Reason's Hit and Run: "Mistaking her back brace for its more dangerous cousin, the money belt, the Transportation Security Administration removed an octogenarian’s support device in a private security screening, breaking its own rules."

  • http://www.facebook.com/abucci Adam Bucci

    i wonder how many TSA agents get this treatment when they travel

    • http://insight.pinkonbrown.org/ Dr P Fenderson

      All of them? I mean, they’re glorified rent-a-cops. I’m pretty sure they don’t go to some other airport and try to pull rank. “Oh, yeah – I’m with TSA in Topeka. You should just let me through here….”

    • Mark_Frauenfelder

      You have to be one of the ruling class to skip security.

      • Jaron Hendrix

        Or use the foodservice entrance.

  • Brainspore

    From the official TSA statement:

    Unlike medical braces and supports, money belts must be removed since they’re not providing any type of medical benefit.

    Whoever said that must not be very familiar with the American health care system.

  • Mister B

    Intersting… I went through JFK and LAX (twice) in the month of November wearing a big padded boot brace.  I was asked quite forcefully asked to remove it at both JFK and LAX so that they could X-ray the thing in the beginning of the month.  However, around Thanksgiving, they had changed the procedure (and I was less obliging), so I got the super-fun crotch-rubbing “security” screening.  Interesting that the both times at both airports, they were not following regulations.

     I’m a 30-year-old dude, and it was thoroughly dehumanizing, so I’m appalled to think how these ladies must have felt…

  • Mike Hathaway

    More and more these problems seem to be TSA employees making shit up, and or not following there own rules.  While I support disbanding the TSA, A good compromise might be to make employees criminally and civily liable to the people they damage and violate when they fail to follow there own rules.

    Hell I bet travel and security would be much more pleasurable if the TSA started actually firing all the employees who are not following its own policy.  Note the hour or so that TSA agent spent fondalling, harassing and trying to remove medical devices off of that old lady meant there was one less person on the line for that hour getting everyone else through the process. Had that agent been replaced with one following the policies instead of damaging that poor old lady they would have gotten a hundred or so extra of us through security.

  • ridestowe

    “what the fuck is a money belt” /google searh…..OH! it’s a fanny pack!