Disabled Marine embarrassed by TSA

[In Lou I Trust]

RT News

It's bad enough that a US Marine lost both his legs in combat. But after TSA agents forced the wheelchair-bound man to stand up, walk and remove his prosthetic legs at an airport in Phoenix, he was publicly humiliated for his disability.

Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) sent a letter to the Transportation Security Administration this week, condemning TSA officers for mistreating the wounded soldier on March 13. The Marine, who is still on active duty, had lost both of his legs in an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast while deployed. The man is now confined to a wheelchair. He showed up at the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport with an escort that helped him get around.

In his complaint addressed to TSA Administrator John Pistole, Hunter said that the agency made the Marine feel "humiliated."

"The individual escorting this Marine asked the TSA officer which of the two checkpoints to enter and received the response, 'either one,' only to be told moments later they should have entered a different way," Hunter explained in his letter.

Moments later, TSA officers ordered the wounded Marine to get out of his wheelchair and subsequently remove his prosthetic legs, subjecting him to immense pain while he struggled to get out of his wheelchair.

"A TSA officer asked the Marine to stand and walk to an alternate area, despite the fact that he physically could not stand or walk on his own," Hunter wrote. "With numerous TSA officers sitting and unwilling to assist, an officer then made him remove his legs, then put them back on, only to advance to a secondary screening location where he was asked again to stand, with extraordinary difficult, while his wheelchair was examined for explosives."

The invasive search occurred while several Marines were returning to San Diego, California from Phoenix, Arizona. The disabled Marine showed his military ID, which didn't stop the TSA from publicly humiliating him and questioning his injuries.

The Marine's escort was so enraged by the incident that Hunter's office was contacted to shed light on the situation. Hunter was particularly struck by the incident, since he himself was a Marine veteran of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

The incident is also alarming, considering it took place at the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, which is a joint civil-military public airport. The airport facilities are also home to the Sky Harbor Air National Guard Base. With so many military personnel entering and leaving through the airport, TSA officers in charge of security likely encounter many wounded soldiers and should therefore have received proper training on how to handle passengers with disabilities.

But the case detailed by Hunter demonstrates otherwise: the congressman included two photos of the inspection in his letter, which show a TSA officer patting down the injured Marine and examining the prosthetic leg in search for explosives.

Hunter has asked the TSA to clarify its procedures on how to handle wounded troops and to show "situational awareness" in cases where the passenger is clearly disabled.

"While I recognize the necessity to appropriately screen passengers, I am concerned by the apparent lack of situational awareness and respect among TSA officers specifically when it comes to the treatment of war wounded," Hunter wrote. "I am hopeful you will give this situation the attention it deserves."

http://rt.com/usa/double-amputee-marine-tsa-506/

 

[Irish Houstonian]

I really feel like the "safe flyer" list, or however that works, is a great idea on so many levels.

 

[Rack Em]

I understand TSA has to do their job, but that is inexcusable and quite malicious.

 

[irishff1014]

This doesn't surprise me at all. They think they are something because they are a fancy security guard.

 

[kmoose]

I'm calling Bullsh!t on this report. I have no doubt that they subjected the guy to screening. They get fired if they don't. But I'm not believing for one minute that they were as rude and callous as this report alleges. I work with(not for) TSA, and a very good portion of them are veterans who have nothing but respect for current soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines. When I was working at Portland(OR) International Airport, there was a body of a soldier that was being returned from Afghanistan, to his family, for burial. About 25 TSOs (Transportation Security Officers) came in, on their day off, to greet the solider's coffin. They formed an informal honor guard for the casket, which augmented the actual military honor guard that was already on site. It was a great show of compassion for, and support of, the soldier's family. People that not one of these TSOs had ever even met, let alone gotten to know; they did it for complete strangers. There are certainly some bad eggs in TSA; just like there are some bad eggs in any group of people, including here on IE. Don't believe everything you hear. Just because some news outlet reported it, that doesn't make it true. People like to pile on TSA, because so many other people are already cynical of them.

 

[IrishLax]

I'm calling Bullsh!t on this report. I have no doubt that they subjected the guy to screening. They get fired if they don't. But I'm not believing for one minute that they were as rude and callous as this report alleges. I work with(not for) TSA, and a very good portion of them are veterans who have nothing but respect for current soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines. When I was working at Portland(OR) International Airport, there was a body of a soldier that was being returned from Afghanistan, to his family, for burial. About 25 TSOs (Transportation Security Officers) came in, on their day off, to greet the solider's coffin. They formed an informal honor guard for the casket, which augmented the actual military honor guard that was already on site. It was a great show of compassion for, and support of, the soldier's family. People that not one of these TSOs had ever even met, let alone gotten to know; they did it for complete strangers. There are certainly some bad eggs in TSA; just like there are some bad eggs in any group of people, including here on IE. Don't believe everything you hear. Just because some news outlet reported it, that doesn't make it true. People like to pile on TSA, because so many other people are already cynical of them.

I think this is a good take. I travel a ton for business... enough that I'd say I have a pretty good sample size of TSA agents. In my last job I was on a plane at least twice a week... and usually out of the Phoenix or Tucson airport. Never once had an issue with any of the TSA people there. And the VAST majority of TSA people seem to be very professional no matter what airport you fly out of.

