Did the Transportation Security Administration's pat-down of a young boy at the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport cross the line? That's the debate that's been sparked following video of the pat-down from Sunday.
The video was posted by Jennifer Williamson of her son Aaron being patted down by a TSA agent in a security line.
Williamson said Aaron was detained for “well over an hour” and that they were “treated like dogs.”
The livid mom said her son set off no alarms at the security line and called those involved in the pat down “power tripping TSA agents.”
TSA issued the following statement to Dallas's WFAA-TV regarding the incident:
“TSA allows for a pat-down of a teenage passenger, and in this case, all approved procedures were followed to resolve an alarm of the passenger’s laptop.
The video shows a male TSA officer explaining the procedure to the passenger, who fully cooperates. Afterward, the TSA officer was instructed by his supervisor, who was observing, to complete the final step of the screening process.
In total, the pat-down took approximately two minutes, and was observed by the mother and two police officers who were called to mitigate the concerns of the mother.
The passengers were at the checkpoint for approximately 45 minutes, which included the time it took to discuss screening procedures with the mother and to screen three carry-on items that required further inspection."
