Another 6-Year Old Child Becomes the TSA’s Latest Victim
July 14th, 2011
Last week, we brought you the story of a woman who claimed she was discriminated against by the TSA for having an afro, and was searched because of it. This was the latest in a long list of complaints the TSA has recieved over its pat down policy. Well, would you believe that at the same airport, one week later, the TSA would have a new controversy on its hands; this time with a 6-year old boy.
Alex Long and his wife were taking their two children to Disneyland, and were getting on their flight at Seattle-Tacoma Airport in Washington. As they went through the security checkpoint, their eldest son’s video game player triggered a sensor in the detectors. Therefore, the TSA agent on duty felt the need to frisk the child not once, but twice, despite the fact the video game console was on a holster attached to the child’s belt, and that it was inspected before the frisking commenced. The pat-down traumatized the child, which is not what a kid should be experiencing just before a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Disneyland. The parents are claiming that it was nothing short of profiling, and that it was unnecessary.
This comes just after the TSA amended its policies on patting-down children, and amidst intense criticism over its violations of personal privacy and outright disrespect of the 4th amendment. The TSA claims that it was justified because they have a right to pat-down anybody suspicious, and after someone trips one of their sensors. But lets get real here, he’s 6-years old, he doesn’t pose any danger to anybody. It isn’t security, its paranoia and a lack of common sense, but what else is new in an age where the government makes you fearful of any threat as long as it gives them added powers of “protection”.
