TSA targets disabled 7-year-old, causes family to miss flight

by Lisa Simeone on April 25, 2012

The hits just keep on coming. Not content to abuse a few children here and there, the TSA continues its winning streak by singling out a 7-year-old girl in leg braces, a girl who’s developmentally disabled, to boot. And not only do they scream at her family and terrify her at the checkpoint, they confront her again the gate, and demand that she return to the checkpoint for further humiliation.

You can’t make this stuff up.

Pediatrician Joshua Frank and his wife Marcy were escorting their disabled daughter through the airport when they were targeted by the TSA. Their daughter Dina has cerebral palsy.

With her crutches and orthotics, Dina cannot walk through metal detectors and instead is patted down by security agents. The girl, who is also developmentally disabled, is often frightened by the procedure, her father said.

Marcy Frank usually asks the agents to introduce themselves to her daughter, but those on duty on Monday were exceptionally aggressive, Joshua Frank said, and he began to videotape them with his iPhone.

“And the woman started screaming at me and cursing me and threatening me,” he said.

Here’s the part where the TSA pursues the family even after they have already cleared security:

They were there for an hour before the agents reappeared with a manager to tell them that proper protocol had not been followed, and that Dina had to be screened after all, the Franks said. After initially offering to pat her down at the gate, they insisted she return to the security area, Joshua Frank said.

“So then I got aggravated,” he said.

With Dina now in her wheelchair, Frank raced her across the JetBlue terminal, but by then, the family had missed its plane. The Franks caught a subsequent flight.

The TSA, of course, has not yet responded to a request for a comment.  Wonder how Blogger Bob will spin this one?

(Photo: Facebook)

Tagged as: abuse, Airport, assault, child abuse, child molestation, Security, Travel, TSA

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