Here we go again. The TSA protected us recently from a 95-year-old, wheelchair-bound leukemia patient, and now this. It is a good thing that there were agents available to do this, and that they were not too busy patting down former Secretaries of Defense and six-year-olds.
Extra scrutiny for young Arab and Pakistani males, despite the fact that they’ve been responsible for the lion’s share of jihad terror plots in the U.S. over the last few years? That would be racist! Who are you to assume that a 94-year-old wheelchair-bound grandmother is less likely to commit an act of terror than a young man from Saudi Arabia who loves Allah, Muhammad, and jihad?
“94-year-old upset by TSA pat down,” by Shae Crisson for WTVD, July 14:
RALEIGH (WTVD) — A 94-year-old wheelchair-bound Florida woman says a search she went through at Raleigh/Durham International Airport went too far.
Marian Peterson said it happened July 6 as she went through a TSA security checkpoint before boarding a flight home.
Peterson said she was selected for extra screening. First, security officers lifted her out of her wheelchair and helped her stand in a full body scanner. Then, she was given a physical pat down.
“They took me to one side and they patted me down, and they made me stand for, with my arms out, for over 10 minutes,” she said. “I was beginning to feel that I wasn’t going to be able to continue to stand, I was going to fall down or something.”
“I asked, I said why are you doing this, and the woman was very polite and said ‘I don’t know, maybe the scanner detected something or maybe she moved,'” recalled Peterson’s daughter Marian Malone.
Peterson’s family said it’s not just the length of the search they object to, it’s the way it was done.
“She said it would be in-depth. She started the putdown [sic], and at that point, she asked mom to spread her legs. She stood there with her legs spread and she checked every place thoroughly,” said Malone.
“They groped her. All of her body. Her crotch, her breasts. And everything else,” said son Joe Peterson.
The Petersons said the search seemed unnecessary given Marian’s obvious age.
“I didn’t think I was much of a threat to anybody,” said Marian Peterson.
“My sister had even asked them, you know, what did she do? Why are we doing this? What’s going on here,” said Joe Peterson….
Political correctness, that’s what.
TSA is expected to begin a pilot program this fall that will try more “risk based” screening. It will start with just Delta and American at four U.S. airports. Raleigh is not included.
And when the TSA introduces this “risk based” screening, those Christian extremists better watch their step.