Some 58 pages of records from the Transportation Security Administration indicated that passengers at three major airports felt humiliated and violated by security pat downs, including claims a man was punched in the groin and a woman’s breasts were cupped by an agent.
The watchdog group Judicial Watch said it received the records as part of a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit. They detail incidents at Denver International Airport, Los Angeles International Airport and Chicago O’Hare International Airport.
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According to Judicial Watch, the documents “show that passengers strenuously objected to the alleged sexually-related assaults, repeatedly saying they were ‘shocked,’ ‘violated,’ and ‘humiliated.'”
TSA agent performs an enhanced pat-down on a traveller at a security area at Denver International Airport in Denver. (AP Photo/The Denver Post)
The documents were requested over a year ago.
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“That we had to fight and sue in court to get the TSA to disclose these shocking complaints shows the TSA is more interested in a cover-up than in addressing the problem that its employees violate innocent travelers too often, sexually or otherwise,” charged Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “With more than 56,000 employees and a $7.7 billion budget, the TSA can’t be trusted to its job of securing air travel. [Americans] simply trying to board a plane should not have to worry about being assaulted by federal employees working for TSA.”
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Judicial Watch provided the following incident reports from the official TSA documents:
— April 7, 2013, at Denver International Airport: At approximately 14:10 hours on the South Checkpoint, near lane 4 a passenger complained that he sustained an injury resulting from the aggressive actions of the the [sic] TSO [Transportation Security Officer] conducting a pat down search … The passenger stated during the pat-down search he was struck very hard in the groin area, which caused him pain to his left testical [sic].
— October 19, 2013, “TSA Contact Center Record,” Los Angeles Airport: She [TSA agent] then placed full palms squarely on my breasts and then moved around my breasts again. She then placed both palms against my breasts and I was shocked, humiliated, alarmed and assaulted and said ‘Stop! What are you doing? That’s not ok.’ … I reported this to TSA Supervisor … She got the manager [redacted] and he said he would look at the video and TSA would send me a letter but it would not tell me the resolution and that I did not have a right to view the video … I will not be sexually assaulted at the airport. As a taxpayer, I pay for the TSA.”
— July 5, 2013, “TSA Contact Center Record,” O’Hare Airport: The female TSO then proceeded to roughly feel of [sic] her breast including her nipples. The TSO didn’t go under her arms or along her sides. She indicated that she did not receive a proper pat down. The search was limited to her breast … Two other individuals came over to where the supervisor and gentleman were and they began laughing. The caller indicated that the incident was not the business of the other two officers and not a show for them. The caller indicated that even the Supervisor, along with the others, began to roar with laughter.
— July 6, 2013, “TSA Contact Center Record,” O’Hare Airport: Caller indicates that her mother feels as though she was singled out because she was a breast cancer survivor and the caller feels as though this is extremely discriminatory. Caller indicates that the breast is an extremely intimate place that should not be rubbed in the manner that it was. Caller expressed that her mother feels extremely violated and the caller feels that being violated in this manner is on the same level as rape. Caller has indicated that her mother will never travel again because of the pat down that she received.
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Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected].
The TSA is being criticized for its pat-down measures in Washington Examiner Polls on LockerDome
