Just when you thought the TSA couldn’t possibly get more asinine, like the folks on the left, they will prove you wrong again and again
Did you hear about the Camden cop whose disabled son wasn’t allowed to pass through airport security unless he took off his leg braces?
Unfortunately, it’s no joke. This happened to Bob Thomas, a 53-year-old officer in Camden’s emergency crime suppression team, who was flying to Orlando in March with his wife, Leona, and their son, Ryan.
Ryan was taking his first flight, to Walt Disney World, for his fourth birthday.
The boy is developmentally delayed, one of the effects of being born 16 weeks prematurely. His ankles are malformed and his legs have low muscle tone. In March he was just starting to walk.
This story is coming out almost a year after it occurred, back on March 19th, 2009, but, it’s impact on the TSA is no less shocking. The screeners refused to allow the boy to by wanded in a separate room, and forced the parents to remove the braces, telling them he had to walk through the metal detector on his own. He cannot walk without his braces on his own. Little Ryan did make it through, barely, with Mom in the lead and Dad immediately behind, in case he started to fall.
Obviously, the Thomas’ were a wee bit pissed off, and asked for a supervisor, who simply told Bob “you know why we’re doing this,” then walked away. But, if you thought it couldn’t get worse, think again
On Friday, TSA spokeswoman Ann Davis said the boy never should have been told to remove his braces.
TSA policy should have allowed the parents to help the boy to a private screening area where he could have been swabbed for traces of explosive materials.
??????? A 4 year old boy swabbed for explosives? One who was, let’s be honest, obviously not Middle Eastern or a Muslim? TSA seems to forget that the primary reason for all these security procedures is because of Islamic terrorists.
She said she wished Thomas had reported the matter to TSA immediately. “If screening is not properly done, we need to go back to that officer and offer retraining so it’s corrected.”
In other words, it is Bob Thomas’ fault that the TSA employees were complete and total idiots and wankers. Furthermore, Ms. Davis seems to be more concerned with locking the barn door after the animals are all gone, rather than being proactive and fixing the issues beforehand.
I’m sure we all have our TSA stories. Personally, I trust them no farther than I can spit. I have a stainless steel rod in my leg, and it is a good barometer for how high the metal detector is turned up. More than half the time, they do not go off anymore. Back before 9/11 (I broke the leg in 1990), I was pulled aside for a wanding virtually every time. Now? Not so much. I typically get through screening with a lighter in my backpack, and a tiny knife which is part of my money clip (not particularly sharp, especially the tip. I have stabbed myself in the buttocks once, and that was enough). Last time I flew, I had metal sunglasses hanging from my shirt, forgot they were there, and the detector did not go off. But, this story above really takes the cake.
Crossed at Right Wing News and Stop The ACLU
Words escape me. This is so wrong.