However, like you said, there are ALWAYS bad apples in a big enough bunch. So I'm definitely not calling BS on this story. While it only happens a small minority of times, I've seen TSA agents do some pretty ridiculous crap. Typically at Dulles airport. Some quick personal experiences that make this more than believable:

-Once a guy in front of me got stopped because they saw something suspicious in his bag. totally normal. Not normal? It took literally 13 minutes (which feels like an eternity if you're just standing still in an airport which is why I timed it) for someone to come over to check his bag. Turned out the suspicious item was deodorant. The TSA guy says he has to throw it out or mail it to him because it's a liquid/gel. The flyer says "It's not a gel, it's a solid" verrrrrry calmly. At which point the TSA agent starts yelling at him "IF I SAY IT'S A GEL, THEN IT'S A GEL. IS THAT CLEAR?" The flyer immediately backs down (because he doesn't give a crap about a stick of deodorant) and tell him to throw it out. The TSA agent ignores him and just keeps yelling at him... being totally belligerent. The flyer continues to keep his calm and tells him two or three more times to just throw it out... and it's not until the flyer finally loses his cool and goes "What do you not understand? THROW. IT. AWAY." Then the TSA agent listened. It was as if he was never going to let the guy go on until he got a reaction out of him.

-I was once flying Southwest and had the #2 spot in line. Pretty awesome feeling. We line up to board and are standing there for a good 10-15 minutes per usual. The entire time there is a TSA agent by the gate. We start boarding and the TSA agent grabs me heading on to the plan for a random bag search. Fine. I say "Man, I really wish you would've grabbed me while I was in line... look at all those people who are gonna take my seat." Basically just making conversation, not belligerent... said it with a smile and chuckle... the end goal being that acting normal/relaxed/lighthearted will maybe get him to finish the inspection 15 seconds faster and save me ten spots in line. Instead, he looks up at me with this crazy look and deadpans "Not my problem." And gives me about a 2 second stare down before resuming his search. He then - in my opinion - purposely starts going painstaking slow. He slowly goes through every pocket of my laptop bag... takes every little thing out and puts it on the floor... and when he finishes he just goes "you're done" and walks away with my laptop, mouse, papers, cables, etc. still strewn about the floor. By the time I repack my bag I'm the last one on the plane in the worst seat.

So while most people in TSA are normal, upstanding individuals... I've seen enough BS to know that there are some crazies in the bunch who can be total jerks. Definitely not dismissing the story.

 

[Irishnuke]

Not sure how to feel about this one since I wasn't there. I've dealt with some seriously retarded TSA agents and also several good ones. Like Kmoose said there are bad eggs in any field. I feel for the Marine due to his situation but I also don't see how he would be exempt from searches just like anyone else. Does it suck? Yes. Was it embarassing? I'm sure it was. Should he be exempt from searches? No. When I served and showed my military ID I was always subject to more extensive searches. Now, I wasn't injured or anything, but I understand why the TSA would give us more extensive searches than the general public. I have nothing but respect for the Marine, but I don't think asking him to remove his prosthetics was out of the question and I don't believe there was any intent to humiliate the man. That notion is absurd. This was a no-win situation for all involved.

 

[adsnorri]

If they in fact told him to get up and walk to another area, that is very embarrassing and uncalled for. Shouldn't be hard to prove, look at the cameras, he wouldn't start trying to walk for no apparent reason. BTW, would a simple scan of the legs be sufficient? I mean that's all they do with everyone else, why have them taken off? Not sure if there was malice involved but sounds like a little ignorance and complacency, especially at a civil-military airport.

Side Note- I just came back from the Dominican Republic yesterday and there we're so many holes in security starting in the Dominican, through JFK and O'hare. Would not be hard to get through. I practically carried a 4 feet rolled painting wrapped in newspaper through every security checkpoint, on to each plane with me. No x-rays at all. Not once was it checked. It was probably 4-5 inches in diameter. A lot of things could fit in this. It wouldn't have mattered anyway cause the guy doing the x-rays had one eye closed getting ready to fall off his chair from dosing off. He was in lala land for the majority of the x-rays I seen him do. Haha

 

[HawaiianIrish]

I have only had one bad experience with TSA. I am a LEO and always fly with my badge/ID in my wallet and Glock 19/handcuffs in suitcase. On a return flight from Vegas this TSA employee was giving me a hard time about my badge. You see the back of the badge there is a pin to secure it to my uniform. The agent instructed me to remove the pin or mail my badge back to Hawaii because it could be used as a weapon. I calmly asked the agent to speak to his supervisor. Needless to say i did not need to alter or mail my badge...

 

[kmoose]

By the way.............

TSA offers faster airport screening for wounded soldiers - Los Angeles Times

In the March 13 incident, critics of the TSA say that screeners humiliated the Marine by forcing him to remove his prosthetic legs and then put them back on to walk through a full-body scanner.

After investigating the incident, the TSA said the Marine was not asked to remove his prosthetic legs and that the screening took a total of eight minutes. The Marine, Cpl. Toran Gaal, has not filed a complaint or claim against the agency, the TSA said.

Gaal could not be reached for comment.

Again..............just another example of how hyperbole and hysteria blow something completely out of proportion.

 

[BGIF]

By the way.............

TSA offers faster airport screening for wounded soldiers - Los Angeles Times





Again..............just another example of how hyperbole and hysteria blow something completely out of proportion.

The two screeners that were alledged to have caused the embarrassment were both vets - one was a Marine.