TSA.

And sometimes it's not possible to arrive two hours before your flight, if your connecting flight doesn't happen to land conveniently two hours before your connecting flight.

[cstanleytech]

61. This isnt about "clout" to get a freebie to bypass TSA its about letting them know in advance

so as to be ready and prepared for it so that the process can be smoother for everyone.

[yardwork]

62. You're kidding, right? /nt

[alp227]

68. what was the ag dept doing with airports back then?

[yardwork]

72. Customs. Checking people's bags to make sure we weren't bringing in plants from other countries.

The woman ahead of me was Indian. Her bags were full of herbs and spices for cooking. The guy from the Ag Dept opened every one and finally found some that he triumphantly announced were seeds.

[Honeycombe8]

16. This is outrageous. We're going to look back at this decade on things like this with horror that

we did these things. There are more sensible things to do to look for terrorists or bombs. What happened here is senseless, and harmful.

[HotRodTuna]

34. But then someone will complain about being profiled

Which is the gravest of all sins. Remember the Flying Imams?

[2Design]

19. waste of money - all theater and does not make us safer - worse waste of tax dollars for illusions

[AnotherMcIntosh]

20. You want one solution? Each time this happens, fire the person at the top. Sooner or later, one of

the replacements will get the idea to instruct their underlings to use common sense and not harass crippled seven year olds.

[cstanleytech]

23. Four other alternatives spring to mind also.

Travel via cruise ship if possible or use the family car and take a nice drive or travel by bus not to mention train travel is nice I hear though all of those of course are no where near as fast of course as the convenience of an airplane but they are all viable alternatives in their own way.

[crunch60]

25. Politicians own stock in these scanning machines, so we will see lots

more of them. I don't believe it has much to do with airport security, just more bankroll for the 1%. They are ineffective and would be useless to prevent a real terrorist attack.

Politicians Who Own Stakes in Airport Scanner Companies
snip:
The Center for Responsive Politics says it’s done the legwork and after reviewing the most recent personal financial disclosure filings, found eight members of Congress -- three Democrats and five Republicans – who owned at least $2,000 worth of stock in L-3 Communications, which is a government contractor purportedly involved in the full-body scanning machines.

Read more: http://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/2010/11/24/politicians-stakes-airport-scanner-companies/#ixzz1t8MXsLvl

great video to explain just how ineffective and what a scam these machines are.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

36. Thanks. Of course, that which gets rewarded gets repeated.

[polichick]

75. Just like they own a piece of the for-profit-prison action...

...which is why marijuana and other drugs remain illegal. Can you imagine the drop in profits for both prison industry and big pharma if Congressional profiteers changed the laws?

[jerseyjack]

27. ASSHOLES !

[truebrit71]

30. What the fuck happened to common sense?

I mean, really, this should be straight-forward stuff.

Someone needs to get fired for this. In fact, alot of someones need to get fired for this, and the fondling of that 4 yr-old in Kansas, and any of the other myriad cases of TSA-Gone-Wild cases.

[backscatter712]

42. Like I explained before, this is by design.

It's security theater designed to coerce and psychologically condition the populace to obey.

[crunch60]

45. Exactly, it's a "softening" up process, the more we accept these

egregious assaults on or civil liberties, the more they will push on us. Anyone who has been subjected to TSA groping, embarrassing pat downs, and the safety issues regarding low level x-rays, knows what I mean. Acceptance and compliance is their goal.

[truebrit71]

47. Yup. You are absolutely correct.

...

[AnotherMcIntosh]

37. Do you want to see a cut-back in TSAs? Stop flying.

No excuses. Just stop flying.

[crunch60]

46. Vapid response to people's concerns. Do you work for TSA?

[AnotherMcIntosh]

58. If you could post a more stupid question, and a more stupid response, I don't know what it could be.

Obviously I don't work for TSA.

[crunch60]

67. Obviously, many people just can't "Stop Flying" , so that is no solution, and obviously

I don't know if you work for TSA or not and really don't care.

[Comrade Grumpy]

48. I did stop flying. When going to the airport feels like entering a prison...

...I'll just drive, thank you. Then all I have to worry about is license-plate profiling if I drive east out of California on any major interstate highway. I've been pulled over repeatedly for shit like not having my turn signal on for two complete seconds before executing a lane change after passing a slow-moving undercover Highway Patrol car. Then they want to search my vehicle, and when I refuse, they want me to sit on the side of the road until their drug dog arrives. I'm not "arrested" or "detained;" I just can't leave until the drug dog gets there. Another time, it was for "weaving within the lane." Funny, they never give me a ticket; they just want to seach my vehicle.

