Posted on 04/12/2013 3:20:36 PM PDT by rightwingerpatriot
Every time I say “Just when I thought the TSA couldn’t stoop any lower”, the TSA goes and does something that proves that yes, they absolutely *can* stoop lower.
On February 9, Nathan Forck and his wife Annie, along with their three children, were at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport on their way to Orlando for a family vacation to Disney World. The Forcks’ three-year old daughter, Lucy, has spinal bifida and is confined to a wheelchair.
They got through the TSA security checkpoint quickly and without incident but as they were getting ready to walk to their gate to board their flight, a TSA agent approached them and pulled 3-year old Lucy aside for additional screening.
Nathan, Lucy’s father, told Fox News, “They specifically told me that they were singling her out for this special treatment because she’s in a wheelchair.”
The TSA agent informed the distraught parents that they needed to pat down their toddler and swab her wheelchair – in the name of “National Security”, you understand – even though both had passed through the previous security checkpoint with no problem.
When Annie Forck, Lucy’s mother, began filming the incident, over the repeated objections of the TSA agent.
In the video, Mrs. Forck can be heard saying, “You can’t touch my daughter unless I record it,” to which the TSA agent replies, “It is illegal to do that.”
The Forcks refused to stop filming and soon the family was surrounded by TSA agents.
Next, just in case the TSA agents weren’t traumatizing this child enough, they took away her stuffed animal, Lamby. Then they stood around discussing how they were going to handle the situation and this family who wouldn’t bend over and toe the line. All the while, little Lucy was screaming and crying in obvious fear.
“I don’t want to go to Disney World!” she wailed, as her parents tried to console her.
Thirty interminable minutes later, the Forck family was rescreened and allowed to board their flight (“Your papers are in order, Citizen…move along!”) and continue their trip.
I am happy to report that they had no problems going through security at Orlando International Airport (OIA) and, yes, Lucy was reunited with Lamby.
Author’s note: I know this story is several months old, but it is an incident that we should not allow ourselves – or the TSA – to forget. By the way, in case you were wondering, it IS legal to record or photograph screening locations so long as you are not holding things up or interfering with the screening process (blog.tsa.gov).
This is the main reason they want everybody unarmed at the airport so they can get by with sh!t like this.
This is why I detest the TSA and do everything in my power to avoid flying.
I taught a class a few years ago at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) in New Mexico and I know they are not taught to do this. Increasingly, TSA thugs are making up their own rules because they can get away with it.
Kudos to the Forcks for standing their ground and not caving to the BS threats of the TSA. As for the TSA, the sooner we can rid oursrelves of this rogue agency, the better.
White family, black agent I see...
But we must be protected from terrorists!
Amen to that. I was so proud of this family for standing up for their kid and standing up to the TSofA. If you watch the video, there’s a moment where the TSA agent is babbling about recording being illegal. You can hear the father saying, “Cite the law” and the agent gets an even stupider-than-normal look on her face and scurries off to find someone higher up in the Reich.
Next thing you know the TSA will give all passengers a complimentary tasing to make sure they don’t “go off”!
They lost me when it became obvious that she wasn’t going to show the TSA perp’s face. Big deal, videoing a TSA agent mistreating your child, but fastitdiously avoid showing his FACE. Something isn’t kosher here!
The face does not matter. This is not a rogue agent at fault, it's a rogue policy and a rogue department. Most TSA "workers," if only allowed, would sit in their chairs for the whole shift and wave everyone through without checking. Only a very small percent of TSA workers really want to go after you (those are on a power trip.)
Focusing on actions of a department instead of a face of a specific "bad apple" also does not allow the TSA to blame an individual screener. It's the TSA's own policies that force screeners to chase children in wheelchairs, dumping them on the floor, and inspecting the resulting mess. In a sane society you shouldn't be even able to find anyone willing to do this job. Sadly, we are not living in a sane society. Human mind is too easy to corrupt.
You made a good point. Thanks.
State pervert alert!
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