Are "secret agents" really exempt from "stupid" rules?
Posted on 06/16/2007 12:33:12 PM PDT by 3AngelaD
ARLINGTON, Virginia — The Transportation Security Administration is denying allegations that an airport screener seized a toddler's cup and mistreated his mother, taking the unusual step of posting security camera footage on its Web site. At issue is whether Monica Emmerson, a former Secret Service officer, was improperly detained June 11 after she spilled water out of her child's cup at Washington's Reagan National Airport.
TSA has banned most fluids at airport security checkpoints because of concern about possible liquid explosives.
A TSA report said Emmerson told an officer she was a Secret Service agent, flashed her credentials and said she was exempt from the "stupid" policy restricting liquids on planes.
The story spread on the Internet after blogger Bill Adler saw a note Emmerson wrote on a Web site for city parents and interviewed her. He wrote that a TSA screener seized the cup after asking if there was water in it, causing Emmerson's son to cry. Emmerson was told she would have to leave the security checkpoint and dump out the water if she wanted to keep the cup.
As she left the security line, Emmerson "accidentally spilled" the water, she and Adler wrote.
TSA, however, said Emmerson dumped, not spilled, the water on the floor. Emmerson declined to comment.
The video that TSA posted on its Web site shows Emmerson being escorted from the security checkpoint as she appears to take the top off the sippy cup and shake it upside down. It shows that after she was confronted by several officers, she used paper towels fetched by the TSA to clean up the spot.
The TSA said in a statement that the incident and the videotape demonstrate that its "officers display professionalism and concern for all passengers."
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
And flashing her out-of-date SS credentials was a very stupid thing to do. I too felt that the whole story was weird.
Interesting that the original news omitted that she was a secret service agent. She should have known the rules. She obviously wasn't flying on official business so she shouldn't get special treatment.
Then there is the entire water spilling thing. Splashed on accident my butt. She opened and dumped it on purpose...then shook it to get all the little drops out of it.
I gotta side with TSA on this one. Lady knew exactly what she was doing.
If she is an agent, she should know better, if she is not, she should have been arrested.
Are "secret agents" really exempt from "stupid" rules?
Do you have a bigger picture of that squirrel?
Ignorance of the law is no excuse.
I haven't flown in four years because they piss me off so much that I know I will make some snide remark that will get me arrested.
The TSA is a useless as t**ts on a boar hog.
The real danger to commercial aircraft is shoulder-fired missiles, and all the high school dropout former welfare recipients in the world rooting through your underwear won't make you one once safer from them.
I hope the airlines all go bankrupt.
Like a lot of others here, I thought there was something missing from the original report. It’s amazing how many Freepers will willing to dump on the TSA without hearing their side of the story. What did you expect from the perp? The whole truth? Not likely.
“Like a lot of others here, I thought there was something missing from the original report. It’s amazing how many Freepers will willing to dump on the TSA without hearing their side of the story. What did you expect from the perp? The whole truth? Not likely.”
TSA is a welfare program disguised as tranportation security.
It seemed odd that they made her clean it up. But if she dumped it on the floor on purpose, it only makes sense. Spilled water on the floor might seem harmless, but if somebody slipped and fell, there would be a major lawsuit.
That’s why you have all those little yellow signs all over the place warning you that someone has been mopping the floor. Lawyers.
Don’t punish the airlines for government stupidity.
You guys should read all the numerous thread on the Travel/Security section of www.flyertalk.com .
Some of the run ins posted there about “airport security”
will have you shaking your head in disbelief.
A common complain is something on the order of,
“they confiscated my 4 ounce bottle of mouthwash,
yet all the cargo on the plane is unscreened.”
I’ve seen some amazing stuff posted in the 5 years that I’ve been a member of that website.
Yes because we know the rules are to keep us 'safe'. Oh wait a minute, we're talking about the federal government. Those rules are to justify the existence of highly paid buffoons to harass private citizens so it looks like they're keeping us safe.
You don't actually believe those bobbleheads are useful do you?
Sounds like those t**ts on a boar hog has got you logging lots of miles on your car. Perhaps you don’t go anywhere anymore.
Ooops.. breezed right over that.
Seems like they could have charged her for impersonating a federal officer or something.
On June 11,2007 at approx. 13:45 TSO [REDACTED] responded to a CIC check on lane four at center pier checkpoint. A female passenger traveling with a child in a stroller had entered the checkpoint with a 16 ounce bottle of Deer Park water and a plastic children's drink cup with approx. 6 to 8 ounces of fluid inside. TSO [REDACTED] a s k e d the female if the children's cup had formula or juice in it and she stated no. TSO [REDACTED] g a v e the female her options of placing the 16 oz. Deer Park water in her check baggage or have TSA dispose of the bottle and he informed the passenger that the child's container was too big and would have to be poured out. TSO [REDACTED] stated the female passenger became upset and stated she was an officer and flashed her Secret Service badge and credentials and said that she should be exempt from all this and this was a stupid policy and this whole thing was [REDACTED] .
TSO [REDACTED] took the female to the exit lane with the stroller and her bag. When she got past the exit lane podium she opened the child's drink container and held her arm out and poured the contents (approx. 6 to 8 ounces) on the floor. MWAA Officer [REDACTED] was manning the exit lane at the time and observed the entire scene and approached the female passenger after observing this and stopped her when she tried to re-enter the sterile area after trying come back through after spilling the fluids on the floor.The female passenger again flashed her badge and credentials and told the MWAA officer "Do you know who I am?' An argument then ensued between the officer and the passenger over whether the spilling of the fluid was intentional or accidental. Officer [REDACTED] asked the passenger to clean up the spill and she did. The female passenger then requested to speak to officer [REDACTED] supervisor and several MWAA officers responded including a MWAA Major. After a short discussion between MWAA and the passenger she was cleared to re-enter the screening checkpoint which she did by going through lane five and after re-submitting her bag and articles for x-ray screening she proceeded to her gate.
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