A Facebook video involving the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) went viral and sparked outrage among the netizens when it showed a teenage passenger with special needs being patted down for two minutes by TSA officials in the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. The video was posted by Jennifer Williamson, the mother of Aaron, the boy in the video.
Jennifer was particularly "livid" by the actions shown by the officials at the TSA checkpoint. His son, Aaron, is suffering from Sensory Processing Disorder. In her Facebook post, she said that her family "went through hell" because of the experience.
The pat-down was said to be caused by Aaron's computer setting off an alarm, in contradiction with Jennifer's statement that no alarm went off. The video shows a TSA agent thoroughly patting down Aaron in his whole body, with some areas being patted twice.
Jennifer said they were treated like dogs at the airport, making them miss their scheduled flight. Meanwhile, the video has already garnered more than a hundred thousand shares, and tons of hate messages are currently pouring down on TSA.
In their statement to Fusion, TSA said: "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."
The mother was around when TSA checked her son for two minutes. Two police officers came to mitigate the concerns of the mother. The press release also added that other passengers were delayed for about 35 minutes since the screening procedure was still discussed to the mother and their three carry-on items were further inspected.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