I remember when you could talk about "the land of the free" without being ironic.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

59. When the TSAs gave Joe Foss a hard time, as well as the pilots who going to fly the planes,

Congress should have investigated at that time.

It will never be done. Too many people making money off this.

[KansDem]

79. I was out in your "neck of the woods" last November!

Drove out to Cotati, and I agree, I could have flown but decided to drive. Sure, it took a couple of days both ways, but I enjoyed the drive and the scenery. And no TSA bullshit.

Rented a car with free miles at about the cost of a round-trip plane ticket.

(I'm hoping the next time I go, it'll be a "one-way" rental, if you catch my drift! )

[Boudica the Lyoness]

53. Have you ever looked at a map of the world?

Do you understand that it's impossible to drive every place in the world?

Yesterday I purchased airline tickets to London from Seattle. I have to get there. You expect me not to get home because you want me to teach the TSA a lesson.

Protesting the Obama government, for allowing this, would be a better idea.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

60. Excuse me, but that is an illogical reaction.

I have no expectations as to what mode that you should use to return to London. And, I have no desire for you to teach the TSA a lesson. In fact, my post didn't refer to teaching the TSA a lesson at all. You created that out of your imagination.

If you want to go, then go.

[backscatter712]

41. Incidents like this are by design. It's coercive conditioning of the populace to accept tyranny.

It's security theater, and the whole point isn't to make passengers safe at all, but to make it safe for psychopathic politicians to impose authoritarian rule.

Their purpose is to send one message: "We can fuck with and ruin your life at any time we want, and don't need a reason to do it."

Every time you go through an airport, you're being psychologically conditioned to OBEY. Submit to the authority, or we'll delay you, subject you to ritual sexual humiliation, maybe criminally charge you and wreck your entire life, or maybe we'll just kill you for shits and giggles.

Yes. The TSA is fucking evil. Shit like this happens BY DESIGN.

I'll say it again. The TSA is un-American. People that work for the TSA are anti-liberty subhuman trash.

[doctorwho05]

44. No stopping the madness

Totally Agree, It's like the Nazi's did to gain control of Germany before WWII, And it's not going to stop too many people are making money off this $hit, And too many people are blind to the truth of it all. They would rather be in the matrix then to be free.

[polichick]

74. "People that work for the TSA are anti-liberty subhuman trash"...

Nah, mostly they're just citizens who need to work.

You're confusing the politicians/profiteers with the workers.

[classof56]

56. This is disgusting. It's also another reason I refuse to fly commercial.

Fortunately, Canada is just a few hours north of me. When I cross the border, I know they won't let me stay, but lord, how I wish they would!

Tired Old Cynic

[avaistheone1]

71. I agree. Flying is so unpleasant and a hassle now.

I only fly now when it is an emergency, and there is no alternative way to get to my destination.

[BlueIris]

63. Sickos.

The TSA is the shame of our nation.

Oh, wait, I'm sorry...these pat downs are "frustrating, but necessary." Even for those with disability issues.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40289750/ns/travel/t/obama-tsa-pat-downs-frustrating-necessary/

[wordpix]

65. this is ridiculous - just like that pat down I got in Denver

Traveling with my SIL and her 2 all American-looking boys.

[alp227]

66. Sadly, the terrorists have won through intimidation of the public.

[polichick]

73. Good grief. I must say though that a lot of TSA people get it right...

I refuse to go through xray screening (those machines make my ears ring) so I get hand searched every time, and I travel a lot. So far I've never encountered anyone who wasn't completely professional - they even explain every move they're about to make. There is sometimes a bit of a wait for this kind of screening though - I've waited up to 15 min.

[AnneD]

76. The purpose of TSA is not to screen for terrorist....

but to train us to be obediant mindless slaves. The agency sucks needed resources (money) out of the budget and puts it in the hands of Chertoff and others. TSA has never once prevented a ture act of terrorism. I trust my fellow passengers more than TSA.

[lovuian]

77. The TSA is only making the anger swell in the people

The anger will build and build

against the government

[Googlybear]

80. abolish the TSA

the citizens of this great nation are totally capable of handling security on their own. the TSA didn't stop the shoe bomber, the passengers did. the TSA didn't stop the underwear bomber, the passengers did.

patting down crippled children is an insult to the child, parents, and our nation as a whole.

the TSA should step off and go back to rummaging through people's personal items in suitcases as they did after the lockerbee incident. other than that they have proven themselves to be ineffectual and worthless pains in the exhaust manifold.